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Craig Younkin
Movie Review
Dead Snow
By Craig Younkin Published July 8, 2009
US Release: June 19, 2009
Directed by: Tommy Wirkola
NR
Running Time: 90 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $41,709
Directed by: Tommy Wirkola
NR
Running Time: 90 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $41,709
B-
You can take or leave the characters but zombies are what you're on the edge of your seat to see and in that way Dead Snow works as a gory and guilty little pleasure.
Horror movies are a dime a dozen. Most center around a group of college age kids taking a trip to some secluded location, where they meet some creepy traveler who tells them the mythic evil that lurks in the area, which of course they don’t believe because they’re cocky and stupid. That’s the way that director Tommy Wirkola, who also wrote the script along with Stig Frode Henriksen, fashions his Norwegian horror movie, “Dead Snow.” It’s conventional and many of the jump out of your seat scares (usually coming in moments of darkness or quiet) just come off as predictable.
Just a movie about Nazi zombies can’t be all bad, and that’s the real hook. The make-up on these guys looks really good and they growl and attack with rapid speed. You can take or leave the characters but zombies are what you're on the edge of your seat to see and in that way “Dead Snow” works as a gory and guilty little pleasure. It offers up enough horror for those fans with enormous blood-lust and Wirkola also keeps things fun and light with some laughs sprinkled here and there.
The plot centers around a group of Med students taking a trip to a snowy mountain cabin. They include Martin (Vegar Hoel), who wants to become a doctor despite a fear of blood, Vegard (Lasse Valdal), who’s girlfriend owns the cabin, and Erlend (Jeppe Laursen), a big horror movie fan who creates some foreboding before even reaching the cabin by asking “How many horror movies begin some place without cell phone service?” Well, this one happens to be one of them. A traveler (Bjorn Sundquist) tells them of how the mountain used to be a Nazi post in WW11, and the civilians of the area drove them into the mountains where they froze to death. Now they want their treasure which is buried underneath the cabin.
Let the blood and gore begin. “Snow” references such other movies as the two “Evil Dead” films and “Friday the 13th” and this is clearly a homage to both series. Heads and bodies are severed and ripped apart, people are disemboweled, blood flies, and Nazi zombie ass is kicked using everything from axes to chainsaws to machine guns. Another character dealing with claustrophobia after an avalanche elevates the suspense even more. There are a few funny bits, one of the best has two characters used as bait but for the most part this is just fun blood-splattering horror.
“Dead Snow” brings nothing entirely new to the horror genre. And is it even worth mentioning the senselessness of the plot, like being told that there is no cell service on the mountain but later a character uses a cell phone or why zombies even need treasure. But who cares. It’s a guilty little pleasure that shouldn’t be taken as anything more or less than that.
Just a movie about Nazi zombies can’t be all bad, and that’s the real hook. The make-up on these guys looks really good and they growl and attack with rapid speed. You can take or leave the characters but zombies are what you're on the edge of your seat to see and in that way “Dead Snow” works as a gory and guilty little pleasure. It offers up enough horror for those fans with enormous blood-lust and Wirkola also keeps things fun and light with some laughs sprinkled here and there.
The plot centers around a group of Med students taking a trip to a snowy mountain cabin. They include Martin (Vegar Hoel), who wants to become a doctor despite a fear of blood, Vegard (Lasse Valdal), who’s girlfriend owns the cabin, and Erlend (Jeppe Laursen), a big horror movie fan who creates some foreboding before even reaching the cabin by asking “How many horror movies begin some place without cell phone service?” Well, this one happens to be one of them. A traveler (Bjorn Sundquist) tells them of how the mountain used to be a Nazi post in WW11, and the civilians of the area drove them into the mountains where they froze to death. Now they want their treasure which is buried underneath the cabin.
Let the blood and gore begin. “Snow” references such other movies as the two “Evil Dead” films and “Friday the 13th” and this is clearly a homage to both series. Heads and bodies are severed and ripped apart, people are disemboweled, blood flies, and Nazi zombie ass is kicked using everything from axes to chainsaws to machine guns. Another character dealing with claustrophobia after an avalanche elevates the suspense even more. There are a few funny bits, one of the best has two characters used as bait but for the most part this is just fun blood-splattering horror.
“Dead Snow” brings nothing entirely new to the horror genre. And is it even worth mentioning the senselessness of the plot, like being told that there is no cell service on the mountain but later a character uses a cell phone or why zombies even need treasure. But who cares. It’s a guilty little pleasure that shouldn’t be taken as anything more or less than that.
Craig's Grade: B-
Craig's Overall Grading: 340 graded movies
| A | 10.9% | |
| B | 41.8% | |
| C | 31.8% | |
| D | 15.3% | |
| F | 0.3% |
