DEAD SNOW 2 - RED VS DEAD (2014)

 

DIRECTED by Tommy Wirkola

SCREENPLAY by Tommy Wirkola, Stig Frode Henriksen & Vegar Hoel

STARRING -  Vegar Hoel as Martin Hykkerud

Ørjan Gamst as Standartenführer (Oberst) Herzog

Martin Starr as Daniel

Jocelyn DeBoer as Monica

Ingrid Haas as Blake

Stig Frode Henriksen as Glenn Kenneth

Hallvard Holmen as Gunga

Kristoffer Joner as Sidekick Zombie

Amrita Acharia as Reidun

Derek Mears as Stavarin

Bjarte Tjøstheim as Priest

Christian Rubeck as Policeman

Charlotte Frogner as Hanna

Jesper Sundnes as Nazi Doctor

PLOT - After escaping from the horde of cursed Nazi Zombies (in the previous movie) Martin is involved in a car crash.

He awakes in hospital to find that his hand has been mistakenly removed and replaced with a transplanted new hand, unfortunately that hand formerly belonged to his Zombie nemesis - Herzog.

Very soon Herzog and his zombie horde are hunting down Martin to reclaim Herzog's hand. What they don't know is that Martin has gained the power to reanimate the dead with his new hand.

As the Nazi undead raid a small town, Martin finds that he has to defend it but this time he has a Zombie army of his own.

Get ready for all out Zombie war...

PERFORMANCES - This sequel takes place immediately after the end of the first film, so you can probably guess that a few actors/characters make return appearances.

Leading the cast is Vegar Hoel as Martin...and he's absolutely great in this. Martin's character has toughened up considerably this time round (he fainted at the sight of blood in the original), he's much more a hardened veteran zombie killer this time round. Add to this his new found Zombie resurrection powers and he's more of a match for  Herzog and his zombie horde, especially when he revives an entire cemetery full of Russian soldiers to take on the killer Nazi Zombies. He's a shaven headed, Zombie handed, green shellsuit wearing badass (if it's remotely possible to be a badass whilst wearing a green shellsuit that is...)

Martin also has a slightly accident prone side to him - which results in lots of comedy moments, especially when he accidentally kills an annoying kid. These moments put me in mind of Ash Williams from the Evil Dead movies and TV series and Hoel plays the part with the same type of manic intensity that Bruce Campbell brings to his iconic role. 

Imagine how cool it would have been if they had made a Dead Snow/Evil Dead crossover film (Evil Dead Snow ? Anyone ?) where Martin and Ash got to butt heads and kill Nazi Zombies and Deadites together - it would have been AWESOME !!!! Sadly Vegar Hoel died a few years after this film was made (the planned Dead Snow 3 was shelved) - On the strength of this movie (and the original) Hoel had the potential to have basically become Norway's answer to Bruce Campbell, the world of horror B-movies is a poorer place for his absence, may he rest in peace.

Also returning is Orjan Gamst as the Zombie leader - Herzog. He's every bit as intimidating as he is in the first film, if not moreso - his annoyance at his hand being accidentally transplanted onto Martin makes his vendetta come across as more personal this time round.

He also shows a much meaner streak too - in the first film he only sends his zombie horde after people who have wronged him by taking his Nazi gold, this time he just kills indescriminately- anyone who's in his way gets taken down and he has absolutely no compunctions about attempting to wipe out an entire town of completely innocent people. In fact you could say he's a Nazi piece of work...

Another returnee is Stig Frode Henriksen - he played Martin's womanising best friend Roy in the first movie, this time round he plays a completely different character - a gay goth/emo type called Glenn who Martin initially takes hostage and who eventually becomes a courageous Zombie killer in his own right. I didn't realise it was the same actor playing the two roles as he looks completely different here.

Whilst the original movie was filmed with the cast talking entirely in their native accents, the sequel has a number of characters (Martin included) speaking in English for a large part of the movie. Presumably this was to attract the American audience and ensure a wider international distribution for the film. This is compounded by the inclusion of three American characters in the film... The Zombie Squad !!!

The Zombie Squad are Daniel (Martin Starr), Monica (Jocelyn DeBoer) and Blake (Ingrid Hass) - they advertise online as "professional Zombie killers", so the desperate Martin hires them to help him. They turn out to be just three stereotypical American geeks (cue lots of Star Wars references and pop culture jokes), the three actors make the characters likeable enough but they undoubtedly feel out of place here - it's like they've wandered in from an episode of The Big Bang Theory - a bold attempt but a slight misfire from an otherwise pretty damn good sequel.

SFX - Some truly excellent and memorable Zombie designs. I particularly like the Russian Zombies and the "mad Nazi scientist" Zombie.

SEX & VIOLENCE - Wall to wall gut munching, flesh ripping zombie action !!!!

This one has it all Zombies fighting cops, Zombies fighting each other...

Zombies driving tanks and running over innocent civilian bystanders, at one point a tank blasts a mother with a pushchair - now this sounds really harsh and indefensible BUT - the way it's done is so balls to the wall, over the top that you'll find yourself laughing like a maniac wondering what exactly the Zombies (and the filmmakers) are going to do next.

Zombies break into a house and kill a man on the toilet who's taking a shit.

 If all of that wasn't enough - you then get the "friendly Zombie" (Kristopher Joner) - he's basically a normal bloke who gets killed by the Zombie Nazis who Martin then revives to test out his newfound abilities. Cue lots of death and revival scenes for this poor chap. He basically gets offed in increasingly ridiculous ways throughout the duration of the movie - think Kenny from South Park with decaying flesh and you won't be far off the mark.

Believe it or not there's also a sex scene - right at the end of the film Martin decides he's done fighting and now it's time for some lovein'. So what does he do ? Why, what any sane and rational human being would do... he goes to the cemetery where his dead girlfriend from the first movie is buried, digs her up, revives her as a Zombie and then proceeds to bang the shit out her in the back of his car like a horny teenager parked up in the local dogging spot. Let's just say she's not exactly kept her looks, it's gross, slightly disturbing and funny as hell (much like the rest of this excellent movie), I promise that after watching this scene you'll never hear Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" in quite the same way ever again.

RATING - This is probably one of the best horror sequels since Evil Dead 2 - like that movie it takes everything that was great about the first film and dials it up one hundred percent - it's funnier, it's gorier, the main character is better developed. If you love the original then chances are you'll love this one just as much or even more (like I do).

5 Zombie reviving hands out of 5.

ART -