Konferensen

You're probably going to see 'The Conference' described as a comedy/horror. I'm not sure I would describe it that way. There are a lot of quirky characters doing some odd things but it never really felt like a film that was trying to make me laugh. The tone was pretty serious for the most part.

I'm a sucker for a masked killer. The mask here was good, although perhaps a little similar to the one in 'Happy Death Day'. The killer proves himself early on to not be playing around. He is out for blood and he will get it in some pretty violent and often creative fashion.

I think this is a film where the lower your expectations are, the better time you are going to have. Is it a horror masterpiece? No. Is it a reasonably fun time and a good film to watch on Friday the 13th (its release date)? Sure. There are some fun kills and some decent moments of tension here and there. 5.5/10.

Ever noticed how, in horror films, co-workers are always portrayed as loathsome and egocentric people that passionately hate each other? And especially when they're away on a retreat or team-building activity together? I think screenwriters do this deliberately to show "ordinary" people who work in offices and watch horror movies to relax - like me - that we don't have to complain about our own colleagues, after all.

The Swedish "Konferensen" is very similar to the British "Severance". In both films, fellow office workers, who can't stand each other, are taken out of their comfort zones to participate, very much against their will, in forced team-building activities somewhere in a remote location. The films also have in common they are both very light-hearted slashers without too much significance, but very entertaining, nevertheless.

In "Konferensen" we have the administrative employees and project-developers of a rural municipality who are obliged to spend a few days in a sort of boot camp, and at the same time celebrate their great recent achievement; - namely the building of a large shopping center on the grounds where a large, expropriated farm used to be. Lina, who has been absent for a few months due to a burnout, discovers that the over-ambitious Jonas has been falsifying permits and cheating landowners. There is also talk of leases for the new shopping center that don't seem to exist, such as IKEA. Can you imagine a shopping zone in Sweden without an IKEA?

When referring to farmers who were forcibly expropriated, you also know that you don't have to guess long for the identity of the bloodthirsty killer who soon starts butchering the participants one by one, whilst putting on the idiotic mask of the project mascot. It is also not the intention or ambition of writer/director Patrik Eklund to bring forward an original and incredibly intelligent horror film. He clearly just had a pitch-black comedy with a lot of blood, creative kills, and a bit of suspense in mind. He succeeds with "Konferensen".

When I saw that this is a Nordic horror, I pretty much knew it was going to be a comedy as well. The horror genre, even tho it is quite ok in that part of Europe, took the comedy route little by little, and I have to say, it now comes close to perfection. An incredible blend of comedy and kills, fast paced, quirky and overall fun, Konferensen is definitely a must see!

It manages to draw you in with an easy formula, excellent dialogue, great characters, the simplest of location - in the woods horror - but what great woods they got, a plot that reveals itself to be easily predictable yet nevertheless, fun!

The killer has a nice mask, which is always a bonus in these situations, his reasons are understandable yet see through, but the kills are very inventive. Lovely cut scenes between hunts and partying, kills and drinking, make this movie a lovely experience.

I overall knew from the start that I was going to enjoy it, thus I pressed Start with a few expectation, so I am very happy to say, I was not disappointed. This is why I am definitely going to recommend this to everyone, a movie that deserves a little recognition, because it's funny, fresh and well executed.

Cheers!

The Conference is polluted with a cast of deeply unlikable characters who get exactly what is coming to them. Though not without subtlety (a few of the good people are sacrificed along the way) this is essentially a satisfying vengeance film for people who hate corporate shills and the jerks who are destroying the environment.

The violence is genuinely disturbing so I wouldn't recommend this as a light watch if you're in the mood to just laugh, but there are a few undeniably hilarious scenes. Konferensen is primarily driven by a lot of schadenfreude.

This is also one of those flicks where you can somewhat sympathize with the killer even though they're completely out of line by the end.

Plot

A team-building conference for municipal employees turns into a nightmare when accusations of corruption begin to circulate and plague the work environment. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins murdering the participants.

Cast

Unfamiliar

Verdict

Slasher is a sub-genre I grew up with but honestly was never very enamored with. Give me monsters, zombies, vampires, something psychological but a person in a mask running around being all stabby stabby? Meh.

This Swedish stab at the genre has a couple of things going for it, the killer looks fantastic and the ensemble of characters is varied and much appreciated in a world of generic 20 something pretty people type films.

However, that's mostly it. The whole film is played very safe and doesn't bring much to the table you won't have seen a hundred times before.

It's not bad, but if you've watched many slashers you'll have pretty much seen this.

Rants

I recently watched one of the new Scream movies, you had characters stabbed 20+ times, people stabbed had the knife pulled up through their innards, people smashed in the head with bricks and then 5 4 3 2 1 they're up, running, fighting, chatting as if it never happened. Slasher shouldn't be a genre you can't take seriously and the modern king of slashers should be taking it more seriously. Absurd, laughable and as believable as Roadrunner vs Coyote in it's approach. Can't wait for an anvil to drop on a characters head in the next Scream movie and them to walk it off.

Breakdown

Great mix of characters Solid killer appearance.

Mediocre overall Instantly forgettable.