Dead Snow - Red vs. Dead

Invigorating sequel to the popular Norwegian horror movie of 2009 is good - sometimes great -fun. It brings back the much tormented Vegar Hoel as Martin, once again forced to battle zombie hordes. In a delicious twist, his severed arm has been replaced with the limb once worn by nefarious Nazi zombie leader Herzog (Orjan Gamst). This gives him increased strength and a special ability, which are going to come in handy. Fortunately, Martin will have allies this time, including a self-appointed American zombie squad, consisting of no more than two girls and a guy.

The gleefully politically incorrect humour is refreshing in a sequel that goes for the "bigger and better" approach. It's got lots of action, lots of gore, and is quite exciting at times. This time the zombified antagonists take on a great many victims. The acting is terrific from all concerned, with Hoel endearing as our hero. Gamst is fantastic as our unstoppable foe, for whom the retrieval of gold just wasn't enough. The integrated cast this time around also includes such American actors as Martin Starr, as Daniel, and Derek Mears, as Stavarin. The script, by Hoel, co-star Stig Frode Henriksen (who plays the nerdy Glenn Kenneth), and director Tommy Wirkola dabbles in self-referential remarks, but never goes overboard in this regard. There are some great gore gags, often involving internal organs. But the best asset of the movie is the healthy dose of humour, which makes all of this very easy to watch. The subplot with the incompetent cops is amusing but not as much fun as most of the movie.

If you liked the first "Dead Snow", you just might love this one.

Eight out of 10.

Can't believe it has been 5 years already since the first "Død Snø" movie was out. Time really flies by fast, and this sequel has been long awaited. And it was with a great amount of expectation and high hopes that I sat down to watch "Død Snø 2".¨

Whereas the first movie was entertaining and loosely similar to "Evil Dead", then "Død Snø 2" has added more comedy, but also a great upgrade in budget, and it really shows.

Everything in "Død Snø 2" is just a step up from what it was in the first movie, from the camera-work, to the zombie make-up, to the production value, and the list goes on and on. And for the gorehounds, then "Død Snø 2" really offer a good amount of entertainment.

"Død Snø 2" is entertaining, just bear in mind that there is a fair amount of comedy throughout the movie as well, and if you enjoy movies such as "Evil Dead", "Shaun of the Dead", "Dead Alive" and the like, then you will most definitely like "Død Snø 2" as well.

I was more than genuinely entertained and surprised by this movie, and it is a very worthy addition to the movie collection of any zombie aficionado. And the movie has enough contents to sustain more than a single watching. "Død Snø 2" is well worth the time and effort to sit down and watch.

I am rating a "Død Snø 2" a solid and well-deserved 9 out of 10 stars.

Everything in zombie movies has been done to death (see what I did there?). And yet, here comes a movie that actually adds to the genre whilst simultaneously disgusting me and making me belly laugh. And not one of those infectious belly laughs. You know, when you are in a theatre and something mildly amusing on-screen sends a ripple through the crowd which grows; mostly because the girl down the front has a weird cackling laugh that morphs into a full-on snort fest, and that just sets everyone else off. Yeah, well, it's not like that.

I was on my own. And I laughed out loud multiple times. I genuinely LOLed. That's as rare as rocking horse faeces.

Dead Snow 1 was a revelation; a brilliant twist on the genre. Dead Snow 2 adds again. The comedy elements are ratcheted up as is the budget. A budget wisely spent on special effects and sheer scale.

If you are after genuine chills and insights into the human condition, Dead Snow 2 will leave you cold (see what I did there too?). But if your appetite runs to comedic gore in the vein of Peter Jackson's 'Brain Dead', you will love this one.

I personally thought the first one was better. This one tried and I appreciate the effort that is put into this. But it just felt way too drawn out and the over the top moments seemed more silly than it actually being cool. There is no suspense or anything all that cool really, even if it has over the top blood and gore scenes. While the zombies were actually kind of intimidating and creepy in the first one it, just isn't the case here. I thought some ideas that are dumb and clever at the same time sort of worked, even if it doesn't make much sense if you think about it. Yeah, they created a new genre of zombies, but that doesn't make it particularly good or anything. So the zombies knows how to talk, communicate, fist fight, use weapons and be able to run. And the head of the zombie pack can resurrect the dead, without much explanation. The first "Dead Snow" was a survival movie...Well sort of. This one is a zombie brawl, it's somewhat entertaining for a while but it loses it's flavor quickly. I give this flick a 6.3/10 because of the effort, even if some parts of it seemed quite pointless.

6.3/10

Version: Grimm Up North festival screening

Actors: 6/10

Plot/script: 7/10

Photography/visual style: 6/10

Music/score: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

Nazi zombies! 2009's Norwegian horror film 'Dead Snow' was the very definition of a 'high concept' movie, given that it could be fully described and sold with those two words (and punctuation). I found it no more than OK, but someone would appear to have appreciated it because Hollywood tapped director Tommy Wirkola up for 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters', starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

Again, critical reviews were somewhat frosty (no pun intended), but H&G:WH made a comfortable profit, and Wirkola has used his industry cred to come back to 'Dead Snow' for a sequel.

The Hollywood influence is evident in several areas of 'Dead Snow 2'. It is considerably larger in scale, for a start, including pitch battles between the undead fascists and their new (or rather, old) Communist adversaries, as well as a tank, large numbers of extras, and a lot more daylight wide shots that indicate a higher budget.

Then there are the American characters, leading to a lot of the dialogue being in English, which is bound to raise the international saleability. It is also a lot funnier. The original played it more-or-less as a straight horror, buying into the ridiculous premise, but the sequel highlights this incongruity for comedic effect.

There are also a few jokes at the expense of the Americans, sly cinematic digs and a whole lot of gore that leans towards the slapstick side. It reminded me more than anything of the Finnish 'Nazis on the Moon' comedy 'Iron Sky', and that is a positive association in my book.

The music is very well-used, and I detected hints of world-building in the nature and rules of the resurrection, raising the prospect of an entire 'Dead Snow' series. There are some slightly uncomfortable hints of terrorist Anders Breivik in the demented Norwegian main character, taking extreme actions in response to a threat others cannot (initially) believe, but maybe I am just reading too much into it.

It's all exuberant fun, with a commendable sense of its own ridiculousness. Some of the gags are a bit low-brow for me, but others are genuinely funny, end even quite witty. Dead Snow 3? Why not, I'd watch!