[Dead Snow]
Plot:A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.

Cast:Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel, Charlotte Frogner, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Bjorn Sundquist, Jenny Skavlan.

My Thoughts:Good fun!

Review:I've been waiting for someone to do something new with the zombie subgenre. I mean lets face it, while zombies rock in their own, undead, rotted-flesh sort of way, the subgenre has certainly been hurting as of late. There have been some horrible attempts at doing something new with the zombie subgenre, and after that, some modestly decent ones. And George Romero can only make so many zombie movies a year. So someone has to come along to give us a new spin on the zombie subgenre, yet at the same time, make it a good spin.

Something unpredictable, yet entertaining. Something fresh and new, yet likeable and fun. Which is exactly what Norweigian director Tommy Wirkola comes along and does with his zombie flick "Dead Snow". The Norway horror film follows a group of youngsters who venture into the mountains for a ski trip. The typical hijinx are expected to ensue. Fun, time well spent with hot chicks, and the usual, random silliness. Unfortunately for them, undead evil lurks in the snowy mountains where they have ventured into.

A stranger soon drops by to tell them a story, of a Nazi solider named Herzog, who during World War II, had his troops defeated and overpowered by locals. And so he, and what was left of his men, snatched up some treasure in the form of gold and silver valuables, and fled into the mountains. The locals lost them, and the General and his troops managed to escape. But they eventually died in those mountains, or did they? The arrival of the teens has awoken Herzog and his men, and now, they're looking for some fresh meat, along with some new recruits.

"Dead Snow" is such a good film because it creates a very crazy, and off the wall scenario, and then incorporates zombies into the whole grand scheme of things. The zombies themselves are the best part of the movie, mainly because they break the traditional rules. They don't walk at half speed, dragging their bodies along, moaning about brains and such. Instead, they run, chase, attack, stab, jump, and even use binoculars to spot their prey. Now I know a lot of zombie traditionalists will probably dismiss this film right off the back because of that.

There are indeed a lot of zombie movie traditionalists who want to see the walking dead doing just that, walking. Not running, jumping, climbing, or anything like that. These people were out in full-force against Uwe Boll's "House Of The Dead". But for many other reasons, however one of which was the fact that the zombies were runners. However, the running zombie was also then used yet again in the "Dawn Of The Dead" remake, and was for the most part well-received there.

So I hope zombie-traditionalists don't dismiss "Dead Snow" simply because the undead have a lot of spring in their step, so to speak. The zombies in Wirkola's film are also very vicious, which is a plus for the pic. They don't waste time, they strike hard, fast, and make sure their victims don't survive the encounter. This adds a high level of suspense and entertainment value to the movie. And also makes you think that no one will survive the encounter in the end. But on the other side of things, the kids? Well, are actually tolerable.

Yes, "Dead Snow" is one of the few films where the characters, who are in their mid to late 20's I would think, are actually tolerable. And what's even better is when the zombies make their move on them, they fight back. This is no sitting duck movie, the human characters most certainly do battle back against Herzog and his undead legion, and they use anything and everything they can get their hands on. Everything from chainsaws to guns, as well as other things.

And if you're thinking that this must mean that the film is super bloody, well then you are correct! I'd say "Dead Snow" in fact, is one of the bloodiest zombie movies since the old Romero zombies films, and it even comes close to rivaling some of the Italian zombie flicks of old like "Zombi", as far as overall goriness is concerned. Traditionalists will also be pleased with many of the vintage zombie methods such as turning people via a bite, and zombie hands bursting out of the snow, ala the method of zombies escaping their dirt graves in many past zombie films.

The climax of the film is action-packed and very intense, while also blended with a lot of dark and overt humor, including one moment where things get really bad numerically for the last few characters left alive. "Dead Snow", with it's snowbound setting, fierce zombies, and true horror film overtones, is sure to be a good time for any horror or zombie movie fan. It's definitely worth a watch.

Positives:Very fierce zombies, great blood and gore, tolerable human characters, and a good mix of black humor amongst all the madness.

Negatives:Some of the night time scenes are filmed too dark.

Overall:Three and a half out of four stars.





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