Apr 21, 2014

Review: Død snø [Dead Snow] (2009)

As far as Easter films or films set around Easter, Dead Snow is pretty alternative as they come. It's a Norwegian movie about a group of medical students on Easter vacation who go on a trip to a mountain cabin outside Øksfjord, Norway. The Easter vacation is the only thing that really makes it an Easter movie but that's fine with me. It counts.

Nazis makes good movie villains don't they? Add a dose of zombie to the equation and we have a recipe for success. Let it be known that Dead Snow is in no way a serious horror flick, it's a parody of a whole bunch of horror classics like Evil Dead for example. The winks to its predecessors are all there but it doesn't quite hit the nail on the head.

From the get-go Dead Snow reveals its intentions. Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King plays while a woman runs away from an unseen assailant. It's a simple set up but sets the tone well.

Characters Martin, Roy, Erlend, Vegard, Hanna, Liv and Chris are introduced and play the typical young adults we all know too well from Hollywood horror films. They're immature and always have sex on their mind, you get the idea. Horror movie characters are all alike for the most part and Dead Snow does this for tongue in cheek reasons. For medical students they are a bit thick though.

After a visit from the token creepy guy, they get attacked by the Nazi undead and all hell breaks loose. Please note, these zombies are the fast zombie variety. There is a lot of ridiculous gore and it builds up as the movie goes on. Blood is splattered and guts are literally ripped out. It's a definite job well done for the superb looking guts.

However, for a horror/comedy movie, Dead Snow is a bit short on scares and laughs. Usually the dial is turned more towards comedy in these types of movies but there were only a couple instances where I did actually find a situation funny. The horror itself relies purely on slow panning shots and jump scares that gets old fast.

Probably one of the funniest scenes in Dead Snow is a sex scene between two characters which happens inside an outhouse. Not that it's supposed to be an especially comedic scene, but it's just a really gross thought to imagine having sex in a setting like that. Everyone knows that it's a horror movie cliché for couples to get it on any old time and Dead Snow just makes that concept even more ridiculous. 

There isn't enough funny material in Dead Snow and the horror is especially low on creativity but I guess that's the point. Zombie Nazis is a crazy concept that can't be missed though. If you're looking for some Easter gore, Dead Snow fits the bill admirably.


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