Anthony T's #TBT: Dead Snow

Welcome to another edition of Anthony T's #TBT. Since "Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead" is coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray, I decided that I would revisit my 2009 review of of "Dead Snow" this week on #TBT.

Repost from 8/19/2009 with minor changes.

2009 has been a very good year for the horror genre. There has been a lot great horror out there, like “I Sell the Dead”, “Drag Me to Hell”, “Martyrs”, and “Rec” to name a few. Well you can add “Dead Snow” to that list of great horror films of 2009.

The film is about eight medical students, as they are on vacation on the ski slopes near Olsfjord. They stop at a small cabin to drink and party all night long. They soon meet an old man that interrupts their night of fun. . He tells them the history of how the Nazis were torturing and abusing the locals. The medical students find a box of gold that belonged to them back in that era. Now, a group of Nazi zombies want that gold back, which leads to a showdown between them and the medical students.

“Dead Snow" is Norway’s answer to “The Evil Dead”. This was a very fun movie to watch. The reason for that was Writer/Director Tommy Wirkola’s ability to make this film very scary and fun, as this is the most fun I’ve had watching a foreign horror film in a quite a while. Wirkola builds up the tension leading to the death scenes. He builds them up with false scares and some campiness to the introduction of the characters. It sets up this fun and gory ride that persists through out the whole film. Wirkola also gets into the eyes of action, as they are a couple of scenes where you are seeing the action through a zombie soldier’s eyes. By doing that, it builds up to their onscreen presence as you don’t want to know what they look like right away.

Also, the deaths scenes were very creative and inventive. If you going into seeing a horror movie like this, you want the deaths to be something that you haven’t seen before. There are a couple of deaths that you would never see in any other zombie movie but this one. It makes the action very intense and fun. The acting in this film also added to the insanity that made this film very fun. Wirkola does a very good job making the performance come off as campy and funny at times. Its needed to keep up the insane action, in order for it to be successful and not come off as just another horror film.

The Screenplay written by Wikola and Stig Frode Henriksen does deliver on its intended purpose. They do that, by setting everything up from the characters, to the deaths, to the final bloody showdown. By doing that, it grabs the viewer for the ride. Another thing that was good about this screenplay, the way they introduce the zombies. You don’t see them on screen right away; it takes about halfway through the film before you see them fully. The screenwriters did that so it builds suspense. All this insane action is well and good but if you don’t have suspense build into the story, then the film loses its insanity.

This is the most fun I’ve had watching a foreign horror film, in quite a while. This is definitely a horror film that you should definitely check it. "Dead Snow" is a fun and insane zombie film that will please zombie lovers alike.

“Dead Snow” is currently in limited release and on IFC On Demand. Check your local cable provider for more information

Review Rating: Five Stars