Line #7 Film/Severance2006


1	[[quoteright:182:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/severance.jpg]]
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3	''Severance'' is a 2006 British comedy horror film written by James Moran (''Series/DoctorWho''), directed by Christopher Smith (''Film/Creep2004'', ''{{Film/Triangle}}'') and starring Danny Dyer, Laura Harris and Creator/TimMcInnerny.
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5	In this film, a group of office workers for military arms corporation Palisade Defence are stalked by a group of bloodthirsty, psychopathic masked ex-soldiers while on a corporate team-building retreat in the mountains of Hungary.
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7	Not to be confused with the [[Series/Severance2022 2022 Apple TV series of the same name]], which is more of a PsychologicalHorror.
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9	----
10	!!This film contains examples of:
11	* AllMythsAreTrue: Each of the horror stories the members of the group tell one another about the retreat has an element of truth in it... even the one where the guy finds himself surrounded by hot women.
12	* BearTrap: Gordon gets caught in one while the group are playing paintball and, after a gruesome sequence in which the group desperately tries to free him, ends up losing his left leg below the knee.
13	* BloodyHilarious: Steve desperately searches for a place to preserve Gordon's leg so it can be reattached when they get back home. He ends up cramming it into the coach's mini fridge.
14	* BoyishShortHair: Maggie's hair is cut pretty short, and she turns out to be a decent ActionSurvivor.
15	* BrickJoke: Steve hires two escorts on the Internet for "entertainment" during the trip. Later, Steve and Maggie discovers the "real" lodge, where their boss George is partying... with the escorts Steve ordered earlier.
16	* BulletHolesAndRevelations: Billy and Maggie are shot at by one of the killers in the TortureCellar, but it's not until later that [[spoiler: Billy finds out that [[MortalWoundReveal he was hit]]]].
17	* {{Caltrops}}: The coach is disabled by a spike strip as the remaining members of the group are attempting to escape the forest.
18	* CruelAndUnusualDeath
19	* DisposableSexWorker: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] [[spoiler: Two escorts are hired by Steve and do become caught up in the killers' attack but they prove quite adept at dealing with the situation and both are among the survivors.]]
20	* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title of the movie refers to both to the termination of employment and the other kind of "termination" that happens to members of the group.
21	* FaceDeathWithDignity
22	** [[spoiler: Billy]] dies from a gunshot wound to the chest, covering Maggie's mouth to stop her form crying over his fate, which would alert the killers.
23	** [[spoiler: Richard]] manages a smile after deciding to make a HeroicSacrifice.
24	* FinalGirl: Averted. [[spoiler:One would expect only one female surviving through a film of this nature, but there's actually three.]]
25	* HeroicSacrifice: After being mocked, spat on and pelted with objects, [[spoiler: Richard finally steps off the land mine and takes two of the soldiers with him.]]
26	** SenselessSacrifice: As it turns out, [[spoiler:the mine needed a handful of agonising seconds to go off. Enough time for Richard to head for cover, had he been aware of that]].
27	* HowWeGotHere: The movie opens with the two escorts and George being chased through the woods before flashing back to the beginning of the trip.
28	* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler: Jill]] is tied to a tree, soaked with gasoline and then set on fire by the soldiers.
29	* LandmineGoesClick: Poor [[spoiler: Richard]] finds this out first hand.
30	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Before Steve and Maggie discover [[spoiler: Gordon]] is missing, one of the masked soldiers can be seen quietly dragging him off in the background while they're having a smoke.
31	* MoodWhiplash: At one point, the film takes a break from a menacing and genuinely dramatic ChaseScene and switches to an epically hilarious scene of George [[HopeSpot trying to take out the remaining three psychos with a cutting-edge handheld missile launcher]], set to the tune of ''[[{{Eagleland}} Stars and Stripes Forever]]'', [[spoiler: [[MisguidedMissile but instead accidentally blows up]] [[BlackComedy a random commercial airliner passing overhead]]]]. Can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbhiQT4eVt0 here]].
32	* TheNamesake: In the base camp near the end of the movie, one of the buildings has a very faded painting of the word "Szeveranz" on the side in large letters, referencing the movie's title.
33	* OffWithHisHead: Harris is earlier shown discussing with Jill how a person can stay conscious for a couple of minutes after their head has been chopped off. [[spoiler: Harris is later decapitated and his dying moments can be summed up as "huh, I was right".]]
34	* PrettyInMink: The two escorts wear fur jackets.
35	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: During the bus crash scene, the stunt driver deliberately hit the ramp much faster than originally instructed, creating a much more spectacular crash. Because the bus stunt could only be done once, the script had to be hastily rewritten to accommodate the characters becoming substantially more injured than originally planned.
36	* ShoutOut: One of the group mentions a CRM-114 "Platoon Buster" anti-personnel landmine, referencing the CRM-114 radio in ''Film/DrStrangelove''. Additionally, both films end with the song ''We'll Meet Again'', this time as an acoustic guitar version performed by Ed Harcourt.
37	** Steve's dream, where he finds himself sitting in a chair in the cabin and then standing at a tree outside, is a reference to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
38	** One of the escorts hired earlier in the movie (see BrickJoke), Nadia, shoots the Flamethrower Killer with an MP-5 submachine gun. The slow-motion shot of her firing the weapon with her coat open and a breast partially exposed is a direct homage to the Russ Meyer movie ''Film/FasterPussycatKillKill''.
39	** The scene where Steve is fed grapes by robed girls is a shout out to ''Film/AClockworkOrange''.
40	* SpidersAreScary: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when a spider climbs onto Jill. She reacts affectionately and lets the critter out of a window, only to be horrified by the sight of a soldier spying on them.
41	* TheLoad: Richard has a few instances where he's paralyzed by the events going on around him.
42	* TortureCellar: The group discover one under the dilapidated cabin in which they're staying.
43	* {{Uberwald}}: The movie takes place in the mountains of Hungary.

Context Film / Severance2006