Christopher Smith and Laura Harris on Severance

The director and star of the British horror comedy tell us about smashing stereotypes, killing liberals and chasing girls through the woods of Eastern Europe

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For his debut feature, Creep director Christopher Smith was stuck in the London Underground. For the follow-up, Severance, he burst out into the great outdoors - specifically the forests of Hungary, where a group of colleagues from an arms manufacturer get more than they bargained for on a team-building weekend at an isolated lodge.

Of course, the horror genre that sees townies meeting nasty demises in the backcountry is well-worn, so Smith was keen to find a fresh tone. Luckily, he seems to have felt inspired. "I was forced - which wasn't the case with Creep - to really think more with every single piece, because with this hillbilly kind of idea you feel, 'I've seen that before'. That was brilliant for me," he says. "I had to be outthinking myself, to make it feel fresh, when I'm actually just essentially making a movie about people stuck in the woods."

The film grew from a script by first time writer James Moran, who according to Smith, "wrote it was very much as a comedy. Around 80 per cent of the structure and the way it would work was there. There weren't enough girls in it though, so first of all I said, let's find a way of getting some girls in it, because it was just all these guys."

One of the film's girls is Maggie, played by Canadian actress Laura Harris ('24', The Faculty). Maggie is a smart professional and, subsequently, a kick-ass heroine, so must have been fun to play. "She holds back and is part of the team, so that by the time she gets there towards the end it's believable," says Harris. "That was awesome." Smith adds. "She's the rational one. She stands in the corner observing and eventually she takes charge."

Next page • "It's no fun watching a guy get chased through the woods"