[Review] Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead

Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead is the follow-up to Norway's delightfully campy Nazi zombie gorefest, Dead Snow (2009). This sequel arrives five years later, but it picks up almost immediately after the last one. And it's even more fun and entertaining this time around. The B-movie antics are cranked way up, but calling this a B-movie is a disservice, because this film is surprisingly well wrought. It obviously isn't a completely serious premise, but it's crafted with serious passion and execution.

The film opens with a lot of guts and blood, and wastes no time getting down to business (there's an insanely twisted sequence where someone's intestines get ripped out and pulled by a speeding semi-truck). The story's villain, Herzog, Colonel of the Nazi zombie battalion, is building his army. And now, they're not just going after unsuspecting snowmobilers and cabin dwellers; they're going after entire towns. And they have a tank! Meanwhile, Martin (Vegar Hoel) a surviving character from the predecessor, wakes up in a hospital bed with a brand new arm. But the problem is that it's a zombie arm, which has a mind of its own. He catches wind of Herzog's reign of terror, and joins with a couple of Zombie Squad geeks from America in order to fight against Herzog's army.

In a welcome turn, this film comes with significantly higher production values and a larger scope than the last one, and it definitely goes all out with it. The costumes and make-up are extremely detailed, and the special effects are awesomely repulsive. A lot of the imagery is brutal, but it's rendered with impressive cinematography. The whole thing looks like a dream project, and nothing is too over-the-top for Director Tommy Wirkola's realm. There's also an abundance of laugh-out-loud humor, and the accessible and well-structured script provides some memorably epic one-liners that carry just the perfect amount of cheese and schlock amidst the crazy circumstances.

Dead Snow set the stage, and Dead Snow 2 surpasses it in every way. This is a surefire modern classic in the zombie comedy genre. It's a ridiculous blast in the best ways and it's a rollicking crowd-pleaser, delivering ebullient scenes that rival the likes of Return of the Living Dead, Dead Alive, and Shaun of the Dead. So, for avid fans of this sort of thing, Dead Snow 2 is an absolute must-see.

8/10