My quick rating - 6.4/10. Dead Snow is the kind of movie that hears the phrase “Bad Taste” and just rockets a snowmobile right on top of it, thank the gods. Written and directed by Tommy Wirkola, this Norwegian splatter-comedy takes a simple premise and gleefully drowns it in buckets of the red stuff, and splatters it all over undead Nazis who refuse to stay dead.
The setup is classic cabin-in-the-woods territory. Eight medical students head out on a ski trip to a remote mountain lodge in Norway, looking for booze, bonding, and a temporary escape from responsibility. What they get instead is a history lesson soaked in arterial spray. An early scene teases the presence of Nazi zombies backed by some Christmas tunes before shifting focus to the group, which turns out to be a smart move. By the time the undead soldiers march back into frame, you’re already settled in and ready for the carnage.
Visually, Dead Snow looks far better than its budget might suggest. The snowy mountain landscapes are gorgeous, the glowing tent scene is legitimately striking, and the stark white environment makes every splash of red pop like a Jackson Pollock painting gone feral. When the movie needs to turn up the gore, and it absolutely does, it doesn’t hesitate. Severed limbs, exposed organs, fountains of blood…if you ever wondered how much viscera can stain snow, this movie treats it like a science experiment.
What really makes this work, however, is the way that tones are balanced. The horror is quite graphic, but it is also a part of the fun. The Nazis zombies are automatically comedic characters. While the movie does not overdo the humor and make all of the other characters comedic as a result of the zombies’ presence, this ends up creating a believable dynamic. This allows the violence to be that much more shocking and the humor that much funnier. When panic sets in, it feels earned. When someone does something incredibly stupid, it feels earned, too.
Horror fans will catch plenty of affectionate nods along the way. One character sporting a Braindead (aka Dead Alive) shirt is a nice wink, and there’s a very obvious - and very welcome - homage to Evil Dead II when the group gears up in a shed for their last stand. Add in snowmobiles tearing across the mountains, a perfectly chosen party song backing a zombie massacre, and a siege sequence in a remote cabin, and you’ve got a movie that knows exactly what it’s doing.
Don’t expect a warm, fuzzy Hollywood ending here. Dead Snow commits to its chaos and leaves you splattered and grinning like an idiot. It’s an unrelenting shock-feast, laced with black humor and tongue firmly in cheek, delivering exactly what it promises. If you’re in the mood for stupendous gore, undead armies roaming the countryside, and a movie that understands that “zombie Nazis” is already a punchline, this one is an absolute holiday blast.
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