DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS DEAD (REVIEW)
Dir. Tommy Wirkola
Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield
Funnier than ‘Shaun of the Dead. Gorier than Dawn of the Dead and more romantically charged than ‘Life After Beth’. ‘Dead Snow 2’ does the near impossible and improves on every level against its predecessor, something which was near perfection in itself. What should be a late night b-movie turns into A list quality.
Recapping mere minutes after the conclusion of ‘Dead Snow’, this sequel starts with lone survivor Martin (Vegar Hoel) escaping the clutches of the Nazi zombie horde that stole the lives of his friends in the snow drenched mountain. Herzog (Orjan Gamst) may have all of his gold back, but this time he’s recouping a mission to finish what had been started before his death, to destroy a local town and all of it’s inhabitants.
Herzog isn’t the only one chasing down Martin as the local police department set to arrest him for the murder of not only that of his friends but also the deaths of two others including a child literally thrown out of a window and an officer killed with a Mercedes insignia. This time Martin needs friends and not only enlists the help from the very American Zombie Squad, but also, thanks to an arm replacement, the army of the undead Russians who have unfinished business with Herzog and his building army of bloodthirsty Nazi’s.
Firmly sticking its tongue through its cheek, ‘Dead Snow 2’ may on paper seem like a complex cat-and-mouse-and-cat farce but the reality is something that flows so brilliantly from one gore fest to another that the interjection of laugh out loud death scenes is not only wrong, but bloody brilliant. A 10 minute blitz from the Nazi’s sees the death of three children, death via a bathroom sink, intestines used as rope and a Tank missile to some escaping babies. Yes, PC this is not, but hilarious it is.
Where ‘Dead Snow’ put the comedy into horror, the tables seem to have turned for the sequel that sees much more comedy thrown in and a stellar performance from bumbling police chief Gunga (Hallvard Holmen) and the less than expected Zombie Squad that were ripped straight from Team America. Yet nowhere can it be forgotten that his has it’s roots firmly in the horror genre with more blood and guts than the entire series of the Walking Dead and the ending will make you want to reach for the remote purely to get that image out of your head.
It may be difficult to get a third instalment but knowing that you can’t keep a good zombie dead for long, the hope that a third instalment may continue the escapades of the ‘Dead Snow’ characters is something we won’t turn our noses up at. If you’ve not seen ‘Dead Snow’ go and see it, then multiply it by 10 to get something even bigger and better with ‘Dead Snow 2’. This as close to the perfect zom-com you will ever find.
