In the traditional prologue, the immortal serial killer is
chasing three
people, two scantily clad bimbettes(Judit Viktor and Juli Drajkó)
who speak some
strange Slavic tongue, and a heavyset guy named George(David
Gilliam), who gets
caught in a snare and just as the killer is about to plunge his
huge knife
into our hero's gut…credits. We've seen this a thousand times.
But that's okay,
the rest of the movie more than makes up for it.
Richard (Tim McInnerny), is a middle manager for a major arms
manufacturer
called Palisade Defense, and he and his sales team are going on
retreat in the
company's luxurious lodge in Hungary, ostensibly for “team
building”
activities, whatever that means.
All the corporate stereotypes are included: Steve (Danny Dyer)
is a druggie
and is proud of it. Harris (Toby Stephens) is a know-it-all
jerk, Gordon (Andy
Nyman) is a toadying fussbudget, Billy (Babou Ceesay) is a
beginner, while
Brit brunette Jill (Claudie Blakley) isn't all that comfortable
about the moral
implications of her job and American blonde Maggie (Laura
Harris), just seems
there to be decorous. Clearly, this is supposed to be a comedy,
and it is.
As the killer doesn't show up until the final third of the
movie, what we
have is a comedy of manners which is more about bonding than
anything else, The
Bus Driver(Sandar Boros) kicks everyone off the bus at some
distance from the
lodge, and Richard and his not so merry troupe go traipsing
through the woods
on foot, with a stoned Steve being led on a leash. Apparently,
the lodge they
wind up in is not what they were expecting. More bonding and
guessing about
what the lodge was before the company bought it, these are
dramatized in several
styles ranging from silent grand guignol to Benny Hill. This is
bought about
by some foreshadowing which has something to do with a meat pie.
Then after
some more fake-outs the stuff actually begins for real.
This is exactly what we want a slasher film to be. It's
intelligent, funny
when it has to be, then goes all out for the action and the
gore. The acting is
great, everybody in the cast, with the exception of some of the
killers, gets
a chance to shine, Harris especially. The methods of execution
are inventive
and the special effects sublime.
For fans of the genre, this is the film of the year.
Eric Lurio
Richard E. Schiff
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