Død snø (2009)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Tommy Wirkola

Writers:

Stig Frode Henriksen (written by)
Tommy Wirkola (written by)

Release Date:

9 January 2009 (Norway)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Ein! Zwei! Die!

Plot:

A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies. |

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Medical Student | Nazi Zombies | Scary Stranger | Hide In Snow

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Charlotte Frogner	...	Hanna
Ørjan Gamst	...	Herzog
Stig Frode Henriksen	...	Roy
Vegar Hoel	...	Martin
Jeppe Laursen	...	Erlend
Evy Kasseth Røsten	...	Liv
Jenny Skavlan	...	Chris
Bjørn Sundquist	...	The Wanderer
Ane Dahl Torp	...	Sara
Lasse Valdal	...	Vegard

Also Known As:

Dead Snow (Europe: English title) (festival title) (USA) (new title)
Rød snø (Norway) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:91 min | Norway:90 min

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Norway:15

Filming Locations:

Alta, Finnmark, Norway

Company:

Euforia Film

Goofs:

Anachronisms: One of the zombies (one of the two chasing the girl up the tree) is wearing a white (snow) camouflage jacket. The jacket shows plastic parts (or is completely made out of plastic) which can only be found at modern day jackets. Maybe the zombie took it away from a earlier victim but as all the others wear "original" war gear this is supposed to be a WWII Jacket - and is way too modern.

Quotes:

Erlend: [In English, quoting Indiana Jones] Fortune and glory, kid... Fortune and glory.

Movie Connections:

References April Fool's Day (1986/I)

Ich bin ein zombie!

Heading into Dead Snow I was pretty much expecting a Shaun of the Dead type horror flick. Something with more comedy than horror. Which isn't really the case here. It's consistently filled with small or big jokes, but thankfully it's more horror oriented. I suppose I thought this because of the awesome poster displaying a decapitated half-head of a nazi-zombie lying in the snow giving the onlooker a weird look. Not too mention a dude with a blood-drenched chainsaw behind the head. I'm not the biggest fan of hor-coms, but I was really interested in this one because of the whacky premise. So, was it a blizzard of bliss, or a storm of suckage?

The story revolves around a bunch of medical students getting away for some rest and relaxation during the Easter break. Unknown to them, they've set up camp at the absolute wrong place. Back in the day, evil Nazi's used these hills for an escape route or safe haven way back when, and it's said that this is where they supposedly holed up and eventually died. Well, they ain't all that dead. They look it, but they ain't dead. Our medical students eventually meet these blood-thirsty German maniacs and the red stuff starts flowing. A mad dash for survival ensues, and it all ends up being a 'hail' of a lot of fun.

The flick isn't perfect as it suffers some from small horror clichés, like dumb decision making. But at the same time, they handle these clichés in a somewhat refreshing manner. Some cheap scare tactics are used early on to get you on edge, but those are barely used later on, when violence and creative gore take hold.

Dead Snow really surprised me. I wasn't expecting such a fun flick. The characters were all well-fleshed out, the dialogue well-written and funny, the gore aplenty, the horror nods abundant and awesome (Braindead t-shirts?!), and even the score and soundtrack were good. This should become a pretty big hit for horror fans, well I hope so anyways.