Dead Snow

I have had this movie on Blu Ray for a while and recently revisted. it. Dead Snow is a Norwegian production and is a Nazi zombie horror comedy. Dead Snow definitely delivers the gory goods and gives a nod to the classics that came before, most notably Evil Dead and Dead Alive/Braindead. The film is definitely campy,, but when the horror needs to be amped up, it still plays well. The make up f/x and gore look great. Overall, I had a good time watching this and this Blu Ray is definitely a keeper.

The mandatory circumstances to watch a movie like "Dead Snow" are as follows: at a horror themed festival amongst hundreds of outrageously enthusiast and derailed fellow genre fanatics - preferably at 3am on a weekend night – and surrounded by booze and snacks. If this shouldn't be possible, try and gather as many friends together for a drunken movie night, but whatever you do, don't watch this cheerfully repugnant and positively demented movie all by yourself as it is too much of a crowd-pleaser! The formula of laugh-evoking zombie splatter movies isn't new (even Nazi zombie movies have been done before, for example "Shock Waves" and "Zombie Lake"), but spirited and ambitious young filmmakers never cease to invent original variations on the sub genre. Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola took his cast & crew high up north, for a splatter film in a beautiful and isolated snowy setting. A group of medical students – that are also die-hard horror movie freaks – trek to a remote mountain cabin for a weekend of snow scooter fun, drinking and casual sex. The first night of their arrival already, they receive a visit from a mysterious and grumpy old local who tells them a grotesquely absurd story about sinister events that occurred in the area near the end of WWII. The atmospheric tale says that fed up villagers combined forces and chased their Nazi occupants into the mountains where they all froze to death. The clique laughs away the warnings, but subsequently discovers a box of old coins that promptly resurrects an army of Nazi soldiers in a far developed state of decomposition. The first half of "Dead Snow" is slow-paced, atmospheric and full of little tributes to classic zombie movies; particularly "The Evil Dead" movies. The students are standard horror stereotypes, including the nerd and the blond bimbo, and thus the first half also contains childish pranks and gratuitous sex sequences. As soon as the Nazi zombies emerge, however, "Dead Snow" is a non-stop spitfire of blood, gore and intestines. Apparently the production of this film required 450 liters of fake blood, and that isn't nearly so surprising if you watch the end result. There's chainsaw action, decapitations, rope pulling with intestines, axe murders, machine gun concerts and disembowelment. The effects are top-notch in spite of the obvious budgetary restrictions, and the make up art on the zombies is very impressive. The rotting uniformed corpses look quite menacing, especially their leader. The snowy landscapes are beautiful picture to behold, although it's even more amusing to see the white snow color red with blood! Tommy Wirkola is a clearly talented director and hopefully a promising long career awaits him.

The medical students Martin (Vegar Hoel), Roy (Stig Frode Henriksen) and Erlend (Jeppe Beck Laursen) travel with their friend Vegard (Lasse Valdal) to meet with the girls Hanna (Charlotte Frogner), Liv (Evy Kasseth Røsten) and Chris (Jenny Skavlan) and spend vacation in the isolated cabin in the wilderness of Øksfjord that belongs to Vegard's girlfriend Sara (Ane Dahl Torp).

When they arrive, the do not find Sara but they believe she is practicing sports on the snow. Soon a weird traveler (Bjørn Sundquist) visits them and tells the story about the resistance of the locals during the World War II against the Nazi invaders that were pursued and assumed frozen to death.

On the next morning, Vegard drives his snowmobile seeking out Sara in the mountains. Meanwhile his friends are attacked by a Nazi zombie army led by the evil Commander Herzog (Ørjan Gamst) and they have to fight to survive. Will they succeed in their intent?

"Død Snø" is a zombie comedy by Tommy Wirkola with a very similar storyline of "Necrosis" by Jason Robert Stephens and released on the same year (2009). In common, both authors seem to have been inspired by "Evil Dead" and using different evil.

The Norwegian film is funny and gore and I like this combination. The special effects are great and fans of the genre will never be disappointed. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Heading into Dead Snow I was pretty much expecting a Shaun of the Dead type horror flick. Something with more comedy than horror. Which isn't really the case here. It's consistently filled with small or big jokes, but thankfully it's more horror oriented. I suppose I thought this because of the awesome poster displaying a decapitated half-head of a nazi-zombie lying in the snow giving the onlooker a weird look. Not too mention a dude with a blood-drenched chainsaw behind the head. I'm not the biggest fan of hor-coms, but I was really interested in this one because of the whacky premise. So, was it a blizzard of bliss, or a storm of suckage?

The story revolves around a bunch of medical students getting away for some rest and relaxation during the Easter break. Unknown to them, they've set up camp at the absolute wrong place. Back in the day, evil Nazi's used these hills for an escape route or safe haven way back when, and it's said that this is where they supposedly holed up and eventually died. Well, they ain't all that dead. They look it, but they ain't dead. Our medical students eventually meet these blood-thirsty German maniacs and the red stuff starts flowing. A mad dash for survival ensues, and it all ends up being a 'hail' of a lot of fun.

The flick isn't perfect as it suffers some from small horror clichés, like dumb decision making. But at the same time, they handle these clichés in a somewhat refreshing manner. Some cheap scare tactics are used early on to get you on edge, but those are barely used later on, when violence and creative gore take hold.

Dead Snow really surprised me. I wasn't expecting such a fun flick. The characters were all well-fleshed out, the dialogue well-written and funny, the gore aplenty, the horror nods abundant and awesome (Braindead t-shirts?!), and even the score and soundtrack were good. This should become a pretty big hit for horror fans, well I hope so anyways.

Tommy Wirkola sure knows how to make a zombie film! Not only does he reference many classic zombie films, but in turn he makes his own unique spin on the zombie tale and he does it well. The plot has striking resemblance to many slashers, as it starts off with a group of medical students taking a ski vacation. However, it takes a turn with random when Nazi Zombies decide to ruin their fun in order to take back their stolen treasures. Dead Snow has many things going for it apart from its odd story; it is well written and directed, all the actors are very good and the gore levels are extremely high and rival almost every modern zombie flick.

It goes to show that foreign horror (especially European) is loads better than most American trash released. This film comes from Norway and is a shining example. Simple in its execution, with a group of like-able characters, a witty script and much disemboweling and de-limbing, Dead Snow is one of the year's best horror films and should make its way into many Top lists soon enough.

4/5