Død Snø is a pleasant horror/comedy surprise from the frozen fjords of Norway. A group of young medical students on Easter vacation take a trip to a remote cabin in the Norwegian wilds. One of their group, Sara--who’s a real athlete--is making the trip by herself across the tundra, so the others frolic around in the snow while they wait for her to show up. But the gang receives another visitor, an older gentleman who asks for a cup of coffee, then makes disparaging remarks about the organic brand that one of the girls made for him. Is that any way to thank your hosts for their hospitality after unexpectedly dropping in on them?
But in the best tradition of the Friday The 13th films, the old guy tells the kids a story about the German regiment that occupied the area during the Second World War. Unlike most of the Norwegian occupation, where relations were pretty smooth between the two sides, this bunch of Germans were real monsters who mistreated the locals. Near the end of the war, the locals rose up and drove the Germans into the deep forests, where it was assumed they froze to death. Of course, that’s not what happened. Unbeknownst to the group, their friend Sara has already run into the platoon of Nazi Zombies.
Directed by Tommy Wirkola with a good slasher film sensibility, plenty of gore and a wry sense of humor, Dead Snow is a lot of fun for horror fans. The comedy and the horror is often blended in, such as in the scene where one of the hapless victims is being dragged through a window by the Nazi zombies, and his friend chides him about how they all should have went to the beach instead. There’s still plenty of suspense, despite the all-out humor (which goes for the gross-out every time) as we cheer for the med students to survive their ordeal against the zombies, as well as the bitter cold surroundings.
In fact, the suspense is so well handled, that when the movie devolves into a full-bore, slapstick comedy at the end, I almost wished it could have remained a straight horror thriller. Yet the makers were clearly aiming to make a film in the Shaun Of The Dead mold, and they’ve succeeded (who knew intestines would be so flexible?). I watched this as a video download courtesy of my account with Netflix, but it’s also available on DVD and Blu-Ray. If you’re a horror/zombie movie fan who’s looking for something different, then give Død Snø a ride.
--SF
