Today’s Halloween Horrors series entry brings us to the topic of zombies. Sure, we’ve all watched our fair share of films and television shows on the subject. We’ve all played out scenarios in our heads of what we would do to survive if we found ourselves living in a world that had been infested with large swarms of the shambling undead. Let’s face it; we know basically everything there is to know about zombies… but have you ever known a zombie? Like, really taken the time to really know a zombie. Who they were when they were more properly alive? What made them tick? What were their hopes and dreams? 

In the case of the zombies featured in today’s Halloween Horrors topic, those hopes and dreams included world domination and genocide. Hey, nobody’s perfect. 

I’m honored to welcome Anthony Pantazis back to our series with this look at Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead, the 2014 sequel to the 2009 Norwegian zombie film from director Tommy Wirkola. As regular readers of this series should remember, Anthony has joined us in the past with his thoughts on films such as John Carpenter’s The Thing and Nightbreed. With this year’s entry, he attempts to remind us that zombies were once just people. Sometimes, they were shitty people. 

Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead

Throughout the years of watching zombie movies, I’ve always cheered when a shambling, brain-hungry creeper of the undead gets shot-gunned down or skewered by a samurai sword. Then, as I got older, I started paying attention to who the zombies were. The construction worker with his hard hat and tool belt still on, dragging a broken leg from his job site in search of pain killing brains. Or the doctor, still in her scrubs, who just hours ago was at the hospital trying her best to treat the overcrowded lobby full of people with bite marks. What about the poor “working stiff” turned dead stiff in his business suit, briefcase in hand, limping aimlessly down the street, hoping to come across a group of survivors before they reach sanctuary at the local mall? I feel bad for those guys because they seem relatable. They are us. Or, er, were us. I don’t like seeing them get killed… again.

Which brings us to the movie I’m going to talk about. In this movie, the zombies had the most evil of jobs while they were alive. No, they weren’t lawyers or DMV workers. They were Nazis! The genre of Nazi horror is a guilty pleasure of mine. I don’t mind at all when these goose-stepping goons get what’s coming to them. In fact, the more brutal the way they meet their death, the better.

Our story takes place right after the events of the first film. Martin, our hero, escapes from the clutches of Standartenführer Herzog, but there’s a problem. During the escape, Martin and Herzog both lose an arm. When Martin wakes up in the hospital, he finds that the doctor has attached the wrong arm to him. Now, Martin possesses an über-arm with a murderous power and mind of its own. This definitely comes in, er, handy, later in the movie.

Herzog, the cursed Nazi commander, and his minions realize that the missing appendage is somewhere in the sleepy seaside village that they were stationed at during the war. Herzog also comes to the realization that not only can he retrieve his missing arm, but also take vengeance on the town that placed the curse on him and his men to begin with.

Meanwhile, Martin is on the run and desperately looking for help to deal with his zombie problems. While he was in the hospital, he came across some information from a kid who seemed to know just who to call. I won’t drop any spoilers, but that whole scene is hilarious and disturbing at the same time! Martin calls for reinforcements all the way over in the U.S.A. in the form of a zombie hunting organization. Maybe more like a team or club? Think the Frog Brothers, but without the comic book store and more Star Wars references. They agree to head to Norway and help Martin fight this undead threat and to also prove to the world, or at least their followers on the internet, that they are a bonafide badass team of zombie slayers.

While Martin is on the run, he comes across a WWII museum full of information on Herzog, as well as a tour bus full of tourists. Here is where Herzog and his guys brutally attack everyone at the museum. The gore is over the top and kinda funny. During this attack at the museum, the Nazis acquire a tank. Yes, a tank! Again, I don’t want to spoil the best parts of the scene, but how they get the tank moving and how a new member joins the fight against the zombie horde is pretty funny.

 

Martin finally meets up with his zombie fighting professionals. He is told that the best and seemingly only way to defeat Herzog and his men is to use the necrotic arm and its power to raise a bunch of Soviet soldiers that Herzog himself had killed during the war. Once Martin raises the dead, the stage is set for an epic final showdown against Herzog.

The big fight at the end is exactly what you’d expect it to be in a movie like this. It’s over-the-top, gory, and has plenty of funny moments. My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough. Again, without giving too much away, let’s just say that our heroes come out on top, though not without a cost. The ending is perfect and has a nod to both Pet Sematary and Shaun of the Dead, which just makes you want to see what happens next.

Sadly, Geir Vegar Hoel, the actor who played Martin in both of the Dead Snow movies, passed away. There have been talks about a third film in the franchise, but unfortunately it seems like that may never happen. Either way, if you have the time and the means, I recommend that you watch Dead Snow and, my favorite, Dead Snow 2 and feel confident in knowing that the WORST group of zombies gets what they deserve.

Thank you to Dustin and his family for another fun year of Halloween Horrors! Thank you to all of the contributors this year, and thank you, reader, for making it to the end of my review. Happy Halloween!