Movie Haiku - Severance

www.jamesmoran.blogspot.com

Dir: Christopher Smith

Cast: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens

Office trip goes bad

team slaughter not team bonding

where's his severed foot?


soulmining rating: ****

I ought to say a few words about Severance. This is the film that my friend James wrote (you can read my interview with him here), and yesterday was the first screening of the finished film since all the post-production work, picture grading and sound mixing was completed. It's always a little daunting seeing something where you've got a personal connection, but thankfully I really enjoyed the film. It manages to balance its comedic and horrific elements very effectively - a difficult job to pull off successfully - and the casting works surprisingly well. I don't really want to say any more at the moment as the film is still some way from general release; as you'll see from the above, there's no official website or poster images available yet, let alone any publicity stills. Talking to James after the screening it's looking like Pathé are aiming for a 'late Summer' release and they're hoping to get a 15 certificate, although on this evidence I reckon it'll be a borderline decision! Anyway, it deserves to do well when it comes out so keep your eyes open for it later in the year...

In the meantime I spotted an interview with Danny Dyer in this month's Maxim magazine where he mentions Severance:

(Warning - contains minor spoilers)

Maxim: Do the clothes you're wearing affect how you play a role?

Danny Dyer: Oh, definitely. That's quite a major thing for me. You turn up in the morning, you're knackered, got the hump, a bit snappy, might not even be in the mood for working for a while. You go into your trailer, and slowly you start to come round when you're putting your wardrobe and make-up on. The last two films I've done, one was a horror film, so the clothes are soaked in blood and ripped and muddy. It was winter and we were filming at night - it was minus-two and I've got bloodsoaked clothes on - and it's vile, but it helps with the role.

Maxim: What film was this for?

Danny Dyer: One of them's called Severance - that's the horror film. That's about terrorists and was filmed in Hungary. It's really gory and filthy, and I'm the one that survives. I'm the last man standing, you know?