Dead Snow (2009)

 

Tommy Wirkola is a filmmaker who wears his influences on his sleeve. He loves horror, but he also loves humour and references and if you throw it all in a blender you probably get something akin to 'Dead Snow', one of the more entertaining zombie flicks that makes good use of that most classic of schlock: nazi zombies. Because why stick with regular undead, right?

A group of medical students heads out to the snowcovered mountains for some fun time away. However, unbeknownst to them, one of their own who went ahead has already been slain by a horrific menace. Spirits are high and the cast of characters feels fairly realistic. You have a geek, a horny toad, a more reserved guy and our three ladies are also quite distinct in character, yet no one feels exaggerated or out of place. You can absolutely believe these are all friends. 

Things get a bit weird when at night, a creepy old man visits them and gives them the exposition that in these mountains, a detachement of nazi soldiers was lost after they stole all the gold and silver from the local populace. No one thinks too much of this, but when soon after that they discover a box containing some of the nazi loot, events ramp up. Soon the students are under siege and some of their number get offed in pretty explicit ways. 

Shortly after, this also becomes the point where the comedy is introduced, as all events leading up to this have been played fairly straight (and sometimes rather horrific). But when our two remaining males make a stand against the undead hordes, you get massive glimpses of 'The Evil Dead'-like jokes and gags and it is a welcome turn in what would otherwise become a too straightforward horrorfilm. 

The zombies look great as well, with their greyish/green faces and smudged outfits, but the leader Oberst Hertzog probably takes the cake as one of the more memorable undead of the past years. 

'Dead Snow' is a hoot. It is fast-paced, has stuff for the gorehounds and the thrillseekers and it has enough laughs and twists and turns to keep you invested right until the end. The surprise ending is a bit telegraphed, but it did give Tommy Wirkola an angle to create a sequel, even if it wasn't the original intent. Have a watch and have some fun.