Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead

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.

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.

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

'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).

The first one was a gory blast. But the second one tops it in every conceivable way: This is a no-holds-barred splat-fest from the beginning to the end which would make (the early) Peter Jackson proud!

I can take a lot of splatter, but I must admit: some scenes were so disgusting that I was as much retching as I was laughing (a very confusing experience - believe me), this movie really takes no prisoners. And it really seems to want to make a statement against political correctness: the elderly, the disabled, kids, mothers with strollers, gays, heck: even babies(!!!) all get blown up or hacked to pieces in such creative ways that even an old gore-hound like me was a bit shocked (I must shamefully admit). Then again, when you're dealing with Nazi-Zombies, that was to be expected.

But the film is also very well done; the camera, the music, the sound-effects, and - most importantly - the make-up effects were absolutely fantastic. Nazi-Zombies have never looked better.

A word to the wise, though: This film is absolutely not for the easily offended (or people, who - unlike me - have a certain amount of taste, decency and general common sense left).

Watch at your own risk - 8 stars out of 10 from me.

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