Now that we have that out of the way, Dead Snow is a horror comedy about a group of friends who travel up
to an isolated, snowbound cabin. This cabin just happens to be located near the
site of a gruesome Nazi burial site. And hence the film’s central gimmick: Nazi
Zombies.
Dead Snow is a
concept movie. Concept movies live or die by their big central idea, which may
be cool on paper but can fail disastrously when put to screen.
Dead Snow avoids
the pratfalls of the hokieness of its overlying premise, by doubling down. Yes, Nazi zombies are an almost stupidly ridiculous
concept. It combines two of film's most notorious villains. But once you
get past the initial intriguing-ness of this pitch, what else is there to tell?
Well, it’s to the credit of writer and director Tommy
Wirkola that the film moves past its initial premise and succeeds by playing up
its excesses to the extreme.
Dead Snow is
frequently scary. But it’s even more frequently hilarious. There’s a massive
shock value inherent in the film going over the top at every turn. There are some wondrously disgusting scenes that have a feeling of gleeful reckless abandon. The
special effects and the use of gore are used to drench the pure white snow with
buckets upon buckets of blood.
This isn’t the best film, or even the best horror movie. But
it’s incredibly entertaining.
Grade: B-
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