Over the past few years a decent string of genre flicks have been coming out of Britain. Such fare as Neil Marshall's claustrophobic The Descent and the "zomcom" Shaun Of The Dead. Christopher Smith's Severance joins those films making their way over to North America and while it's not the best of the bunch being brought over, it's still a lot better than a good portion of low-budget flicks being made on American soil.

As a follow-up to his 2005 underground horror flick, Creep, Smith has lightened things up from that effort deciding instead to do a take-off of 80's slasher movies and big business. Even his opening scene harkens back to the slice 'n' dice flicks of the past as it has girls falling in a pit stripping to their bras and a guy being killed while hanging upside down. So far, so good.

From there we meet the employees of Palisade Defense who are on their way for a work funded weekend retreat in order to have some fun and learn to work together better as a "team". There's the usual suspects on board: the nebbish boss who has little control over his staff, the safety expert who takes his job a little bit too seriously, the magic mushroom eating slacker, the token American employee, and everyone else you'd expect to see coming from an office environment.

After they're left behind by the tour bus driver they have to go through the woods to find the lodge on their own and they come across a fairly rundown building in the middle of nowhere. They decide to make the best of things and after an amusing moment where they tell various stories of what the lodge used to be in the past (there's an amusing silent film tale, a mention of war criminals, and a "sex lodge" scene with old men and big-breasted nurses in skimpy outfits) things start to go wrong.

First off, a few of them swear they've seen somebody watching them from the forest, a fact that is confirmed when they find their tour bus later on with the driver murdered. They also come across various traps set-up in the woods (including a morbidly funny scene involving a bear trap and a subsequent attempt to shove a severed leg into a mini fridge). From there they have to try and stay alive as they begin being killed off in various ways.

Despite the fact Smith and co-writer James Moran's script is pretty dry getting started and there's pretty much a lack of suspense in the entire movie, Severance makes for fairly entertaining viewing thanks to it not taking itself too seriously, having a solid ensemble cast, and offering up some minor bloodshed and humourous moments (and banter amongst the characters). It's not nearly as funny or scary as it should've been, and it doesn't keep up it's homage to old school slashers, but you're sure to find something within that'll please you.

Tim McInnerny pretty much steals the show as Richard, the bumbling boss who keeps saying inappropriate things by accident and is unable to keep any kind of control of the situation. He's backed up by all-around good performances as each actor manages to define their characters to the stereotype the script has given them.

While not as outright funny, scary or satirical as it should've been, Severance still offers up enough amusement and bloody moments to hold your attention. And, really, any movie that has an open shirted escort service employee firing a machine gun can't be all that bad...

Currently in limited theatrical release from Magnolia Pictures. Visit their Severance Webpage to see if it's playing in your area. (Chris Hartley, 5/25/07)

Directed By: Christopher Smith.
Written By: James Moran, Christopher Smith.

Starring: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens.