Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)

Fresh and Exciting

A Masterpiece!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Hugely entertaining zombie flick, let down only by a rather lame sub- plot featuring a geeky American "zombie squad" whose attempt to play for comedy falls flat on its face.As in the original, the Nazi zombies are genuinely scary and super- powerful. These necrotic storm troopers will rip your head off then tie your body up with your own entrails. Better still, they get to fight a legion of red army corpses who have an equal eye for the claret and general bodily dismemberment. Not content with getting their ill-gotten gold from the first movie in Red vs Dead the dead Germans attempt to destroy an entire town. Fun and gore proceed by equal measure.Notable in my book for being only the second movie in film history to make a zombie a sympathetic character (the other being the legendary "Bub" in Romero's seminal Day of the Dead).Political incorrectness abounds with babies being blown up by artillery shells and by a jaw-dropping climax in which necrophilia is romantically consummated to the tune of "Total eclipse of the heart" by Bonnie Tyler.What's not to like? Get the beers in and have a bloody good time with Red vs Dead!

I've never had the chance to see the original DEAD SNOW but I was lucky enough to stumble on its sequel, RED VS. DEAD, and jumped on it. I mean, Nazi zombies…why not? Zombie movies are a dime a dozen anymore and Nazis are popping up more and more as the go-to baddies in genre films (IRON SKY, great flick) but I'd heard good things about these movies and wanted to check it out. DEAD SNOW has gained cult popularity similar to DOG SOLDIERS (another one I want to see) so it's probably worth a watch. The second film, apparently, begins right where the original film left off. Martin (Vegar Hoel) has narrowly escaped with his life following the encounter with Nazi zombies that left his friends dead and cost him his right arm. The cursed Nazi gold hoard has been returned and there is hope the monsters will return to their resting place. No such luck. The zombies, under the command of the evil Herzog (Ørjan Gamst), are determined to complete their original mission from the war: an attack on the coastal Norwegian village of Talvik. With the zombies on the move and adding to their undead ranks every step of the way, Martin realizes he'll need help to stop them. But with local police believing him responsible for the murders of the first film, where can he turn? A chance encounter leads Martin into contact with the trio of amateur zombie hunters from the United States ready and eager for their chance to shine: the Zombie Squad.DEAD SNOW 2 is fun but it's got its issues. It's really good and moves along at a strong pace until about halfway through the movie. There's a good mix of dark humor and visceral violence. Despite the whole Nazi zombie and bloody dismemberments, this is definitely more a comedy than a horror film. The filmmakers know the whole premise is insane and their goal is to go wild and have fun. The violence is so over the top that it's practically cartoonish. There's a running gag playing off the fact that at the start of the film, due to bizarre circumstances, Herzog's arm has been grafted onto Martin and this arm has given him a shared power with the Nazi commander to reanimate the dead. There's one poor zombie that can't help but die over and over again as Martin continues to reanimate him as his own loyal zombie lapdog. Babies are exploded, little old ladies have their heads caved in…no one is safe. Director Tommy Wirkola is obviously trying to see how far he can take it and it's all done in good fun. The movie is a haven for gorehounds. The zombie attacks are awesome, which is why it was disappointing in the last act of the movie when it went from comedy/horror to a large-scale action scene for the final battle. The final battle goes on longer than necessary and ruins the momentum, stumbling at the film's finish line.The Zombie Squad brings some cheese to the movie. The trio is the usual over- excited zombie enthusiasts that operate out of their parents' attics/basements and have gleaned their "skills" from zombie movie marathons. The head of the Squad, Daniel (Martin Starr of HBO's "Silicon Valley"), sees this as a chance for their team to gain some notoriety. His two beautiful associates Monica and Blake (Jocelyn DeBoer and Ingrid Haas) are sort of comic relief, if an onslaught of Star Wars references is enough for a chuckle. Mostly, the Squad exists to provide exposition through Daniel's expertise. Outside of Martin and Daniel, the rest of the characters aren't overly developed. This becomes a problem when the movie detours away from Martin and Daniel's story to give us an action sequence with the girls and the unfortunate Glenn Kenneth (Stig Frode Henriksen). Glenn is a one-note joke; the audience is expected to laugh at the idea that he's apparently a closeted homosexual that won't own up to it. The joke doesn't fly as well as it might've a decade ago, unless Norway isn't as progressive and that sort of thing is still a gag over there. Glenn is the worst example of the lack of characterization in DEAD SNOW 2. Each person in the film (with the exception of Martin and Daniel) is just a personality quirk with a name. Unfortunately, any humor to be mined from that runs out pretty fast. DEAD SNOW 2 is at its best when zombies are eviscerating terrorized masses and, when it stops doing that, it falters.

OK let me start by saying that this movie is 100 mins of pure non sense and has no relevance to anything. But having said that this movie has its own charm and is a definite watch for all Z movie addicts.If your expecting a pure WWZ apocalypse, then this one does complete justice to the title, since eventually an all out war breaks off between the NAZI zombies and the SOVIET zombies and there is chaos in a comical way haha. Even in the middle of all the brutality , there is a sense of comedy which will surely make the viewers burst out into unstoppable laughter.Coming back to the gore element...this is a pure slasher with limbs and heads flying off everywhere, intestines being devoured by the undead and faces being chewed off like chewing gum. There is a good amount of nostalgia as well associated in this movie (you will understand if your a WWII movie fan) , as it redirects to the horror of the Nazis during the WWII in a very comical way...(and I mean really comical). Imagine a German tank, together with hordes of blood thirsty zombies brutally slaughtering and crushing all the women and children and the police or the army does not care at all.The setting is beautiful as the movie has been filmed in Norway, and it does good amount of justice to the movie as a whole. The cast does a good job, even though it doesn't consist of much familiar faces, but the ZOMBIE SQUAD totally rules!!! Hence I would conclude by saying..that if your looking for a well sought out Z flick, then look no further, DEAD SNOW 2 is what definitely you should be watching.As for me, this movie totally sorted out my weekend.

Invigorating sequel to the popular Norwegian horror movie of 2009 is good - sometimes great -fun. It brings back the much tormented Vegar Hoel as Martin, once again forced to battle zombie hordes. In a delicious twist, his severed arm has been replaced with the limb once worn by nefarious Nazi zombie leader Herzog (Orjan Gamst). This gives him increased strength and a special ability, which are going to come in handy. Fortunately, Martin will have allies this time, including a self-appointed American zombie squad, consisting of no more than two girls and a guy.The gleefully politically incorrect humour is refreshing in a sequel that goes for the "bigger and better" approach. It's got lots of action, lots of gore, and is quite exciting at times. This time the zombified antagonists take on a great many victims. The acting is terrific from all concerned, with Hoel endearing as our hero. Gamst is fantastic as our unstoppable foe, for whom the retrieval of gold just wasn't enough. The integrated cast this time around also includes such American actors as Martin Starr, as Daniel, and Derek Mears, as Stavarin. The script, by Hoel, co-star Stig Frode Henriksen (who plays the nerdy Glenn Kenneth), and director Tommy Wirkola dabbles in self-referential remarks, but never goes overboard in this regard. There are some great gore gags, often involving internal organs. But the best asset of the movie is the healthy dose of humour, which makes all of this very easy to watch. The subplot with the incompetent cops is amusing but not as much fun as most of the movie.If you liked the first "Dead Snow", you just might love this one.Eight out of 10.