Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)

"Zombis Nazis 2" is a highly entertaining, tongue-in-cheek, silly, over the top splatter which pays homage to movies like "Evil Dead" while keeping its own personality. Only some problems of pace and some decisions over a couple of characters (as the cringe-worthy at moments Glenn) let the movie down.Even if you haven't watched the first one, "Zombies Nazis 2" brings you up to pace pretty fast: Martin and friends went to have a crazy weekend at a cabin, but some zombies, which were also Nazis, decided to kill them all. Martin was the only survivor (minus right arm) and he is happy to have come out alive. However, things get complicated again pretty fast: he is suspect of the deaths of his friends and detained. And the zombies are not happy with just getting their gold back.Cue lots of splatter, blood, silly, but very silly humor (again, sometimes a little bit cringe-worthy) and a very on your face approach to the proceedings. Wirkola does a great job in keeping everything going on (even if the pace suffers at moments, specially with the apparition of the Zombie Squad and the side quest to find the Russians), putting a joke when we are starting to get tired of so many guts flying around. The actors do a great job, jumping into the proceedings with glee and probably a good stock of clothing. The camera-work and the use of locations has improved and it seems the budget was way higher this time around. All in all it makes for a good 90 minutes."Zombis Nazis 2" will be enjoyed by fans of the genre. If it could have had a better rhythm...

This movie was terrible. There are no two ways about it.I watched the first Dead Snow and this sequel back-to-back and was disappointed quite a lot with the first one.I figured what could be worse than that? Well lets just say, be careful what you wish for.Picture the most absurd plot and then magnify it to infinity. That is what this is.I don't even know what to say about this piece of trash film, or at least where to begin.The plot is paper thin. A sewn-on walker arm has a mind of its own? Please. No thanks.This is supposedly a "horror comedy". Well there's nothing scary or funny in it.I would give this movie no stars if possible. Avoid at all costs unless you want to watch something boring.Oh, and the ending necrophilia scene is sick and wrong. Not funny at all.

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.

Dead Snow was already an amazing movie, funny, brutal and a true gore-fest. Surprisingly enough the sequel happens to be even better compared to Dead Snow. It's very different compared to the previous movie, not only in setting but it's also funnier, even more brutal and it's filled with even better gore. Right after Martin's arm is being reattached (Idle Hands meets Dead Snow) you'll laugh your socks off with a certain reanimating scene. At that moment I knew how awesome this movie was going to be.I thought it was pretty cool that they did some sort of America-European crossover, mainly because I think it might prevent Hollywood from remaking Dead Snow. I like Martin Starr, he is in some of my favorite comedies and not to forget the great show Freaks and Geeks. I thought the Star Wars fan was a bit lame, but well, it fits the movie I suppose. Vegar Hoel returns as Martin and while he was a bit of a pansy in Dead Snow, he became pretty bad ass in Red vs. Dead. Definitely a great performance by Vegar Hoel. Another familiar face is Stig Frode Hendriksen (who also happens to be one of the writers, besides Vegar Hoel), who returns in a different role since his previous character was pretty much... well, butchered off.I must admit that the entire movie I felt incredibly sorry for the zombie-sidekick. Even though he had some pretty nasty moments, he was pretty much ****ed the entire movie. It was a nice touch to the movie though. Not so nice-looking was the zombie sex - gross! As with Dead Snow, the make-up was great looking in this part. Perhaps even better looking too, it was quite noticeable that the budget was a bit higher compared to Dead Snow. Nazi-zombies were never better looking than this. Some great camera-work and nice special effects as well.Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead is not only an excellent sequel, it's just an amazingly brilliant movie overall. It contains great acting, some good jokes and some great gore. Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead is even more over-the-top than the first one, and I LOVED it. Definitely not a movie everyone will enjoy, but for those who love movies such as Shaun of the Dead, Cockneys vs. Zombies and Evil Dead will most definitely like this one.