Tommy Wirkola

DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS DEAD-Død snø 2 (2014)

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‘The sequel you did Nazi coming’

They’re back; the Nazi zombies who still want their gold.

Tommy Wirkola returns to direct the sequel to the bat-shit crazy ‘Dead Snow’.

The budget is slightly larger than the last time and so there is literally no time for the audience to wait for the zombies to appear, they are present from very early on which turns out to be a lot of fun.

Starting with a recap of the first film, a la Evil Dead 2, to which this film, and its prequel, owes a great debt. The homages are wonderful, Wirkola takes Ash’s arm idea and runs with it, giving this sequel a great (Captain) hook.

Vegar Hoel reprises his role as Martin, the lone survivor from the original and really goes for it.
It ain’t easy pretending to be loopy and Hoel does a great job of convincing us he is at the brink of madness. Unfortunately, several of the other cast members act as though they are in a b-movie. They are not wrong but it detracts from the piece by being too knowing. The introduction of the Zombie Squad, three Americans who are ‘experts’ comprising of the very funny Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks/Party Down), Jocelyn DeBoer and Ingrid Haas, is a nice touch, allowing for a multi-lingual cast to show their chops.

Stig Frode Henrickson returns from the original as a new character, Glenn Kenneth, and has a lot of fun with his character, as does Ørjan Gamst returning as the Nazi leader, Colonel Herzog. Hallvard Holmen and Amrita Acharya (Game of Thrones) play the small town police who have to try and deal with the zombie outbreak and have some very funny lines and chemistry. Kristoffer Joner plays the zombie sidekick and the homage to Bub in Day of the Dead is clear in his performace.

The last battle on a playing field has elements of a low budget Lord of the Rings battle but manages to be fun even without the money.

The gore is extreme in a ridiculous comedy style and the story has some fun elements to it, what stops it from becoming a classic is a looseness in the script and story-telling aspect and the shifting tone of the acting. It switches from being a lot of fun to plain ridiculous. Of course, the idea of Nazi zombies is a ridiculous one but one with potential comedic merit, which works well at times and not so much at others.

If you’re a fan of the zombie/horror/comedy style you’ll love this one, but if you love your films with quality control, you may be frustrated.
It must be said, though that this sequel is definitely more Dead than Snow.

3/5

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DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

DEAD SNOW ‘Død Snø’ (2009)

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Taking its cue from The Evil Dead but adding snow and Nazi Zombies, Dead Snow is a fun, low-budget Norwegian horror film with it’s tongue placed firmly in its cheek.

The fact that it’s Norwegian was the clincher, no Troma tropes here, if it was American it would be found in the bargain bucket at your local video store.
Hold on, do they still exist in this computer age?

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, who went onto make Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, here he does what he can with the limited budget and creates a slightly above average horror film.

Nazi Zombies. The South Park creators utilized this cross genre gold mine in their very funny show and recent game The Stick of Truth. You’re basically onto a winner, if you play your cards right. Nazis. Zombies. A great combination.

This film was much more enjoyable the first time round, seeing it again, the holes are much more noticeable. The zombies take too long to appear but when they do, the fun begins.

The usual horror film clichés are evident, some young medical students go on a ski vacation to a remote hut and are visited by a mysterious stranger who tells them of the legend of a local curse that originated during the Nazi occupation of the area in the second world war. They have a laugh about it but the laughter stops when Colonel Herzog and his merry band of undead Nazi soldiers turn up and start causing havoc.

Filled with stereotypes, this was never going to be a classic but nevertheless there is fun to be had.

The sequel Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead has been released so it will be fun to see how a little bit more money helps or hinders.

Nazi  + zombies = jokes.

3/5

BUY THE BLU RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE