Dead Snow - Red vs. Dead

'DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Sequel to the 2009 Norwegian zombie horror-comedy flick; about a group of students attacked by Nazi zombies, in the Norwegian mountains. The sole survivor, of that film, is now trying to defend a Norwegian town; from annihilation, by the Nazi zombies. It was once again directed by Tommy Wirkola and written by Wirkola, Stig Frode Henriksen and Vegar Hoel. Hoel and Henriksen also once again star in the movie and this time they're joined by Martin Starr, Ingrid Haas, Jocelyn DeBoer, Hallvard Holmen, Kristoffer Joner, Amrita Acharia, Derek Mears and Orjan Garnst (reprising his role as Colonel Herzog). I loved the movie; it's so much fun! Picking up right where the first film left off; Martin (Hoel) is still on the run from the Nazi zombies, and he crashes his car in the mountains. He ends up in a hospital where a doctor replaces his amputated arm, that he sawed off in the first film (to stop a zombie infection), with the undead arm of Colonel Herzog (Garnst). He can't control the arm, at first, and it murders several people. He later learns that he has special zombie powers, thanks to his new zombie arm. He also learns that Herzog, and his army of undead Nazis, plan on destroying a town; as part of a 70-year-old assignment, given to them by Hitler. Martin finds help from a WWII museum employee, named Glenn (Henriksen), and three American siblings; calling themselves the 'Zombie Squad'. They're lead by a nerd named Daniel (Starr). The movie is full of excessive and extremely grotesque zombie violence; it's definitely not a film for everyone, but it's also full of really funny light-hearted humor. The action scenes are so much fun and the characters are all likable and mostly relatable (in an exaggerated way). The additions of Star and Holmen, to the cast, are brilliant and there's a classic zombie sidekick character (Joner) as well. Hoel is also, once again, outstanding in the lead and Wirkola's directing is perfect. It's sure to become a cult classic, like the original, and its also highly reminiscent of 'EVIL DEAD II'; which is a good thing (in my opinion).

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.

Of course the zombie movie genre actually is one that has least of worries surviving a troubled movie market. Yet artistically it has seen little ingenuity off lately. Luckily the Norwegians decided to step in to turn the tide of ever more formula driven boring slaughter and slashing gore. If all zombie flicks would be adding as many original ideas as this one the genre wouldn't be facing imminent death by boredom. Let's hope the next one is even better. And let's hope that the producers will be brave enough to not give in to US inspired hypocrite 'moral' in aspiring to broader audiences. A doubtful moral that would probably threat depicting the metaphors for the deplorable human condition that zombie movies are all about. And one that would most likely kill the brilliant final scene of this one.

One of the rarest moments in cinema, when the sequel is better than the first, but wait, the first being a great movie too! So there you have it folks, another miracle just happened, you witnessed it and you can tell your grand children, that you were there, when Dead Snow 2 made its appearance!!

This one is a tad bit darker, much more complex, kinda the same amount of laughs, but the plot, huge improvement! You get hooked by it, just laying there, minutes passing and while craving for more, you do smile from time to time. Quite amazing the fact that they didn't rush a sequel with a weaker story, but actually showed some brains: literally and metaphorically of course!

It's a big mistake to read more, find out about the plot, get some insides, just watch it! Leave IMDb, and go watch Dead Snow 2! It is a BLAST!

Cheers!

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.