MovieChat Forums > Severance (2006) Discussion > A bit of a mish-mash... but I reckon it ...

A bit of a mish-mash... but I reckon it works.


Contrary to what a lot of people are saying I don't put this in the "Shaun of the Dead" category at all - people just seem to be doing this because it's a British horror film with a bit of gore and a bit of humour in it. I think that's a bit lazy myself.

Personally, I love this film. I enjoyed the fact that you never get too settled in either horror or humour- there's always something that's going to come along and slap you in the face.

I think Christopher Smith achieved something very different with this film - regardless of whether you preferred the horror or the humour, you can't pigeon-hole it as either a horror-comedy or a comic-horror. It doesn't let you get comfortable in the way that SOTD does - the comedic elements are always juxtaposed to horrific ones, and vice-versa.

If you want to be comfortable, choose SOTD. If not, watch this.

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I would say a Mish-Mash that doesn't work, a film that seems to take itself seriously as a horror movie that then just has one comedic scene thrown in just doesn't work, it interupts the flow of the movie completely. Horror-Comedies such as Shaun of the Dead have a balance throughout, with every scene flowing into one another maintaining a decent level of horror and comedy seamlessly, this just felt forced, the scenes that stick out at me are the "On Hold" Scene and the "Rocket Launcher" Scene, they were just poor in my mind, completely interupting the flow and sticking out like a sore thumb.

I think this had some credibility as an above average "Hills Have Eyes" esque horror film, with the gritty look and Texas Chainsaw Massacre style at some points, but the sections that just tried to force comedy just dragged it down.

Some of the tension built was good and it wasn't a completely over the top gore fest which was good, but as a whole the movie for me wasn't strung together well, with moments that were completely out of place and undermining the overall quality.

My verdict, it doesn't work, it fails as a comedy, I don't think i "loled" once aside from a slight chuckle when Tim McInnery stepped off the mine and it seemed as if he would surive before being blown to kingdom come. But it did think it was ok as a slasher movie. 5/10

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I loved it. I found it a very successful blend of horror AND humor. Great flick... Lotta fun.

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Loved the humor, acting and funny scenes (bear crossing behind them, bear trap opening and closing on leg, leg being stuffed in cooler (after sock and shoe off), pie baked for an entire hour ("cow" tooth/filling), etc.

However what knocked a couple points off for me was that they never full explained who was doing all this and why. Three stories were told at the dinner table (two obviously fake) but the one that Jill told that was supposed to be real wasn't fleshed out enough or confirmed that that was indeed the actual situation or motive. Killers were just generic goons. There was no, "Ohhh, I get it now!" factor.

Watched this only after seeing "Triangle". Now that I loved!

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