The horror genre has been flooded with a ton of films and sometimes certain gems can slip through the cracks, and go unseen for a long time. Enter “Dead Snow”. I’ve seen it for the first time recently and thought I’d like to give you my two cents.
WHAT IS IT?
Directed by Tommy Wirkola, “Dead Snow” or “Død snø” in Norwegian, is a 2009 Norwegian horror-comedy film that follows a group of college students taking a break up in the mountains, only to awaken the rage of zombie Nazi army.
WHAT DID I LIKE ABOUT THE FILM?
The movie is a bloodbath, okay? BLOODBATH. Human blood, zombie blood — it all flows freely. Best part is that the gore is mostly practical. It’s also refreshing as an arthouse horror fan to take the load off, sit back and enjoy a fun movie like this.
There’s some pretty good humor in there too, and it’s sort of a prototype version of “The Cabin in the Woods”, too, with its self-aware characters. Speaking of the characters, I’d normally be irked by minimal character development, but in this film you end up rooting for the characters based on their actions. As they are basically blank slates, it opens up surprises for the scenes where they struggle to survive as the characters you’d normally expect to not make it do survive…but not unscathed.
Some characters make smart decisions and it’s applaudable. Some characters make questionable decisions and it’s funny. Some characters make badass decisions, and you watch out for them and root for them.
WHAT DIDN’T I LIKE ABOUT THE FILM?
For me, the best horror-comedies are funny but don’t forget the horror as well. While the film has some pretty gnarly scenes, there are just a few ones that lack urgency. Like, I don’t get the rush of suspense from them. Though if I’m being honest, I’m just nitpicking. No complaints here.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
“Dead Snow” is a pretty entertaining crowd-pleaser that’s probably ideal to put on at a party while eating squishy red food like pizza or spaghetti to get the maximum ick feel of certain scenes. It doesn’t require you to decipher in-depth themes or whatnot, you just sit back and enjoy yourself!
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Dustin is a horror fan and sometimes short story writer who hails from the Philippines. He likes a lot of the horror genre but usually goes for slashers and arthouse/slowburn stuff. Currently, he’s trying to make up for lost time in the horror literature world by digesting as many horror books as he can.