Dead Snow

Tommy Wirkola

BY Robert BellPublished Sep 24, 2009

Undoubtedly, there are many things amusing about Dead Snow, a Norwegian horror film about vacationing college students attacked by Nazi Zombies. But what's possibly the most snicker-inducing aspect is some mid-movie exposition that attempts to give credulity to the existence of the undead Third Reich in frigid Norwegian mountain regions, presumably so we don't think: "oh my God, this could never happen."

This helpful explanation comes care of a wanderer (Bjorn Sundquist) who gives us a little context, asking the group of young medical students if they did any historical research about their destination getaway, insulting them for their ignorance. That way, those too gentile to enjoy a visceral film wherein the word decapitation need be pluralized can claim ironic distance, championing the film for its genius depiction of an apathetic generation indifferent to the political horrors of yesteryear.

Lessons aren't exactly on the agenda, however, as this movie is mostly graphic disembowelments, crushed heads and creative kills via chainsaw and snowmobile. Throughout, tongue is kept firmly in cheek, with characters fornicating during defecation (something most of us haven't thought to do) and a series of referential nods to American horror films of the '80s.

It's not just the films mentioned within that are paid homage, as there's a healthy dose of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive tossed in, along with some Descent and Evil Dead, giving the gleeful carnage that element of "I've seen that movie" that many horror fans love so much.

Fan boy tastes aside, Dead Snow is actually a pretty well made little film, using effects sparingly but effectively, delivering a cartoon-ish array of uncompromising violence and occasionally unpredictable deaths, making it sort of like the goofy, drunken cousin of Norway's other recent horror export, Cold Prey.
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