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Dead Snow (2009)
Starring Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte
Frogner, Lasse Valdal, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Jeppe
Laursen, Jenny Skavlan & Ane Dahl Torp
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Written by Stig Frode Henriksen & Tommy Wirkola
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The comedy/zombie genre gets another boost of hilarity with the Norwegian zombie thriller "Dead Snow." Co-writer/director Tommy Wirkola takes an old-school slasher approach in the beginning of the film, when a group of soon-to-be medical students go to a snowy cabin far away from society for a weekend getaway (one of the few downers of the film is the idea that there is "no cell phone signal in case help is needed," this movie cliché needs to be put to rest). From there the group delves into the usual slasher-style on-goings; drinking, sex, saying "I'll be right back," when of course they aren't, and talk of old school horror movies, mainly "Evil Dead" which seems to be the real inspiration for the making of this gem. However, instead of having an evil, demonic power underneath the cabin waiting to be released to wreak havoc, the filmmakers chose the idea of thought-to-be-dead Nazi soldiers that were stationed in the area of their campsite during World War II.
As the group parties on into the night awaiting one of the crew members girlfriends to arrive (she is killed in the beginning and just so happens to own the cabin), they are visited by an old man needing a cup of coffee. When they allow the man inside, he tells the group of the Nazi soldiers and how they were led by an evil colonel who retreated he and his men into the mountain they are surrounded by, never to be heard from again. Ah, the plot thickens. He then speaks of the soldiers knowing that they were going to lose the war so in turn, began stealing and pillaging the area folks of their gold, silver, and other valuables. After the creep out session with Old Man Withers, the group ignores the possible threat and go-on with their weekend of partying as the old man leaves to his tent; even one of the med students has an odd fear of blood which totally gets erased when the killing begins.
The first murder is of the old man, naturally, then onto the students. Once the slaying starts the fun really begins. An outhouse sex scene gone array, the idea that splitting up in order to survive failing miserably, finding out that, indeed, it is zombies killing them so the student who watched too many horror movies tells the group, "not to get bitten," right before his head is completely ripped off in one of the coolest zombie slayings in a long time.
What separates this zombie film from its previous predecessors? The fact it melds lots of previous films into one lump sum. Followed by kick ass effects, great acting, great directing, and tons of Nazi zombies roaming around, it puts this film high on any list of "best of" for the zombie genre. But the real separation, instead of the zombies needing to feed on human flesh and being dumb, these zombies are actually intelligent. They are led by their Colonel and are after really only one thing, the box of jewels from their past thievery, stashed under the cabin. Individual pieces of the jewels are taken by each member of the group which is the source of why the zombies are actually after them, not their flesh, although their flesh is eaten anyway because, hey, they are indeed zombies. And what zombie do you know that doesn't eat flesh, even if it isn't their sole reason for living?
I am sure Romero would totally be proud of what his baby, the zombie movie, has become after seeing this joyous triumph.
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vincent