Hilarious and horror-suspenseful, a brilliant piece of work in the ever-popular and crowd-pleasing office co-workers face off against psychotic trained mountain men killers genre! =)Blurbs about the film describe it as THE OFFICE meets DELIVERANCE. Not a bad description. I'd also add that it feels a bit like DOG SOLDIERS, and in parts, demonstrates SHAUN OF THE DEAD Goodness. This film adds a slew of clever wrinkles to a classic killer-in-the-woods set-up. The office coworker character types and relations set up some opportunities for hilarity as well as some touching moments amid the carnage.
On another level, man, the filmmakers do some brilliant and vicious stuff with the violence. =)
The British office of international weapons developer Palisade Defence is sent on a get-away retreat at an Eastern European lodge. When they find a main mountain road blocked by fallen trees, they have to take a detour down a side road which should lead them to their lodge. When they arrive, they find it's far from what anyone would consider luxury accomodations. A search of the apparently long-deserted premises reveals that the building was used as a Palisade Defence testing facility of some kind. The colleagues share the rumors they've heard about such installations. One claims that they were asylums built to contain and treat killers and madmen. Another theorizes that they were camps for special ops soldiers who enjoyed their killing profession more than anyone should. In light of these rumors, everyone in the office wants to know, "What became of the patients, inmates, or campers?"
Unfortunately for them, they soon find out, as one by one, an unidentified stalker traps and attacks them. This is a team building challenge that was *not* on the itinerary. Who will rise to the occasion and who will *ahem* lose their heads? The company man? The buttkissing nerd? The alpha sales male? The product manager? The stoner IT guy? The American? The token black fellow?
The movie starts a bit slow, but it's to lay the groundwork, introduce you to the characters, so that you'll miss them when they're gone, y'know? Also to plant the seeds of just wtf may be behind the wacky fun that ensues.
Once it gets going, woo-OW! It really moves! =) It's not as tight as SHAUN OF THE DEAD, but like SHAUN, it doesn't forget anything or anyone.
The director, Christopher Smith, also directed CREEP, which I caught at its premiere at the Fantastic Film Festival last year. CREEP is a harrowing horrorific game of homicidal CHUD-and-mouse in the tunnels of the London Underground, starring RUN LOLA RUN's Franka Potente as the mouse. A very entertaining herald of what I predict is a movement in the current horror genre—once-human subterranean freak killers. I think it's got a foothold in overseas markets and will be imported to the U.S. soon.
Anyhow, this Smith guy, he's gonna be one to watch. Between CREEP and SEVERANCE, he's demonstrating some wonderful and adept range within horror, reminiscent of Sam Raimi with his first two EVIL DEADs. Gee, what's *he* up to these days...? SPIDER-MAN 3, anyone?
I'm just sayin~
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for this in wide release in the states, likely sometime in the new year. I *will* gladly see this again, so let me know if you need a buddy for this movie trust fall. =)
Keep on keepin on~
p.s. I caught SEVERANCE tonight at the Brattle with Glen. He wasn't up for double featuring, but I stayed for AUTOMATONS—some charming sci-fi fun. Alas, with my current sleep non-cycle, and using the BFFFestival schedule as my itinerary, I'm not sure when I'll be able to motivate for a review.
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