Nazi Zombies!: Dead Snow

The last movie I talked about on There's Something Wrong With Esther was Wild Zero, an oddball Japanese zombie comedy. Today, I will cover Dead Snow, another foreign zombie comedy, that, while different in style and tone from Wild Zero, is equally funny and entertaining.

Dead Snow begins with a group of Norwegian med-students heading to a remote cabin in the mountains where they plan to party their spring break away. The characterization here is minimal. Each character is given one major distinguishing factor and that's pretty much it. Included are a "very single" gal, an overweight movie nerd (who provides a lot of the movie's self-aware humor), an aspiring doctor whose terrified of blood, and a cocky ex-military guy, among others. If this premise sounds familiar it's because it is. The creators of Dead Snow are well-aware of the cliches of the horror genre, and seem to have a lot of fun poking fun at them. As mentioned earlier, the chubby film nerd makes frequent references to other movies, and often pokes fun at the more tired elements of Dead Snow's plotline ("How many movies start with a group of friends on a trip to a cabin with no cell phone signal", he asks). While such dialogue was necessary to set the tongue in cheek tone of the movie, jokes like this could have easily become grating over an hour and a half long span of time. Luckily, it seems that the people behind Dead Snow were aware of this as the movie guy is the first member of our core group to die, and his death is a memorable one.

His death is caused by the central source of the mayhem behind Dead Snow: the Nazi-zombies. Nazi zombies are the film's main selling point, and the concept of these creatures is so brilliant that I can't believe they aren't in every movie. Just imagine Tron, Mama Mia, or March of the Penguins with Nazi zombies. See? They are brilliant in every scenario you could possibly place them in. On a slightly more serious note, these zombies worked for me mainly because of their look. The combination of the Nazi uniform, which is famously cold, sharp, and utilitarian looking, combined with the look of a rotting zombie body, which looks messy and organic, was a great combination. Also, I have always liked the idea of applying supernatural themes to real life historical event, whether it is done to communicate a serious message (as in the original Gojira), or for simply for the humor that results from the absurdity of it all (as is in Dead Snow).

It helps that the zombie makeup here is well done. The zombies have cold grey faces and mouths that spit blood. These zombies are creatures that really do look like monsters and not simply people in costumes. Watching them growl, trudge through snow banks, and stab our med-students in synchronization (yes, these zombies use weapons), is bizarrely entertaining. That said, these beings are still monsters, so you won't feel too bad for them as they are destroyed with all manners of weaponry. Zombie movies as a whole are generally a gory bunch, and Dead Snow is no exception. During the last half-hour of the movie, there are guts, brains, and blood galore flying across the screen non-stop. It is in the gruesome moments of the film that its delightfully dark sense of humor comes through, and it is here that Dead Snow becomes something awesome.

It's true that Dead Snow is not a flawless zombie epic- it's not entirely original either in premise or tone, and the first half of the film is a bit slow. These faults are forgivable, however, because Dead Snow does not attempt to be truly different or expertly paced. It merely wants to make the viewer laugh, and possibly makes them squirm. From my own experience, and from watching other's reactions, I would say that it does what it set out to do, and does it very well.