The sequel to Dead Snow (2009, Dod Sno – Norwegian) is directed once again by Tommy Wirkola and is also written by the same people, Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel (who actually plays Martin) as well as Wirkola. It stars Vegar Hoel as Martin, Orjan Gamst as Colonel Herzog, Martin Starr as Daniel, Jocelyn DeBoer as Monica, Ingrid Haas as Blake, Stig Frode Henriksen as Glenn and Kristoffer Joner as a hilarious sidekick zombie. Warning, this review contains slight spoilers for the 1st film.

Dead Snow 2 follows straight on from the mayhem that occurred in the 1st film. After a brief recounting of what happened in the 1st film, the film returns to Martin (Hoel), the sole survivor of the Nazi Zombie carnage, as he continues his escape. Believing himself to be safe after returning the Nazi’s gold, he heads back to the parked cars to leave and finds he still has a single gold coin and is once again accosted by several Nazi Zombies. After a brief struggle with the zombie leader, Colonel Herzog, and a collision with a truck which severs the zombie’s arm, he manages to get away and gets rid of the final coin out of the window. What with the terrible road conditions, the dark, tiredness through blood loss and the fact he now only has one arm (after removing it, Evil Dead II style in the prior film) he crashes the car. He awakens in the hospital, to find that surgeons have actually reattached the zombie’s limb to his arm believing it to be his.

 

Whilst here Martin is placed under arrest for the murder of all his friends, including his girlfriend, as the police do not believe his story of a Nazi Zombie massacre. With the aid of his new evil arm (again, shades of Evil Dead. “Give me back my hand”) Martin makes a comedic escape from the hospital and using a funnily acquired mobile gets in contact with the Zombie Squad, a team of “professional” zombie hunters, comprised of Daniel (Starr), Monica (DeBoer) and Blake (Haas), who say they will come to Norway from America to help him defeat the Nazi Zombies; in turn preventing the second coming of the Third Reich (or as Rob Zombie’s character Susie X states in *The Haunted World of El Superbeasto* – “wouldn’t that be the first coming of the Fourth Reich” 😀 ). Meanwhile the undead cut a bloody swathe through Norway to reach Talvik, the destination of their final unfinished mission, whilst at the same time swelling their ranks. The Talvik police force unaware of all the details, blame Martin for all the bloodshed, and set out to hunt him down. Using powers granted to him by his new arm, Martin resurrects a Russian force of zombies to counter the ever growing Nazi threat. This culminates in an all out zombie on zombie smash-fest that is unseen, as far as I know, within the genre; a point that is also mentioned by Daniel, the leader of the Zombie Squad.

Following on from the first film enabled the story to jump straight into the action which furthers the previous films level of comedy and gore. The film switches between Norwegian with English subtitles and English speaking (35ish% & 65ish% respectively), so people who were put off watching the 1st film because they don’t like reading subtitles (or felt less engaged because of it) will now only be put off half the time. It is a fun film to watch and as such has had a slightly comical impact on the way I’ve written this review. Fans of the former film will definitely enjoy this one; if you liked Shaun of the Dead (’04), Braindead (’92) and/or Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) (’94) then you’ll love this. It takes the story to a whole new level. Everything that was good in the first film has been improved upon. The gore and brutality is both plentiful and hilarious. If a zombie siphoning petrol from a bus to a tank using someone’s ripped out intestines doesn’t make you laugh, then I frankly feel sorry for you. I found myself laughing constantly, sometimes hysterically (i.e. child, wheelchair and baby kills (might sound bad to read for some, but just wait and see)).

 

Reviews of Dead Snow (’09) likened it to the 1st Evil Dead film and this sequel certainly continues the story, provides further back story and information, and is twice as good as its predecessor; much like it is with Evil Dead II. Dead Snow: Red Vs. Dead is a thoroughly enjoyable film which has an abundance of blood and guts and more guts and is certainly a film that you can watch more than once. I’m glad I finally got around to watching it and can easily say that it is now amongst my favourite zombie comedy movies. I’d recommend you watch the 1st film (for both the sakes of the story and as a general recommendation), although it is not vital that you do so, but I would highly recommend Red Vs. Dead; it is a must see for any zombie aficionado. IMDB rates it at 7.2 out of 10 and Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 84%, so a combined average that I could agree with puts it at 7.8/10 or78%. It has a running time of 1hr 40 minutes and is 1hr and 40 minutes well spent. Check it out – The Eyez 187

Also, without going into details, an after credits scene, hints at the possibility of a 3rd film!

*Rob Zombie’s – The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. An animated film, definitely for fans of his films, as it has many cameos from many of his films, an excellent cast and is also lots of fun. Much like the review above, it also has Nazi Zombies. It may get its own review in the future!