What's more refreshing about Severance is how the movie's humor offsets the violence, and even that is pretty restrained (at least by modern standards).
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Director and co-writer Christopher Smith, mischievously blending "The Office" with "Friday the 13th," keeps things fierce and funny enough to give Steve Carell ideas.
Severance still seems a few rewrites away from living up to its potential, but it's remarkable how much just a modicum of wit can spice up the standard backwoods slice-and-dice. Scaring people with a horror film is easy; entertaining them takes a little skill.
70
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
For horror fans who crave a few laughs along with their ritual decapitations and limb severings.
70
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
A winning combination of laughs and genuine shocks.
70
VarietyDerek Elley
VarietyDerek Elley
Escalating blend of black humor and grisly goings-on in the wilds of Hungary fully delivers in its latter half.
Manages to mix in a few good gags with the requisite gore.
40
Village Voice
Village Voice
When Smith's Grand Guignol tableaux are strung together, they lack any forward momentum. Some take inspired comic flight. The rest crash to the ground and, like so much else in Severance, go splat.