Movie Review: Dead Snow

Sunday, January 23, 2011
Synopsis: The group of friends had all they would need for a successful Easter vacation; cabin, skis, snowmobile, toboggan, copious amounts of beer and a fertile mix of the sexes. Certainly, none of them had anticipated not returning home alive! However, the Nazi-zombie battalion haunting the mountains surrounding the aptly named Oksfjord (Axefjord) had other plans...
Starring: Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte Frogner, Lasse Valdal, Jenny Skavlan
Directed by: Tommy Wirkola
U.S. Rating: Not Rated

A woman, Sara, (Ane Dahl Torp) is being chased through the snows of Norway. She is ultimately cornered and eaten by zombies in World War II Schutzstaffel (SS) uniforms.

Seven students on Easter vacation arrive at a small cabin near Øksfjord. The cabin is owned by Sara, Vegard's (Lasse Valdal) girlfriend. The group begins to drink and party until a mysterious hiker (Bjørn Sundquist) arrives. He tells them the dark history of the region; during World War II, a force of Einsatzgruppe, led by Standartenführer Herzog (Ørjan Gamst), occupied the area. For three years the Nazis abused and tortured the local people. Near the end of the war, with Germany's defeat looming, the soldiers looted all the town's valuables. However, the citizens stage an uprising and ambushed the Nazis, killing many. The survivors, including Herzog, were chased into the mountains, and it was assumed that they all froze to death. The hiker then continues on his way.

The next morning Vegard takes the group's snowmobile out to look for Sara. He stumbles on a tent in which he discovers the disemboweled body of the hiker from the previous night. He continues his search when he falls through the snow into a cave. Meanwhile, after it gets dark, the other students find an old wooden box filled with valuables hidden under the floor. They celebrate by haphazardly throwing the treasure above their heads, and one pockets a gold coin. They eventually decide to stow it back where it came from. Erlend (Jeppe Laursen) goes to the outhouse where Chris (Jenny Skavlan) meet him and the two have sex. On her way to the outhouse, Chris inadvertently drops a gold coin, which awakes a Nazi zombie. After the liaison, Erlend returns to the group. Chris stays to use the outhouse but is attacked and murdered. The others go outside to look for her, finding Sara's rucksack buried in the snow.

The zombies arrive at the cabin. Erlend (Jeppe Laursen) is killed before the remaining students manage to seal the windows and door and survive the night. Vegard comes around in the cave, discovering WWII German firearms and helmets, as well as Sara's severed head. Vegard is attacked by zombies and is badly bitten in the neck by one. He manages to kill them and escape on the snowmobile, which he equips with a machine gun.

Meanwhile, the remaining four students in the cabin decide to split up. The two men, Martin (Vegar Hoel) and Roy (Stig Frode Henriksen), attempt to distract the zombies, while the two women, Hanna (Charlotte Frogner) and Liv (Evy Kasseth Røsten), run for the cars and go for help. En route to the cars, the girls are ambushed and Liv is killed. While she is being disemboweled, she manages to destroy several of the zombies by activating one of their hand grenades. After killing two zombies Hanna is chased to the edge of a cliff by a zombie. She turns and faces the zombie and stomps on the ground, causing the ice to crack, and both of them to fall. Both survive, and are submerged in snow; Hanna digs her way out and kills the zombie.

Martin and Roy, holed up in the cabin, accidentally set fire to it with Molotov cocktails. As they escape, they discover that the shed next to the cabin contains numerous power tools, with which they equip themselves. More zombies attack, but Martin and Roy manage to fend them off with the aid of Vegard, who returns with the snowmobile. However, Vegard is killed during the fight. Herzog arrives with another group of zombies, including SS men, but Martin and Roy manage to kill them all. Martin is bitten on the arm and cuts it off with a chainsaw to avoid turning into a zombie, but a zombie bites him on the genitals. Herzog then raises many other zombies from all around and the two students run. While on the run, Roy is hit in the head by Herzog, disoriented runs into a tree and is disemboweled.

Martin comes to realize that the zombies are after the box in the cabin. He runs to the burnt-out remains of the cabin, and gives the box to Herzog. He manages to get away, and, upon reaching the car, a coin from the box falls out of Martin's pocket. Swearing, he looks around to see Herzog smashing the car window.

(Source: Wikipedia)

This movie is a Norwegian comedy horror film and it was much better than I originally thought it was going to be. It had some hilarious parts that I wouldn't have thought up myself, like when one guy is trying to defend the snow cabin by throwing a cocktail they set on fire out the window at a zombie but miss the window and end up setting the cabin on fire instead. There was still a lot of classic zombie stuff going on but adding in Nazi zombies, a surprise ending, and some pretty funny stuff at times and you have a decent film. Worth the watch if you like zombies (and I DO)! It is in Norwegian, so as long as you aren't one of those people who don't like having to read their movies (or if you know Norwegian...) then it isn't bad. I thought the plot wasn't half bad, even if it DID have some stereotypical zombie scenes. Acting wasn't the best you'll see around but wasn't the worst either. The Nazi zombie costumes were pretty good and special effects not bad, as well. It wasn't necessarily scary (unless you get scared over the gory stuff) since it was supposed to have comedy in it. Worth watching if you like zombie comedy films that are subtitled.

I would rate this movie with a 3/5


Have you watched the film? What did you like or dislike from this movie? What would you rate this movie? Share with us your thoughts!

Reviewed by: Amy 

Enjoy it!... Watch it!

0 comments

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Recent Tweets

Follow 35mmReviews on Twitter