In a sea of really crappy horror movies, it is refreshing to see a movie that provides both a good time for the audience and just enough substance to make it worth watching. In Dead Snow (Død Snø) director Tommy Wirkola has created something that, while not unique, is certainly becoming a rare find in the horror world: a smart movie that mixes gore, humor and intelligence in just the right parts that makes it satisfying to watch again and again.
Dead Snow is the story of a group of seven friends who trek into the wilderness of Øksfjord, Norway to have a leisurely weekend together. They are an excellent mix of personalities – the medical student who gets weak at he sign of blood; a nerdy guy who quotes movies the whole time; the no-nonsense, smart girl; the adventurous girl who’s into, well, a little bit of everything; the snow bunny who’s just there for a good time; the ex-military guy who remembers everything about his survivalist training; and the snarky guy who criticizes everything everyone else does, but doesn’t have many ideas of his own. After a 45 minute walk to the cottage they settle in for a fun Easter holiday in the snow. That night they are visited by a wandering stranger who is looking for a cup of coffee. He sets the tone for the rest of the movie by sharing some old local history. During the Second World War the Germans used the area as a base. The soldiers brutalized the townspeople and when it appeared that the German’s were going to lose the war they raided all houses in the village for gold and valuables. The townspeople had had enough and fought back, forcing the Germans to flee into the mountains with little supplies or cover. While it is likely that they froze to death, caution should be used when frolicking in the woods in case one should wake them. Laughing off the warnings they continue their vacation, but when they find a hidden store of old gold in the ice box of the cabin, bad things begin to happen. And by bad things, I mean Nazi zombies.
Dead Snow is a gory, intelligent romp that takes the viewer along for the ride, but is also self aware. At one point Erland, the movie nerd, asks how many horror movies being with a group of people heading into the woods for a holiday. After they find the gold, he exclaims, “Fortune and glory, kid,” an Indiana Jones reference. Between these self-aware comments and some foreboding dialogue (which, of course, seems meaningless at the time), Wirkola does an excellent job of leading the audience where he wants them – and it’s all so much fun that the audience really wants to go.
While I’m not certain what the budget was for this movie, I am certain that they worked very well with what they had. Keeping everything simple but the gore made this movie a joy to watch. If only more filmmakers could come to understand that we don’t need extremely complex set ups to get maximum impact, when sometimes the simple effects will do.
Dead Snow comes very highly recommended and is a lot of fun to watch, especially on multiple viewings. Zombies should always be fun, even if sometimes North American filmmakers get it wrong.
Toronto After Dark runs from August 14 to 21, 2009 at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto. Click here for our coverage.
