Dead Snow (2009)

Review by Tim-O



Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Starring: Vergard Hoel
I used to love hearing that a new zombie movie was coming out and couldn’t wait to see it. Now there are zombie movies coming out on home video every week. Almost all of these movies are rip-offs of the Romero shambling zombie flicks or the Danny Boyle “28 Days Later” Olympic-runner-zombie version of the same apocalyptic story. (Thanks Richard Matheson) Sometimes budgets only allow for a town or a building to be overrun by zombies but the constant is that they are infectious and they want to eat you. Sometimes an oddity comes along like “Zombie Honeymoon” or “American Zombie” that twists the subgenre around in interesting ways but doesn’t always work or translate well to a horror audience. I went into “Dead Snow” expecting a standard, albeit entertaining, version of the same story we become accustomed to seeing in zombie movies. Man was I pleasantly surprised!

“Dead Snow” is about a group of medical students who go on a skiing trip up in the Norwegian mountains. Of course, one of the members of the group has access to a remote cabin in the mountains. After arriving at the cabin, the students begin to party horror movie style until an unexpected guest arrives at the door looking for a “cup of coffee”. The “guest” is a weird middle aged guy who I guess is some mountain drifter who randomly stops at remote cabins asking for coffee and who sleeps in a tent at night (?) He tells the story of Nazi Col. Herzog who brutalized the local population and looted all of their wealth during the occupation of WWII. He says that when Herzog realized the war was coming to an end, he and his army of Nazis fled into the mountains with all the wealth they had stolen. Although Herzog and Co. were never heard from again and were presumed dead, legends persisted of an evil in the area that is connected with the Nazi troops. After leaving the cabin, the old guy sets up camp and is killed by an unseen force while the students resume the party and of course laughing off the creepy story and warnings the drifter had given. A box is discovered in the cabin containing WWII era gold coins and the kids use them to play poker. Hmmmm…I wonder who’s gold that is? Hmmmm… I wonder who’s going to be pissed? Yep, you guessed it. That’s when the movie really takes off. Oh boy does it!!!

The best way I can think of to describe “Dead Snow” is this; take the Nazi zombies from “Shock Waves” and mix them with the isolated setting of another excellent Norwegian film “Cold Prey” and insert the insanity and gore of the “Evil Dead” and “Feast” movies …all of this and out pops “Dead Snow”. The Zombies in this movie are unique in that they have intelligence and a purpose. They aren’t just killed by blows to the head don’t seem to have the ability to turn others into zombies. They also don’t appear to really eat people but enjoy literally tearing them apart. I also found it interesting that they had access to their old military weapons but didn’t use them even though they had enough intelligence to do so.

Everything about this movie is top notch. The acting, camera work, gore and pacing are mind-blowingly incredible. It is subtitled (at least the version I watched) so if you can’t read, enroll in night school and have a friend over who can to watch it with you. The only possible flaw I can see in “Dead Snow” is that there is no explanation as to how the Nazis became zombies but I couldn’t have cared less. The movie was so tight and fun it just didn’t matter. Do yourself a favor. Go out NOW and buy, don’t rent, “Dead Snow”. Show your friends and spread the word. This movie IS going to become a classic like “Evil Dead”. It is fast, fun, gory, inventive and absolutely outrageous. Simply put, “Dead Snow” is the most fun I’ve had watching a movie in years. It’s also the first perfect score I’ve ever given. 10/10