The Conference

Yet another masked killer horror. What with the recent ok-ish Totally Killer, and the upcoming Eli Roth directed Thanksgiving, they seem to be all the rage . . . . again! The Conference takes the Totally Killer route with it being a comedy too, however the tone switch between comedy and horror is handled better here, and isn't as jarring. This is chock full of the usual horror tropes, with a group of people, some you hope survive, some you hope meet a grizzly end and of course when the killer strikes, the deaths are wonderfully gruesome. This is a fun Swedish horror that should rocket to the top of the Netflix Top 10 list.

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!

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".

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.

First the story line, A team of municipal employees go for a team outing in the name of competency building exercise, which ironically becomes one when a killer starts killing the team and the crew!

Not a comedy-horror :- I wasn't expecting too much horror as this movie was mentioned as a satirical-horror or a horror-comedy.

Pros & Cons :- + The movie takes a pretty intense horror tone without wasting much time, even as soon as the crew settles in.

+ There maybe some comedy elements, but this was a gripping, intense and a full length horror movie for me!

+ I also liked how certain characters with negative intention suffered gruesome deaths.

• I felt the killer got lucky to find most of his victims alone and vulnerable.

Overall, you would still enjoy this movie despite its minor flaws!