Dead Snow
Encyclopedia
Dead Snow is a 2009 Norwegian horror film
directed by Tommy Wirkola
, starring Charlotte Frogner
, Stig Frode Henriksen, Bjørn Sundquist
, Ane Dahl Torp
and Jenny Skavlan.
) is being chased through the snows of Norway
. She is ultimately cornered and eaten by zombie
s in World War II
Schutzstaffel
(SS) uniforms.
Seven students on Easter
vacation arrive at a small cabin near Øksfjord
. The cabin is owned by Sara, Vegard's (Lasse Valdal) girlfriend. The group begins to drink and party until a mysterious hiker (Bjørn Sundquist
) arrives. He tells them the dark history of the region; during World War II, a force of Einsatzgruppe, led by Standartenführer
Herzog
(Ørjan Gamst), occupied the area. For three years the Nazis abused and tortured the local people. Near the end of the war, with Germany's defeat looming, the soldiers looted all the town's valuables. However, the citizens stage an uprising and ambushed the Nazis, killing many. The survivors, including Herzog, were chased into the mountains, and it was assumed that they all froze to death. The hiker then continues on his way. That night Vegard wakes to a figure placing something beneath the floorboards of the cabin. He calls out believing it is Sara but she seems to ignore him leaving the cabin. Vegard quickly follows her but when her finds her outside he is horrified to find her face appearing bloody as she makes a gasping sound. Vegard suddenly jolts awake in his bed, revealing it was only a dream, but he is unsettled and feels that something terrible has happened to Sara. Meanwhile out in the snowy mountains the hiker has settled camp and is eating dinner when suddenly disturbed by a noise outside. Bringing a gun and flashlight he attempts to investigate seeing nothing in the dark he is cautious until he swing his flashlight to see a zombie nazi. The zombie attacks stabbing him and eating him inside the tent.
The next morning Vegard takes the group's snowmobile
out to look for Sara. When stopping for a rest he stumbles on a tent in which he discovers the disemboweled body of the hiker from the previous night. He searches the area discovering footprints in the snow, possibly belonging to Sara. His search is cut short when he falls through the snow into a cave hidden beneath the ice is is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, after it gets dark, the other students are partying in the cabin. When searching for more beer in the crawlspace beneath the floorboards Erland finds an old wooden box filled with valuables and golden trinkets. They celebrate by haphazardly throwing the treasure above their heads, wearing it and one of them pockets a gold coin. They eventually decide to stow it back where it came from under the advice of Martin who says that it isn't theirs and they should wait for Vegard and Sara anyway. Erlend (Jeppe Laursen) goes to the outhouse
where Chris (Jenny Skavlan) meets him and the two have sex. Erland leaves and returns to the cabin first with Chris to follow. On his way from the outhouse, Erland inadvertently drops a gold coin, which awakens a Nazi zombie. Chris stays to use the outhouse and is frightened when hearing a noise outside. She sees a Nazi zombie peering through the cracks of wood and is frightened remaining inside. Suddenly she is yanked through the bottom of the outhouse, but after a brief struggle manages to climb back up. She exits the outhouse wounded and attempts to scream for help but due to the loud music of the party she isnt heard before the Zombie kills her. The others, puzzled by her absence go outside to look for her, Martin taking a shotgun for protection. While outside they find Sara's rucksack buried in the snow.
As they wonder where Chris is after returning inside empty handed the zombies arrive at the cabin. They attempt to bar the doors and windows but Erlend is killed before the remaining students manage to seal the windows completely and survive the night. Vegard comes around in the cave, discovering WWII German firearms and helmets, as well as Sara's severed head. Vegard hears a moan behind him blindly swinging his torch hitting a Zombie. He finds the surface and calls out to his attacker to reveal himself. The Nazi Zombie obliges by coming out and the two fight. Vegard uses his military training to wrestle a knife away from the zombie and stabs him in the eye. The victory is short lived as another Zombie knocked out before awakens and knocks Vegard off the cliffside. The 2 dangle using the intestine of the dead zombie as a rope.Vegard is badly bitten in the neck but shakes the zombie off of him so that it plummets to the bottom of the ravine. He climbs back to the snowmobile, stitches his wound and takes the Nazi machine gun mounting it on the front of the snowmobile before making his escape.
Meanwhile, the remaining four students in the cabin decide to split up. The two men, Martin (Vegar Hoel) and Roy (Stig Frode Henriksen), attempt to distract the zombies, while the two women, Hanna (Charlotte Frogner
) and Liv (Evy Kasseth Røsten), run for the cars and go for help. En route to the cars, the girls are ambushed. Liv is knocked out by the zombies and awakens to them eating her intestines. Weakened she manages to grab a hand grenade
off one of the zombies belt blowing up both herself and her diners. Meanwhile Hanna is chased up a tree to hide from a zombie patrol but when given away by an angry bird she leads one zombie to the edge of a cliff. She turns and faces the zombie and stomps on the ground, causing the ice to crack, and both of them fall. Both survive, and are submerged in snow; Hanna digs her way out despite having admitted before that she is claustrophobic and kills the zombie.
Martin and Roy, holed up in the cabin, accidentally set fire to it with Molotov cocktail
s. As they escape, they discover that the shed next to the cabin contains numerous power tools, with which they equip themselves. More zombies attack, but Martin and Roy manage to fend them off with the aid of Vegard, who returns with the snowmobile. However, Vegard is killed during the fight, being ripped apart by 5 zombies. Martin, enraged by Vegard's death, goes into a rage making quick work of attacking zombies however he accidentally kills Hanna, who has returned to the cabin by sinking a hatchet into her neck. Deeply upset he does not at first notice that Herzog arrives with another group of zombies, including SS men. Roy calls for Martins aid as the zombies rush down towards them and in the last moments Martin breaks from his depression and he and Roy kill them all. Before the battle is done however Martin is bitten on the arm. Remembering Erlands one piece of advice of "don't get bit" he chooses to cut off the infected arm with a chainsaw to avoid turning into a zombie. After a painful amputation using the chainsaw and a cauterizing fire he seems elated to avoid an undead fate but a zombie bites him on the genitals. After killing the remaining undead leaving only Martin and Roy against Herzog they begin to move towards the undead officer intent on killing him. Herzog sthen raises many other zombiesuddenly shouts "ARISE" and as his words reverberate against the mountains suddenly hundreds of undead soldiers climb out of the snow staring down the two survivors. At this point the students drop their weapons and run while being pursued closely by the army. While on the run Roy is hit in the head by Herzog who picked up a dropped hammer. After being bludgeoned he is disoriented, he hit and runs into a tree which catches his intestine snaring him and is disemboweled. As he falls to his knees before the approaching Herzog the Zombie searches his pockets retrieving a pocket watch taken from the wooden box hidden in the cabin floorboards.
Martin watching the exchange and subsequent death of Roy comes to realize that the zombies are after the box in the cabin. He runs to the burnt-out remains of the cabin, searching the charred ruins until finding the box. At this time Herzog and the other Nazi Zombies arrive. Seeing what he has they halt and Martin gives them the box before quickly running. He manages to get away and finally reaches the car at the base of the mountain. Getting inside and strapping in quickly he fumbles for the keys to go into the ignition As he does so a coin from the box falls out of Martin's pocket. Swearing, he looks around to see Herzog smashing the car window.
concluded that the best way to enhance the horror and disgust of standard zombies was to give them the Nazi element; he also used the historical backdrop of the Nazi occupation of Norway in developing the film's plot. In an interview, Wirkola said, "When we were about to sit down and write the actual script, we started thinking ‘What is more evil than a zombie’? A Nazi-zombie! We have a really strong war-history up in the north of Norway from World War Two, so it was fun to combine actual events with our own story. And you know Nazis have always been the ultimate villains in movies. Combine that with zombies and you really get something that no one would sympathise with." Wirkola, who also appeared in a cameo
as one of the zombie soldiers, said of his monsters, "I like to think of them as Nazi zombies. Nazis first, then zombies."
Even though a curse
is alluded to in the beginning of the film, through the Nazi occupation and susequent burial grounds the Norwegian mountains became, it is not definitive how the Nazis became zombies. However, Wirkola used the curse angle in the creation of the film's zombies. "We went for the old-fashioned ones where they're cursed. For me there are two types of zombie films: the curse and the plague or virus. So we wanted ours to be like a ghost story
mixed with Indiana Jones
."
The special effects make-up team responsible were Per Steinar Hoftun and Shino Kotani, both of Freax FX, and Steinar Kaarstein, of Effektmakeren. The development crew also included Janne Røhmen (key make-up artist), Elisabeth Haugan, Gudmund Saksvik, Lene Bruksås and Ragnhild Prestholt.
and released on January 9, 2009 in Norway. The US
premiere was held at the Sundance Film Festival
, after which IFC Films
purchased the US distribution rights. The film received a limited release in the US starting June 19, 2009, before its DVD release on February 23, 2010.
and Dagbladet
. According to Manohla Dargis
of The New York Times
, director Tommy Wirkola, "who wrote the irrelevant screenplay with Stig Frode Henriksen, doesn’t just hit every horror beat; he pounds it to an indistinguishable pulp." She highlighted the special effects team for acclaim for their "admirably disgusting" work. Stephen Witty of The Star-Ledger
also commented positively on the film's visuals, and lauded Wirkola for his "steady hand with the action scenes", but identified the plot as the film's weakness. He accused the characters of lacking motivation, and for being "pretty much indistinguishable from one another" He also had a problem with the ending. At "Rotten Tomatoes
" the film has received a 67% positive review. Here, the consensus is given as: "Though it doesn't cover new ground, Dead Snow is an entertaining mix of camp, scares, and blood and guts."
: Fight-to-the-Death Scene, Most Memorable Mutilation, Best Foreign Movie and Best Horror Movie.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Tommy Wirkola
Tommy Wirkola
Tommy Wirkola is a Norwegian filmmaker.-Biography:Wirkola's first film was 2007's Kill Buljo that he co-wrote with Stig Frode Henriksen...
, starring Charlotte Frogner
Charlotte Frogner
Charlotte Frogner is a Norwegian Actress, best known outside of Norway for her role in the Norwegian Zombie film Dead Snow. She has been employed by the Oslo's Det Norske Teatret since 2004 where she has appeared in a number of productions and acted for Norwegian television...
, Stig Frode Henriksen, Bjørn Sundquist
Bjørn Sundquist
Bjørn Richard Sundquist is a Norwegian actor, famous for TV, theatre, and movie roles.For many years he worked at Det Norske Teatret and Nationaltheateret in Oslo, and he is especially famous for the roles as Merlin and Hamlet....
, Ane Dahl Torp
Ane Dahl Torp
Ane Dahl Torp is a Norwegian actress. Her first film appearance was in The Woman of My Life . She has received an Amanda award for her roles both as Trude Eriksen in Svarte penger, hvite løgner , and as Nina Skåtøy in the film Gymnaslærer Pedersen .Torp was named a "Shooting Star" at the Berlin...
and Jenny Skavlan.
Plot
A woman, Sara, (Ane Dahl TorpAne Dahl Torp
Ane Dahl Torp is a Norwegian actress. Her first film appearance was in The Woman of My Life . She has received an Amanda award for her roles both as Trude Eriksen in Svarte penger, hvite løgner , and as Nina Skåtøy in the film Gymnaslærer Pedersen .Torp was named a "Shooting Star" at the Berlin...
) is being chased through the snows of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. She is ultimately cornered and eaten by zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS) uniforms.
Seven students on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
vacation arrive at a small cabin near Øksfjord
Øksfjord
Øksfjord is the administrative centre of Loppa municipality, Norway. Its population is 510. Visited by Hurtigruten daily, it is located between Skjervøy and Hammerfest...
. The cabin is owned by Sara, Vegard's (Lasse Valdal) girlfriend. The group begins to drink and party until a mysterious hiker (Bjørn Sundquist
Bjørn Sundquist
Bjørn Richard Sundquist is a Norwegian actor, famous for TV, theatre, and movie roles.For many years he worked at Det Norske Teatret and Nationaltheateret in Oslo, and he is especially famous for the roles as Merlin and Hamlet....
) arrives. He tells them the dark history of the region; during World War II, a force of Einsatzgruppe, led by Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Herzog
Standartenführer (Oberst) Herzog
Standartenführer Herzog is a fictional character from Dead Snow, a Norwegian independent zomedy. Portrayed by Ørjan Gamst, he is the chief antagonist...
(Ørjan Gamst), occupied the area. For three years the Nazis abused and tortured the local people. Near the end of the war, with Germany's defeat looming, the soldiers looted all the town's valuables. However, the citizens stage an uprising and ambushed the Nazis, killing many. The survivors, including Herzog, were chased into the mountains, and it was assumed that they all froze to death. The hiker then continues on his way. That night Vegard wakes to a figure placing something beneath the floorboards of the cabin. He calls out believing it is Sara but she seems to ignore him leaving the cabin. Vegard quickly follows her but when her finds her outside he is horrified to find her face appearing bloody as she makes a gasping sound. Vegard suddenly jolts awake in his bed, revealing it was only a dream, but he is unsettled and feels that something terrible has happened to Sara. Meanwhile out in the snowy mountains the hiker has settled camp and is eating dinner when suddenly disturbed by a noise outside. Bringing a gun and flashlight he attempts to investigate seeing nothing in the dark he is cautious until he swing his flashlight to see a zombie nazi. The zombie attacks stabbing him and eating him inside the tent.
The next morning Vegard takes the group's snowmobile
Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
out to look for Sara. When stopping for a rest he stumbles on a tent in which he discovers the disemboweled body of the hiker from the previous night. He searches the area discovering footprints in the snow, possibly belonging to Sara. His search is cut short when he falls through the snow into a cave hidden beneath the ice is is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, after it gets dark, the other students are partying in the cabin. When searching for more beer in the crawlspace beneath the floorboards Erland finds an old wooden box filled with valuables and golden trinkets. They celebrate by haphazardly throwing the treasure above their heads, wearing it and one of them pockets a gold coin. They eventually decide to stow it back where it came from under the advice of Martin who says that it isn't theirs and they should wait for Vegard and Sara anyway. Erlend (Jeppe Laursen) goes to the outhouse
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
where Chris (Jenny Skavlan) meets him and the two have sex. Erland leaves and returns to the cabin first with Chris to follow. On his way from the outhouse, Erland inadvertently drops a gold coin, which awakens a Nazi zombie. Chris stays to use the outhouse and is frightened when hearing a noise outside. She sees a Nazi zombie peering through the cracks of wood and is frightened remaining inside. Suddenly she is yanked through the bottom of the outhouse, but after a brief struggle manages to climb back up. She exits the outhouse wounded and attempts to scream for help but due to the loud music of the party she isnt heard before the Zombie kills her. The others, puzzled by her absence go outside to look for her, Martin taking a shotgun for protection. While outside they find Sara's rucksack buried in the snow.
As they wonder where Chris is after returning inside empty handed the zombies arrive at the cabin. They attempt to bar the doors and windows but Erlend is killed before the remaining students manage to seal the windows completely and survive the night. Vegard comes around in the cave, discovering WWII German firearms and helmets, as well as Sara's severed head. Vegard hears a moan behind him blindly swinging his torch hitting a Zombie. He finds the surface and calls out to his attacker to reveal himself. The Nazi Zombie obliges by coming out and the two fight. Vegard uses his military training to wrestle a knife away from the zombie and stabs him in the eye. The victory is short lived as another Zombie knocked out before awakens and knocks Vegard off the cliffside. The 2 dangle using the intestine of the dead zombie as a rope.Vegard is badly bitten in the neck but shakes the zombie off of him so that it plummets to the bottom of the ravine. He climbs back to the snowmobile, stitches his wound and takes the Nazi machine gun mounting it on the front of the snowmobile before making his escape.
Meanwhile, the remaining four students in the cabin decide to split up. The two men, Martin (Vegar Hoel) and Roy (Stig Frode Henriksen), attempt to distract the zombies, while the two women, Hanna (Charlotte Frogner
Charlotte Frogner
Charlotte Frogner is a Norwegian Actress, best known outside of Norway for her role in the Norwegian Zombie film Dead Snow. She has been employed by the Oslo's Det Norske Teatret since 2004 where she has appeared in a number of productions and acted for Norwegian television...
) and Liv (Evy Kasseth Røsten), run for the cars and go for help. En route to the cars, the girls are ambushed. Liv is knocked out by the zombies and awakens to them eating her intestines. Weakened she manages to grab a hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
off one of the zombies belt blowing up both herself and her diners. Meanwhile Hanna is chased up a tree to hide from a zombie patrol but when given away by an angry bird she leads one zombie to the edge of a cliff. She turns and faces the zombie and stomps on the ground, causing the ice to crack, and both of them fall. Both survive, and are submerged in snow; Hanna digs her way out despite having admitted before that she is claustrophobic and kills the zombie.
Martin and Roy, holed up in the cabin, accidentally set fire to it with Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s. As they escape, they discover that the shed next to the cabin contains numerous power tools, with which they equip themselves. More zombies attack, but Martin and Roy manage to fend them off with the aid of Vegard, who returns with the snowmobile. However, Vegard is killed during the fight, being ripped apart by 5 zombies. Martin, enraged by Vegard's death, goes into a rage making quick work of attacking zombies however he accidentally kills Hanna, who has returned to the cabin by sinking a hatchet into her neck. Deeply upset he does not at first notice that Herzog arrives with another group of zombies, including SS men. Roy calls for Martins aid as the zombies rush down towards them and in the last moments Martin breaks from his depression and he and Roy kill them all. Before the battle is done however Martin is bitten on the arm. Remembering Erlands one piece of advice of "don't get bit" he chooses to cut off the infected arm with a chainsaw to avoid turning into a zombie. After a painful amputation using the chainsaw and a cauterizing fire he seems elated to avoid an undead fate but a zombie bites him on the genitals. After killing the remaining undead leaving only Martin and Roy against Herzog they begin to move towards the undead officer intent on killing him. Herzog sthen raises many other zombiesuddenly shouts "ARISE" and as his words reverberate against the mountains suddenly hundreds of undead soldiers climb out of the snow staring down the two survivors. At this point the students drop their weapons and run while being pursued closely by the army. While on the run Roy is hit in the head by Herzog who picked up a dropped hammer. After being bludgeoned he is disoriented, he hit and runs into a tree which catches his intestine snaring him and is disemboweled. As he falls to his knees before the approaching Herzog the Zombie searches his pockets retrieving a pocket watch taken from the wooden box hidden in the cabin floorboards.
Martin watching the exchange and subsequent death of Roy comes to realize that the zombies are after the box in the cabin. He runs to the burnt-out remains of the cabin, searching the charred ruins until finding the box. At this time Herzog and the other Nazi Zombies arrive. Seeing what he has they halt and Martin gives them the box before quickly running. He manages to get away and finally reaches the car at the base of the mountain. Getting inside and strapping in quickly he fumbles for the keys to go into the ignition As he does so a coin from the box falls out of Martin's pocket. Swearing, he looks around to see Herzog smashing the car window.
Cast
- Charlotte FrognerCharlotte FrognerCharlotte Frogner is a Norwegian Actress, best known outside of Norway for her role in the Norwegian Zombie film Dead Snow. She has been employed by the Oslo's Det Norske Teatret since 2004 where she has appeared in a number of productions and acted for Norwegian television...
as Hanna - Ørjan Gamst as StandartenführerStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
HerzogStandartenführer (Oberst) HerzogStandartenführer Herzog is a fictional character from Dead Snow, a Norwegian independent zomedy. Portrayed by Ørjan Gamst, he is the chief antagonist... - Vegar Hoel as Martin
- Jeppe Laursen as Erlend
- Evy Kasseth Røsten as Liv
- Jenny Skavlan as Chris
- Bjørn SundquistBjørn SundquistBjørn Richard Sundquist is a Norwegian actor, famous for TV, theatre, and movie roles.For many years he worked at Det Norske Teatret and Nationaltheateret in Oslo, and he is especially famous for the roles as Merlin and Hamlet....
as The Wanderer - Ane Dahl TorpAne Dahl TorpAne Dahl Torp is a Norwegian actress. Her first film appearance was in The Woman of My Life . She has received an Amanda award for her roles both as Trude Eriksen in Svarte penger, hvite løgner , and as Nina Skåtøy in the film Gymnaslærer Pedersen .Torp was named a "Shooting Star" at the Berlin...
as Sara - Lasse Valdal as Vegard
- Jerid Myers as Ronald
Production
In creating the film's Nazi zombies, writer and director Tommy WirkolaTommy Wirkola
Tommy Wirkola is a Norwegian filmmaker.-Biography:Wirkola's first film was 2007's Kill Buljo that he co-wrote with Stig Frode Henriksen...
concluded that the best way to enhance the horror and disgust of standard zombies was to give them the Nazi element; he also used the historical backdrop of the Nazi occupation of Norway in developing the film's plot. In an interview, Wirkola said, "When we were about to sit down and write the actual script, we started thinking ‘What is more evil than a zombie’? A Nazi-zombie! We have a really strong war-history up in the north of Norway from World War Two, so it was fun to combine actual events with our own story. And you know Nazis have always been the ultimate villains in movies. Combine that with zombies and you really get something that no one would sympathise with." Wirkola, who also appeared in a cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as one of the zombie soldiers, said of his monsters, "I like to think of them as Nazi zombies. Nazis first, then zombies."
Even though a curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
is alluded to in the beginning of the film, through the Nazi occupation and susequent burial grounds the Norwegian mountains became, it is not definitive how the Nazis became zombies. However, Wirkola used the curse angle in the creation of the film's zombies. "We went for the old-fashioned ones where they're cursed. For me there are two types of zombie films: the curse and the plague or virus. So we wanted ours to be like a ghost story
Ghost story
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...
mixed with Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
."
The special effects make-up team responsible were Per Steinar Hoftun and Shino Kotani, both of Freax FX, and Steinar Kaarstein, of Effektmakeren. The development crew also included Janne Røhmen (key make-up artist), Elisabeth Haugan, Gudmund Saksvik, Lene Bruksås and Ragnhild Prestholt.
Release
The film was distributed by Euforia FilmEuforia Film
Euforia Film is a Norwegian film distributor and marketer.It was founded in 2007, and by 2010 it was the largest distributor of Norwegian films. Among its distributed films are Dead Snow, Rovdyr and Tomme tønner. It has also distributed non-Norwegian films in Norway, such as Tropa de Elite, Rambo...
and released on January 9, 2009 in Norway. The US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
premiere was held at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, after which IFC Films
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
purchased the US distribution rights. The film received a limited release in the US starting June 19, 2009, before its DVD release on February 23, 2010.
Reception
Dead Snow received mixed reviews from Norwegian critics, and was rated 3/6 by both Verdens GangVerdens Gang
Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...
and Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
. According to Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, director Tommy Wirkola, "who wrote the irrelevant screenplay with Stig Frode Henriksen, doesn’t just hit every horror beat; he pounds it to an indistinguishable pulp." She highlighted the special effects team for acclaim for their "admirably disgusting" work. Stephen Witty of The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
also commented positively on the film's visuals, and lauded Wirkola for his "steady hand with the action scenes", but identified the plot as the film's weakness. He accused the characters of lacking motivation, and for being "pretty much indistinguishable from one another" He also had a problem with the ending. At "Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
" the film has received a 67% positive review. Here, the consensus is given as: "Though it doesn't cover new ground, Dead Snow is an entertaining mix of camp, scares, and blood and guts."
Accolades
The movie was nominated for four 2009 Scream AwardsScream Awards
The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films. Originally only having Scream Queen and Heroic Performance awards for actors, the personnel awards have expanded to include actors and actresses of all three recognized genres. In addition,...
: Fight-to-the-Death Scene, Most Memorable Mutilation, Best Foreign Movie and Best Horror Movie.