A review of Dead Snow by Braindead

My first impressions for this film from the trailer, looked quite promising and when I finally got to see the film, I was not let down.
The trailer, makes the film out to resemble a modern day, Peter Jackson classic and it was, from the gratuitous amounts of gore to the silly but acceptable humour, except with the positive addition of better acting.

The movie starts with a young girl being chased through the snow covered mountains of Norway and abruptly meeting her demise by zombie like creatures, that you do can not quite make out, however you know they are not simple towns folk.
Snap straight to eight medical students on Easter Vacation, heading for a cabin in the mountains, ready for a week of sex and alcohol, where things do not go, quite as planned.

After a brief visit from a passing hiker, they are told a little ghost story, of the history of the area and how the local village was raided by SS troops in the wartime and how the villagers stood up and murdered most of the squadron. The remaining soldiers spread out to the countryside and where not heard of again, although the local legends say that they still remain, wandering the snow covered landscape, searching to satisfy a sixty year old blood-lust.

I really enjoyed this movie and would definitely have it in my DVD collection, although being subtitled due to the film being completely in Norwegian, it did not put me off in the slightest.
The acting and production was credible and professional, which is a breath of fresh air, with all the low budget horror swamping the genre at the moment.
The location was beautiful and atmospheric, which is quite a refreshing change from suburban style movies of the same genre.

The characters were excellent, ranging from the gorgeous to the slightly eccentric, each with their own original style, although slightly clichéd, whilst avoiding the usual ensemble of egotistical, gung-ho teens. These are average students, all with down to earth qualities that most movie goers can relate to.

The gore is plentiful and very realistic, with definite inspiration from early movies like Brain dead and Bad Taste.

Make up for the zombies was excellent, although I am still unsure of the way they moved. It was unclear whether they are decaying corpses or healthy dead people, as they are quite agile and move like a normal person, so this was a little confusing but enjoyable all the same.

Overall, well worth a watch!

I am going to give the movie 7/10