A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Runtime: 91 minutes
Rating: 6.7/10 (5,844 votes)
Release Date: 9 January 2009
Country: Norway
Languages: Norwegian
Company: Euforia Film
Director(s): Tommy Wirkola
Producer(s):
Tomas Evjen – producer
Jan-Erik Gammleng – supervising producer
Ingrid Lill Høgtun – supervising producer
Espen Horn – executive producer
Kjetil Omberg – executive producer
Terje Stroemstad – producer
Harald Zwart – executive producer
Writer(s):
Stig Frode Henriksen – written by
Tommy Wirkola – written by
Cast:
Vegar Hoel – Martin
Stig Frode Henriksen – Roy
Charlotte Frogner – Hanna
Lasse Valdal – Vegard
Evy Kasseth Røsten – Liv
Jeppe Laursen – Erlend
Jenny Skavlan – Chris
Ane Dahl Torp – Sara
Bjørn Sundquist – The Wanderer
Ørjan Gamst – Herzog
Music: Christin Wibe
Tagline: Ein! Zwei! Die!
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The moment you hear even a dollop of the plot from the Norweigianfright flick Dead Snow you are drawn in with unadulterated curiosity.The catch? Nazi Zombies, and while premise goes a long way whenmarketing a film like this, you need substance to keep the premisesupported and it is something that never quite realized in this goryB-movie camp-a-rama.
Sprinkled with moments of hilarity, even genius, Dead Snow perhaps doesall that it can with its one-note gimmick. But regardless of intention,I topped out at around the hour mark and than the watch checking began.Really, this film is a very conventional horror film, simply withunconventional antagonists. Where the film truly succeeds is in itsuniquely dark humour, because as the Nazi corpses mount at the climax,so does tedium. I am certainly not going to nitpick at the plot andcontinuity of a film like this, but even under no intentional scrutinyI began to be struck with numerous inconsistencies which only detractedmore from the action.
For open minded western audiences the Norweigian leads will be a relieffrom the aura of convention that masks many of Hollywood's horrorefforts. The subtitles alone demand more attention and the crispmountain summit on which the heroes reside becomes almost a characterof its own. The group of friends comprised of either very new or firsttime Swedish actors all do solid jobs as well and lend to the charm ofthe click nicely. You have all the conventional players: the cool guy,the jokester, the hot hussy, and the coward but as I said the leadspull it off and the Nazi zombie factor drowns out such clichés nicelyenough. The plot itself is really a moot point; the gang are in aremote cabin for a weekend of drinking when the goose-stepping startsand they try to escape. Still with me?
One of the more frustrating aspects of Dead Snow is the egregiouslyvarying strength of the zombies. Some are killed with a single kick tothe head while others amble around with an axe in their head. And I'mnot going to nit pick on physics, but when seventy year old frozencorpses spurt blood like it's a Tarantino movie you can't help butnotice. The final thirty minutes is a single tedious chase sequence andreally detracts from the charm built up by the dark humour and bloodyfun of the middle segments. This void is made even more depressing asit unflatteringly highlights against the former acts and reeks of whatcould have been. While a fun enough film to have running in thebackground on a drunken night with friends, Dead Snow never reaches thelevel its premise boasts.
Read all my reviews at: simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com
I really liked this movie, but it could have been so much better.
I loved the references to other movies, the actors were great and theaction was fantastic.
But it just became too much. It was like a video game where the badguys just keep respawning until it gets silly. Everyone like Tabascosauce but no one wants a bowl of it.
The gold angle was just stupid. Are we really to believe that the NaziZombies were doing this for GOLD? That is like saying the demonpossessed the kid in The Exorcist so it could see cable TV.
And we didn't get enough of the good guys kicking Nazi butt. If you aregoing to emulate Ash from 'Evil Dead' you have to let him do his thingand really go over the top. The characters should have gotten mad likeAsh and then overpowered the bad guys. In the last third, the moviedidn't do a good job of swinging between camp comedy and seriousaction. It got a little confusing.
Don't get me wrong, this movie is certainly worth watching but with afew story tweaks it could have been a classic.
Plus, any story where they kill off all of the characters is just notfun. Nowadays they do it to try to shock you, but it too has becomepredictable. (Only exception is Open Water).
I love the fact that the Norwegians know their horror movies so well.It is exciting to see these movies have a world wide impact. But todeclare Hollywood dead is very premature.
The ending was SOOOOOO Predictable. ARRRR! two more rewrites and thismovie would have been a 10.
See this movie, and then go see 'Dance of the Dead' which I gave a 9.
I will start with why it is excellent: The movie open with a group ofhikers going on Easter vacation. Their destination is a small cabin sofar from any civilization that there is no reception there. Everycharacter is a stereotype: a blond bimbo, a nerd, a shy reasonable guy,a caring girlfriend and others. They all speak Norwegian (or is itSwedish?) and are not at all known actors (at least not in Hollywood).However they give a great performance that on top of greatcinematography and costume design. You would never had guess that thisis a small low-budget production, it is simply beautiful how thedirector managed to pull this off.
Now the promise is that during WW2 some Nazis were stationed here andmurdered locals for their gold. Now the civilians gathered up andchased the soldiers to the mountains were they seemingly froze todeath. Of course they didn't and they are back to make a pretty nicethreat. For the first hour this is great.
Now why the movie is disappointing: After the first hour the directorrun out of ideas. You see pulled intestines three (!) times. There is abattle between the Nazis and the survivors armed with tools from theshed. Its great but it only lasts for 3 or 4 minutes and they only usea chainsaw and a hammer. What is with the other tools? Especially thatwe were show to a pitchfork and also we can imagine using a monkeywrench or a vise or many other things. Having the chainsaw in the next5 gags feels repetitive.
Also there is a problem of making a movie entirely out of clichés isproblematic. They are only right when the event still happens in manyfilms. If it was a cliché 20 years ago it is not so recognized anymore.Some are perfect like having zombies and a stranger appear from nowhereseemingly sneaking up on the character. This is exploited to the limitin Dead Snow and it is funny. But what would be a cliché ending – doeseverybody die or are there some survivors? there is no answer becausethere is as many examples for one as the other – now, director has tochoose one and he can't be right, why should you watch it then?
Its hard not to compare to Shaun of the Dead, which had a richer satireand more interesting characters (I know, I know, thats not the point ofDead Snow). Even though Dead Snow comes first when you count make-upand cinematography. Yet, like many reviewers stated, it is a movie tohave playing in the background of a drunk party. While some scenes arebrilliant the movie as whole doesn't have enough jokes or/and clichésto fill 85 minutes. Watching the 10 minute clip of a mentioned "battle"is well enough for most movie goers, I assure you.
Do I have complaints about Dead Snow, a movie about a group ofNorwegian medical students who take their skis up to a cabin away fromeverybody only to discover to their baffled horror that nazi undeadlurk and kill and go all Lephrachaun over a booty of coins and jewelshidden in said cabin? Well, perhaps, it could have gone a littlefurther in some spots. The Nazis are decked out in their military garb,suits and helmets, but only a handful have the swastika arm-bands, nonewith Hitler mustaches, and only once does a zombie (Col. Herzog,perfect name by the way) actually utter a phrase, which is "ARISE" forhis horde of solider to stampede after the hapless teens. The rest ofit? Nope, nothing much to complain really.
The director is Tommy Wirkola, and he's done something I didn't expectgoing in: he made a movie that is shot with a level of competency thatgoes a couple of notches above just simple B-movie twaddle, or ratherhe doesn't rest solely upon it. Indeed some scenes, like whencharacters are buried under feet of snow or someone goes out into thedead of night, there's a dread that can be comparable to the recentfilm The Descent. It's a well made movie that happens to be about 55%of the time as campy and gore-riffic as anything one's seen this yearoutside of the Japanese Tokyo Gore Police school. On top of this,there's a clever twist on horror conventions; one of the characters isa movie geek (Evil Dead and Friday the 13th are mentioned), and thetropes like having sex and then getting killed or the stranger whoexplains everything early on and then gets slaughtered first, arechalked up royally… and then come the Third Reich.
Oh it's such a blast, Dead Snow is. At first you get immersed with thecharacters, even if they are only marginally interesting or compelling,and then when it comes time for these medical students (who apparentlyhave such mad skills at it they can do things like wield weaponry andsew up their body parts when need be) kick major ass. This movie ismade for people who want a good solid zombie movie that combinescomedy, tension, and enough ridiculous motions to go a long enough wayto make things always entertaining. It's almost a study in how touplift past conventional crap into something artful and electrifying.It's also cheesy and stupid and a bucket of crazy when it can get tothat point (I mean, Colonel Herzog, come on!) Bottom line, pair thiswith and the other midnight movie festival hit Hysterical Psycho andyou got a smashing double feature.
I watched this movie because of the hype it had over the net. Plot issimple as it is preposterous: A group of Medical students go for aweekend getaway in a cabin in the mountains and are attacked by NaziZombies. Yes guys, "Dead Snow" is a zombie film.
I like horror movies, but not really those with zombies. I haven'twatched "Evil Dead," or "Brain Dead," or "Friday the 13th," but I canimagine the director being heavily influenced by these classic zombiefilms. These were even mentioned at the beginning of the film as somesort of tribute.
No question about it, this film is gory, yes. The setting of white showemphasizes the bloodiness of the action. We see all forms ofdismembering and disembowelment of the characters. We see parts of thebody being ripped off, or ripped apart. There were some images I havenever seen on screen before. I think this would be the only movie whereyou can see how someone's intestine can be used to keep you fromfalling off a cliff. Quite educational. LOL!
But at the same time, it does not take itself seriously. The Nazimake-up is quite obviously tongue-in-cheek. You watch it and wince, andyet, you also laugh in spite of what you see. It is all over the top. Irecalled Sam Raimi's "Drag Me To Hell" in the execution and plotdevices used in this movie.
Definitely not for everyone. It's so confidently proud to be ab-zombie-movie, that is can actually be good. Recommended for a groupof rowdy pals on a night-out wanting a good scare, and a have good timelaughing about it!
My friends, some of you say that the movie was good but a little bit to much, yes? silly even? that was the point! this movie is complete random and very funny all the way! i will now watch it first time on english!
my favourite scene is the one where they charge the zombies with chainsaws and the background music goes: its my day today! oh lord what a wonderful day xD or so it goes in norwegian: Det er min dag i dag! å herregud for en herlig dag! xD XD