Severed: Forest of the Dead

The hunt is on and you are the lunch
Forests remind me of oceans for they cover such a vast part of our planet yet we know so little about everything that goes on in them. Hidden species lurk in deep trees and slither at night as scientists only scratch the surface of the life on this planet, a life as we know of today, being a blink of an eye in the total life span of planet Earth, filed with wonders and apparently even zombies!

Severed is a very interesting movie, one I have never heard of before but as it caught my curiosity and I was in the mood for some ooey gooey horror I decided to give it a go. I have always loved forests and growing up in Europe as a kid I enjoyed many sun filled days and some nice camping, but a few more movies such as this one and I don't know if I will ever see them the same way again. Zombie movies make me think of malls and shopping centers, as hazard, death and destruction are in crowded areas, where the surviving group cans plumage through sporting good stores, cafes and sleep...

Surprisingly Good
I know, I know a forest full of the undead running around eating people doesn't exactly sound like the greatest plot for a movie. Judging by hollywoods latest attempts at making zombie movies I wasn't all that thrilled going into this one. I'd all but given up on any hope of any more good zombie pictures being made any time soon. I figured since "Lions Gate" & "Anchorbay" had raped, stomped & shat all over what little new hype that'd been sparked for the genre that we'd be waiting another 10 to 20 years for someone to care enough to write another descent script like "Shaun", "28", "Undead", or "Land".

Well, I'm pleased to let all you zombie fans out there know that this one's actually a pretty good one. I'll admit, there are still some plot holes, but all & all this one's a keeper. Ghoul make up & effects are spot on, although everytime some one would get eaten or really chewed up in a violent way it would tend to happen off camera(that was a little annoying if you...

Gets Better As It Goes Along
"Severed" is an okay low budget Canadian zombie movie that gets better as it goes along. The standard bioenginneered rogue chemical compound thingy, designed as a growth hormone for trees, instead creates zombies that terrorize both lumberjacks and protestors in a remote logging camp. The first fifteen or twenty minutes are a bit slow, but once the zombie action starts, it actually gets pretty involving. Lots of blood, but not actually as gory as other zombie movies you've probably seen. The acting is uneven, but then the actors are frequently required to deliver some pretty bad dialogue, Sarah Lind, as one of the protestors, in particular. Paul Campbell, who plays the son of a corporate executive sent to check out the camp, actually makes the best impression with his role. The zombies, while effectively used in some scenes, are a bit of a liability. They seem impossibly slow and awkward, to the point where you start to wonder why the heroes don't just stay in place and then...

Click to Editorial Reviews