Dead Snow (2009)

Dead Snow

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you “Dead Snow” (original title: “Død Snø”) which is the best horror of 2009 so far (I liked it a tad bit more than "Book of Blood"), and will definitely be one of my favorites this year. Films like this prove that good horror isn’t dead.

7 friends, medical college students, go on to spend a cold weekend at a cabin in Øksfjord, in the mountains. One of them is waiting for his girlfriend to arrive later. Well, she doesn’t so he goes searching for her, while the others stay and wait. It won’t be long until they find out they’re not alone here. There’s also a shitload of Nazi zombies roaming around to keep them company, but as you can already guess – they’re a little grumpy.

First of all, respect to the writers and the director for making the characters interesting. There’s nothing worse than having to watch annoying people. “Dead Snow” starts like most horrors of this type do, so there weren’t any big surprises during the first half. But then the action kicks in and real fun begins. Now, it’s very obvious the makers did their fair share of studying classics of the genre. But “Dead Snow” draws mostly from “Evil Dead”, and I can’t think of a better role model (so to speak) when you make horrors. There are numerous references to it, some more obvious than others, but no blatant rip-offs. No, it’s the cool kind of doing a tribute to some of your favorite films, like Tarantino often does in his. Let me just say – for fans of “Evil Dead” this is a must-see. “Dead Snow” goes even further by almost becoming a comedy towards the end, again like “Evil Dead”. This is where it got me. Up to that point it was just a nice film and nothing more. But then… oh, hell yeah! Ein, zwei, die!

It’s not so much of a great story, but how they put it all together. There you have some people that really know their horrors. A huge recommendation for all horror lovers with a evildeadish sense of humor. Sam Raimi would be proud.

Rating: 9/10

- review by Ventilation Shaft

Recommendations:

The Only Good Nazi, Is an Undead Nazi

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, Dead Snow follows a group of medical students who take a trip to a secluded mountain cabin for a weekend of skiing and fun. Their good time is flipped upside-down when they are faced with the threat of vicious Nazis, but these aren’t Neo-Nazis were talking about here folks…nope, these are Zombie Nazis, straight out of (Compton!) WWII! Now, why would Zombie Nazis do something this uncalled for? Well, there's this conveniently (but well) told back-story where it’s explained that during WWII, a group of Nazis tried to steal valuables from the local people near the end of the war. The townsfolk took action into their own hands, attacking and killing many of the Nazis, and chasing the remaining ones into the frigid mountains, where it is thought that they all had froze to death. Since then, there have been many deadly and strange occurrences to happen in the surrounding area.
 Now, Dead Snow is a Zombie film, but it really does not follow the structure of one, nor, outside of a few scenes, does it hardly ever feel like one. Instead, much of the film, especially the first half, follows the structure of a Neo-Slasher movie. I guess with the feel of a Neo-Slasher film mixed in with the snowy and secluded setting, Dead Snow has a lot in common with another well know Norwegian horror film, 2006's Fritt Vilt (better known in the States as Cold Prey). Both films have similarities, but are essentially quite different from one another, however, it is easy to compare the two in many ways but one, which is Dead Snow is less serious when it gets down to the nitty gritty.


Marketed as a horror comedy, Dead Snow is looked at and compared to films like Shaun of the Dead and the more recent, Zombieland. However, I would not consider it as much a horror comedy, as I would a fun horror movie with comedic moments. I don't think it tries to be as funny as the films just motioned and the humoristic elements seem to be more so at the film’s tail end, when the Undead-Nazis really make their presence known. When the attempts at humor are made, they work pretty well and there are some very funny moments that aren't too over the top and some that are slightly so. Things like a Nazi taking a bite out of one of the characters, only to come up with a mouth full of feathers from the heavy winter jacket. Or, a character that fights off an attacking Nazi while hanging off the edge of a cliff by the intestines of another Nazi. Pretty funny stuff.
 
 
Even though it's been done many times before, Dead Snow has a great setting and the surrounding winter wonderland is the perfect place for blood to be spilt. And there is plenty of blood, guts, brains, and even the before mentioned intestines, to satisfy the basic gore needs of some horror fans. However, one of the issues that I take with this film is the fact that there is a liberal use of CGI blood. Now, there are some great effects on display in Dead Snow and many of them look practical, so I don't really understand the need to put in the extra-extra fake blood. Only thing I could come up with is maybe the folks behind the movie wanted to bloody it up a little more after the fact, so they added in the CGI blood afterwards to meet their quota. Bad move.
 Now, I already alluded to the fact that I liked Dead Snow, but there are plenty of issues with the movie outside of the CGI blood work. Besides the zombified Nazis, it's not a very original film at all. There is very little that we all haven't seen before, from the setting and the story, to the characters as well as the interaction of those characters. Then there is the one thing that can always irritate most any horror fan…self-referential horror characters and situations. There's a ton of self-referencing in this film, from conversations about Friday the 13th and April Fools Day, to a horror-nerd character wearing a Braindamage shirt, who also warns about certain situations and how they would play out in a horror film. Even some little moments like a trip to a tool shed for weapons, i.e. a chainsaw, are clearly inspired by Evil Dead II.
Still, the referential stuff wasn't completely annoying, even though I didn't really like it and it made me cringe a little, it did not ruin the movie for me. Maybe it was because the movie was subtitled, making it less obnoxious? I don't know, this entire film has stuff that would normally bother me, but with this film in particular, these things just didn't. Maybe my low expectations helped and I could have been in just the right mood to enjoy Dead Snow, but it could also be that it's a wicked fun movie, problems or not. It's very well made, with some great music, solid acting, and some very funny little moments. There are also a few standout scenes that display some serious talent, one being a buried alive scene, as well as a scene where a character wakes up from being unconscious, only to see through groggy eyes that they are being eaten alive.
 I think the filmmakers behind Dead Snow did exactly what they set out to do and for the most part, they did it very well. They certainly did it much better than what was done with Cabin Fever 2. I can see many people not liking this film and to a point, I don't blame them. There was quite a bit of hype for Dead Snow and it doesn't live up to that hype whatsoever, but there is a lot of mindless fun to be had with the movie and it's certainly worth a watch with expectations in check.

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Recommendations: High Plains Drifter , Dalkomhan insaeng , Dial M for Murder

Last updated: 2010-04-20 22:59:23 by Mattsuzaka

Dead Snow Review

How many types of horror film monsters can you name? Here’s a few off the top of my head, there are: zombies, the living dead, the undead, demons, slashers, mutants… frozen Nazi zombies? WTF? What will they think of next? Horror films can be fun if done right, but I’m always skeptical.  It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s that there aren’t many that I think are good. When I watch a horror movie, I would love to be scared by it…fat chance! Since that is not going to happen then at least I would like to see some serious carnage, and lots of blood, and lots of flesh being torn to bits. Now, that is my idea of a good time! Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen too often in movies because the American film industry thinks that the American film viewer won’t be able to handle it. Maybe they’re right, what do I know? What I do know is that we don’t get to see the carnage too often and on the off chance that we do see it, it’s not very creative or realistic. BORING!

When I put Dead Snow on my list, my first impression was that I have never seen a Scandinavian film before, let alone a Scandinavian horror film. I wondered if I would like it, I wondered if it would be any good. The film was made by Norwegian filmmakers up in the mountains of Norway. I don’t know anything about the Norwegian film industry, but after seeing Dead Snow I think that these people are sick and I love it. This probably explains the Norwegian curling team pants during the 2010 Olympics. I’m starting to like these people! Plus they have a really cool coast line, have you seen this? It must’ve been a nightmare to map out before they had satellite imagery. How did they do that?

Dead Snow started with a group of pre-med students who were taking their Easter vacation break up in the mountains of Norway. One of the students, Vegard, had a girlfriend who owned a cabin up in the mountain where a host of different winter activities awaited them, sports like: skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, hacking up Nazi zombies—wait that wasn’t part of the plan. But it does end up as THE one activity that they do the most.

The plan was that they were going to spend the night there while they waited for Vegard’s girlfriend to show up. In the morning she would take them on a tour of the mountain and have a good time. Little did they know that that first night at the cabin would be their last night alive! As they sat around enjoying each other’s company while drinking and having fun, there was a knock at the door. It was some random man on his way back to his tent. He just wanted to get warm for a few minutes. The kids let him in, gave him hot coffee and listened to him as he warned them about an evil in the mountains. Of course the kids just thought that the old man was crazy or was just trying to scare them, but they humored him anyway and then sent him on his way.

The next day, Vegard was beginning to worry that his girlfriend was still a no show. Since there was no cell reception up in the mountains he couldn’t call her to make sure everything was okay.  He decided to leave everyone at the cabin while he took the snowmobile up in the mountains to look for her. On his way to find his girlfriend, Vegard came across a tent. Thinking that it might’ve been his girlfriend he peaked inside only to find the strange man from the night before had been eaten alive.

From that point on the Nazi zombies began to pop out of just about everywhere and they were relentless. They were also very creative killers. They took one kid’s head and split it open like a coconut and his brains fell out on to the floor like two big Jell-O molds. Another kid was taken and split in half. If you listened carefully, you can almost hear the Nazi zombies making a wish! (They didn’t translate it, but I’m quite sure that’s what “Arggg RŘŖRЯrřrgg” means. Did you know that in Zombie there are more than 50 unique ‘R’ sounds?) Eyeballs were popped and squeezed out, heads were severed, bodies were mangled, snowmobiles were used in ways they weren’t intended for, people screamed, people ran and fell, and yet more Nazi zombies emerged from the snow. The battle was on, but it was a losing one for the poor pre-med kids who were totally out matched and outnumbered and one of them had an aversion to blood. Not a desired trait when fighting off a mob of Nazi zombies.

The Nazi zombies kicked-ass! I’ve never seen anything like it; it was almost epic. I’m so glad that I saw it. The movie was very fun to watch. It was also funny and featured surprisingly good acting too. They managed to take something normally cheesy and make it fun again. If you’re a fan of good graphic carnage and don’t mind reading a few subtitles, Dead Snow is a must see. Actually, don’t worry about the subtitles so much. There really wasn’t a lot of dialog in the movie, after all most of the spoken lines were just screams of despair and of fright, you don’t need to translate that. Besides, this was Norwegian we’re talking about which is surprisingly similar to English, after all they are related. I even thought it was interesting that they pronounced the ‘K’ in “knife”. I wonder if at some point English did too, but because we’re so damn lazy we stopped pronouncing it. I say let’s stop the shenanigans and drop that stupid ‘K’ entirely…but I stray!

Recommendations: Avatar, The Proposal

- Victor Rodriguez

Dead Snow (2009)

This is one that I heard a lot of hype about.  I was told by countless people that I needed to see this and that I was a douche for not seeing it already (what can I say; I have asshole friends).  So I finally sat down last night to watch it and I almost fell into “the reviewer’s trap”.  I’ll get to this point in a minute.

Dead Snow opens like most horror movies:  A girl is running through the snowy woods, is cornered against a tree, and is then killed by someone or thing wearing a Nazi uniform.  Then we get a quick cut and join our seven medical school buddies on holiday.  They decide to go to a remote cabin in Øksfjord, Norway well off the main road to blow off steam and snow board.  Once at the cabin they run into the standard “creepy, possibly crazy, older guy”-character who tells them about the dark history of the area and the disappearances “in these-there parts.” It seems the Nazi’s used Øksfjord as a strong hold back in WWII (who knew!!?).  They were brutal and sadistic to the locals and looted all their money and valuables (hey what do you expect; they’re Nazis!!).  Eventually the locals revolted and slaughtered them and only Colonel Herzog (or whatever the fuck his rank is) and a few other Nazis survived by running off into the frozen countryside.  The locals assumed they froze to death.  Do ya see where this is going? 

Yes this is a movie full of Nazi-zombies and once the zombie mayhem starts the movie becomes really fun.  But there is a lot of slow setup in the first acts that bogs the movie down and is actually very uninteresting.  But if you can get past the slow beginning you’ll be rewarded with some fun gore and zombie madness.

As I watched this I almost fell into what I above call “the reviewer’s trap.”  This is when you’re reviewing a movie and you start reading too much into what’s going on on screen. I started, essentially, over-analyzing the plot and dissecting the (lack of) character development until I realized that this flick was made for one reason and one reason only:  To have Nazi-zombies killing a bunch of 20-somethings in gruesome ways.  And we do indeed get some great gore f/x.  I love the scene when four zombies tear apart a guy; they each grab one limb and pulled really hard.  Fun stuff. 

Don’t dissect the “Nazi explanation”  or try and figure out why they came back as zombies.  None of that matters here.  This movie was made to be a fun, gory, humorous flick.  I thought the humor was misplaced and actually ended up taking away from the horror.  For example, after one of the vacationers gets his head literally ripped in half by zombies his buddy who was looking on says, “I told you we should have gone to the beach.” It wasn’t funny and it diluted the gory effect and completely took you out of the moment. 

But there’s plenty of gross-out and unique zombie fun to be had here.  And don’t be looking for the Romero-type of zombie here.  These zombies are unique in that they run at full pace, grunt like animals, and even seem to have some kind of level of intelligence.  And the zombie make-up is basic but effective (pretty much green zombies).  The practical f/x are fantastic, but unfortunately the CGI f/x are rather embarrassing looking.

There’s also a sub-plot about a wooden box filled with gold coins and other valuables that’s retarded.  It seems that Herzog and his Nazi horde want their gold.  What the fuck is this, a Leprechaun flick (“I want me gold”)?  But ignore the plot, accept that there’s no character development, and ignore the Nazi-back story.  That’s not what this flick is about.  If ya want some fun, gooey zombie mayhem, well that’s what this flick is about.  Turn off your brain and enjoy.  Check it out.

My Summary:
Director:  Tommy Wirkola (and writer)
Plot:  2.5 out of 5 stars
Gore:  7 out of 10 skulls (it takes a bit to get to the fun)
Zombie Mayhem:  4 out of 5 brains
Reviewed by Scott Shoyer

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Recommendations: From Beyond (1986), Class of Nuke 'Em High, Basket Case

I can't help it; I just hate movies that suck.

Last updated: 2010-03-13 19:07:18 by AnythingHorror