Død snø [2009] (Dead Snow)
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Language: Norwegian
Country: Norway

Dead Snow is a Norwegian zombie horror/comedy film, a total first for me. The movie rolls with a lot of horror cliches: a group of college students head to the mountains for a weekend of snowmobiling, drinking and other tomfoolery. There are a couple of movie nerds in the group, and they acknowledge that this is the perfect setup for a horror movie (of course they don’t actually think anything will happen to them). After arriving to their mountain cabin, the group of students start drinking while waiting for their final friend to show up. A surprise visit from an old man provides the group with a tale of Nazis buried deep in the mountains they are currently sitting upon. Naturally, the kids dismiss this notion and continue partying as if they don’t have a care in the world. Of course, the Nazi zombies show up and all hell breaks loose.

Yeah, the movie has Nazi zombies. Seriously. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about the film, then there’s not much that would help. There are a lot of these Nazis, and they are not your typical slow and plodding traditional zombies. These suckers are fast and somewhat intelligent, even incorporating a general in charge of the masses. We are never provided with details about how the Nazis became zombies, whether they can infect others, or much of anything else. All you need to know is that there are a hell of a lot more zombies than students on that mountain!

As expected, Dead Snow has a lot of gore. Some pretty crafty techniques are used for the film’s modest budget, and there are some particularly gruesome scenes involving dismembered limbs and brains splattering on the ground. I was slightly disappointed that the characters did not have much development. I didn’t really care if they died or not, but it was certainly entertaining to watch them fight for their lives. The ending was also somewhat underwhelming considering all of the potential badassery that could have occurred instead, but it was still acceptable. Ultimately, Dead Snow is an entertaining, albeit mindless, zombie movie that follows a lot of cliches but escapes mediocrity by throwing Nazis at us instead of the same old undead. Invite some friends over, grab some beer, and enjoy the bloodshed.

7/10