Dead Snow (2009) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

Norway 2009
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Cast: Lasse Valdal, Jeppe Laursen, Vegar Hoel, Ørjan Gamst, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte Frogner, Jenny Skavlan, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Bjørn Sundquist, Ane Dahl Torp
Rating: R
Language: Norwegian
Release Date: June 19th 2009
Running Time: 1 hour 27 mins 39 secs

The Movie Review

Dead Snow film still 1


DEAD SNOW
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
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Just like the living people, the dead people (aka Zombies) could also come from many places and countries! And they could even do sick humorous things too, or at least they are made to do so. Humor and Horror in a zombie flick is not a new thing anymore, and the British were very good in this genre-mixing department, but only this time it's not from Britain, no it's from Norway, a country that has previously released Fritt Vilt (Cold Prey in 2006). And Dead Snow is one heckuva fun movie.

The element of humor is very strong in this horror flick, right from the start the opening music already intrigued me to sit back relax and enjoy the show. 4 young men and 3 young women are spending their vacation up in the mountain at their friend's cabin. It's an occasional vacation with every one of them start to warm up to each other, when suddenly an old man arrives (Bjørn Sundquist) and warn them about the danger there. The danger of Nazi Zombies! (hahaha yeah dude!). Of course they dismiss the old fart's story as total bullsh*t. But when their friend's gone missing in the middle of the night, they will soon learn the Zombies are for real. And it's a long bloody gutty gory way to survival!

Overall, I really like this movie, since love might be strong of a word. But on the whole what Dead Snow has to offer would satisfy gorehound for sure and seasoned horror aficionados. So I better lay down the bad stuff first.

What I don't like about Dead Snow is aside from the great opening music is how they copy Cold Prey scene by scene in its 2 opening scenes, including the mini twist in the middle. First we got a person running around frantically just like the little boy does in Cold Prey, and then it switches the scene to the mountain road where a bunch of young people are seen driving, which also serve as a way to introduce us to the characters. The script here in Dead Snow is not to be bragged about. And for a horror movie that without 'shame' depicts the violence, the nudity is none! A scene on the toilet is both shocking and disgusting, and the beautiful Jenny Skavlan is just teasing the audience. This should be compared to the 1980 Jean Rollin's Zombie Lake which is also about Nazi Zombies and plenty of 'brave' beautiful women. Additionally, even though several characters mentioned several movies like Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, April Fools' Day and Braindead, but the similarities of the storyline between Zombie Lake and Dead Snow is obvious.

Anyway, now it's time for the good parts, even though I mentioned violence in the above sentence, but for those who are accustomed to other splatter slasher movies would not be surprised by it. Because all the blood and the splattered body parts are delivered in such over-the-top manner that it becomes a joke instead of a horror. Fortunately, the jokes even though not much and appear not very often but once it does, it's really hilariously over-the-top, especially in the main showdown between the two parties when our heroes equipped themselves with chainsaw (hello Evil Dead), hammer, and machine-gun-equipped snowmobile.

The cinematography and the camerawork also help in giving this horror movie a certain unusual touch, the combination of the white snow mountain and the red blood produces shocking scene one after another. And the makeup and prosthetic are also great, much much more convincing than in Zombie Lake where the zombies are cheaply green.

Dead Snow is really a perfect movie to see with your horror-fan friends. And don't worry, even though the blood and dismembered body parts are of excessive amounts here, but overall we could sense that the director and the writer intended this movie to be entertaining rather than disturbing. The blood and violence in Dead Snow isn't like Saw or Hostel, no! Not at all! Dead Snow it's a fun outrageous splatter-fest, but from the horror-cinema quality point of view, it could have been better. Hopefully Tommy Wirkola would make a better wacky horror movie like this next time.

Just a note, if you dig Nazi Zombies, these are titles you might wanna check: Zombie Lake (1980), Oasis of the Zombie (1981) and Shock Waves (1977).