HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Severed'', titled ''Severed: Forest of the Dead'' in the United States, is a 2005 Canadian
zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
directed by
Carl Bessai Carl Bessai (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Bessai studied at OCAD University and at York University in Toronto graduating with a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He got his start directing documentary fi ...
and set in a remote logging community following an incident where a genetic experiment goes wrong.


Plot

In a forest on a remote island, a team of loggers led by Mac (Julian Christopher) face opposition from protesters led by Rita, a known
eco-terrorist Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence of ...
. The company that employs Mac's team is conducting an experiment in the area, supervised by Carter, a chemist. One of Mac's loggers hits a spiked tree and suffers a wound from his chainsaw. The sap of the tree infects his wounds and causes him to undergo a transformation. The president of the company decides to send his son Tyler to investigate the loss of contact with the loggers, hoping Tyler will learn more about the industry. When he arrives, Tyler discovers most of the loggers and protesters have become zombies. He comes across a bunker where Mac, Rita and Carter have taken shelter, along with other survivors including Mac's apprentice Luke (Michael Teigen). The company learns of the zombie outbreak when a chemist examining one of Carter's samples at their lab is infected by the altered sap. Tyler's father wishes to send an evacuation to rescue his son but is overruled by the other members of the board, who decide to set up a quarantine. The survivors leave the bunker and attempt to drive off the island, but they find the road blocked by the company. They get separated and several more victims fall to the zombies. After reuniting at the logging base, Mac recovers another truck and the group decides to travel to another abandoned facility in the hopes of radioing for help. At the camp, Mac finds the radio dead, while Tyler and Rita begin to become close. Luke is dragged off by the zombies when Carter becomes too frightened to help him. Later, Carter becomes overwhelmed by guilt and confesses that the company had him conducting genetic experiments to grow the trees faster, leading to an increase in profit. The next day, the remaining survivors attempt to drive to another potential exit but encounter more zombies. Mac loses hope when he sees Luke as a zombie, as he considered Luke a son. He tearfully kills Luke with an axe, after which Rita tries to console him. They find the road blocked but hear a chopper approaching. Instead of saving them, however, the chopper opens fire. They are rescued by another renegade band of surviving loggers, who reveal that the company plans to kill them all. The militaristic nature of the camp disturbs the remaining survivors, especially a sadistic game they play in which a selected member of the camp must kill a certain number of zombies in a pen. That night, the head of the camp attempts to rape Rita, but Tyler defends her. They admit their attraction and have sex. The next day, Carter is selected to enter the pen, but he becomes frightened and jams his gun, ending up needing to be rescued. He is bullied mercilessly for this by the loggers, who blame him for the crisis. His spirit broken, Carter takes an axe and leaves the camp alone that night. Zombies wander in through the open gate and kill everyone except Mac, Rita and Tyler, who wake up and flee. At the gate, Mac is bitten. Rita confesses to him as he turns that she was the one who spiked the tree, and with his last breaths as a human, Mac forgives her. While running through the woods, Tyler and Rita hear Carter, who is surrounded by zombies, screaming for help. Tyler attempts to save him, but they are both overrun by zombies. Rita, now the last survivor, sees the lights of a car and happens upon a road she begins to follow in hopes of escape. In his mansion, Tyler's father looks sadly at a picture of himself with Tyler, realizing that his actions led to the loss of his son.


Cast

* Paul Campbell as Tyler * Sarah Lind as Rita *
Julian Christopher Julian Christopher (November 7, 1944 – February 26, 2023) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films and television series from the 1970s to the present, including '' The Magician'' and the episode " Code of Honor" f ...
as Mac *
JR Bourne David Bourne (born April 8, 1970), known professionally as JR Bourne, is a Canadian actor. After appearing in many films and television series, Bourne's first major breakthrough was the Showtime series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1998–2000). He achieve ...
as Carter *Michael Teigen as Luke *Leanne Adachi as Stacey * Patrick Gallagher as Anderson *
Sage Brocklebank Sage Brocklebank (born January 14, 1978) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Buzz McNab, a long-standing role on the comedy-drama ''Psych''. He also produces movies and writes for theatre and film. Career Actor Since 2001 Brockleban ...
as Mills * Brad Sihvon as Tom * Zak Santiago as Ramon *
Alex Zahara Alex Zahara is a Canadian television, film and voice actor. Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, he was involved with theatre while still in school, performing in a stage version of '' MASH''. He later taught the "Acting for Teens" class at the Van ...
as Smith


Production

Filming took place in
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
.


Release

''Severed'' premiered at the 2005
Screamfest Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a Horror fiction, horror film festival founded by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in August 2001. It runs over ten days during the month of October and is hosted at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in ...
and was released on DVD August 1, 2006.


Reception

Robert Koehler of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called the film an ingenious genre film "that should greatly please the hardcore crowd and arthouse denizens." Brian McNail from Brutal As Hell called the film "boring and stereotypical", though he stated that the gore and acting were both good. Daniel Benson of HorrorTalk.com rated it 3.5/5 stars and called it "a fairly enjoyable zombie romp" that lacks originality. Lee Roberts of Best-Horror-Movies.com rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that the film followed the rules of the zombie genre well but did not actually have zombies in it. Lee also criticized the film's lack of originality.
Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and ...
called the film generic and predictable, though he wrote that the fresh setting and uniquely Canadian feel help.


References


External links

* {{Carl Bessai 2005 films 2005 horror films Canadian science fiction horror films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Films shot in British Columbia Films directed by Carl Bessai Films scored by Clinton Shorter Brightlight Pictures films Canadian zombie films 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films English-language horror films