Severance is gory, funny, and clever by half. It is what SLITHER was aiming to be, and what HOSTEL should have been. Balancing comedy and horror is not an easy task, but the director does it effortlessly and admirably without venturing into camp.

A British defense company, Palisade Defense, sends a bunch of its employees to a retreat in an east European country, where they are to indulge in some R & R and some team building. The squabbling cluster end up in a hostile territory after their ticked off non-english driver dumps them and takes off. A hike through the woods brings them to a dilapidated lodge that may well be the dwelling of a lurking serial killer.

The motley staff comprise a clueless-but-I-am-in-charge team leader Richard (Tim McInnerny), his butt-kissing subordinate Gordon (Andy Nyman), the resignatory voice of reason Billy (Babou Ceesay), the caustic and defiant Harris (Toby Stephens), the nerdy Jill (Claudie Blakley), the office-hottie Maggie (Laura Harris) and the pot-headed but affable Steve (Danny Dyer).

As if the crappy lodge wasn’t bad enough, the staff are getting picked one by one as somebody has it real bad for Palisade Defense and its employees.

Sequences worth repeat plays - a rocket testing that brings to mind the famous quotes, “I shot an arrow in the air…”, and a fight sequence involving a hunting knife is totally blade-in-cheek.

Film also has a strong message to deliver which it does in big block letters.

The director and one-half of the writing team, Christopher Smith (CREEP), handles the funny, dramatic & horrific moments with aplomb keeping the pacing tight, the tension taut, the tender moments sensitive and the laughs coming at regular intervals. Most of the bellyfuls actually come at tense moments - and to his credit, the director never lets the genres spill into each other (no moment will induce an un-intentioned audience response).

The ensemble cast deliver uniformly able perfomances, with no one trying to overshadow or outshine the other.

Technically, film bears a polished look, and has been superbly lensed, expertly edited, with a dollop of nauseatingly good visual effects and a fantastic score. The opening gory sequence is set to a feel good soundtrack thereby setting the comedic tone for the entire flick.

VERDICT: If you thought SHAUN OF THE DEAD was funny, SEVERANCE is pretty delirious.

MPAA RATING: Not Rated
DURATION: 95 mins.
CAST: Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Danny Dyer
DIRECTOR: Christopher Smith