Oh I wasted no time. No time whatsoever. I jumped right back into the Nazi Zombie with both bloody feet.
Pun intended.
Today’s movie is the 2014 zombie comedy (I’m not even going to waste anytime saying it’s a horror movie) Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead (or sometimes referred to as Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead). It’s a follow up to the 2009 horror/comedy that I watched yesterday.
The nice thing about this one – no more reading! The filmmakers must have known that the original had a good size following in the States. Not only were American actors brought in this time (one of whom you may recognize), but they also filmed a version that was completely in English for use monolinguals (is that a think?).
The movie picks up exactly where we left off the last one. The end of the original left you thinking the last survivor (Vegar Hoel) was killed – but no! He ends up getting away, taking off the main zombies arm in the process – only to end up in a hospital held against his will for the murders of all his friends.
In the original movie, he gets bitten on the arm and, afraid that he will become a zombie, saws his own arm off. When he is found, he’s found with the arm of the head Nazi zombie (who we learn is Herzog – I don’t remember the name being referenced in the first one). The doctor has good news for him – they reattached his arm!
Only it’s not his arm!
Yes, now our lone survivor, wanted for murder, has the arm of a Nazi zombie attached to him – and of course. Of course. Of course it gives him super powers.
Everything in this movie is bigger. The budget. The action. The settings. The violence. The gore. The fighting. The humor. The intestines. Everything is bigger. So of course we learn that the zombies (who by the way aren’t your typical zombies, they’re pretty damn smart), or at least the head zombie, can raise the dead (sorta like a White Walker) and make them his minions.
And of course a Nazi zombie doctor takes the arm of Martin (our hero) and attaches it to the head zombie.
So now they have each other’s arm. And we both find out that they have the power to raise the dead.
While in the hospital, a dumb kid – a zombie fan who contacts an American “Zombie Squad” in the internet (stay with me), helps Martin escape, before Martin accidentally kills him (gory by funny). The squad ends up in touch with Martin (who steals the dead kids phone, kills a cop again by accident since the arm is making him do it, and gets away). They come to Norway to help battle the zombies.
Once they see that the Nazis are creating an army, the main American (we’ll get to him), comes up with a plan of their own – to raise their own dead army of Russians, with Martin’s power, to fight the Nazis.
Yes. Russian Zombies (Red) vs. Nazi Zombies (Dead).
What more can I say without ruining this movie? As I said before, the violence – though very cartoonish – was pretty brutal. The Nazombies (hey why not) were rolling through towns (on their way to take a village they were meant to take in the 1940s) and just slaughtering everybody – every age – they could. It was almost jarring if it wasn’t so ridiculous and over the top.
And did I say more intestines? How about a zombie using the intestine of a man as a hose to siphon gas out of a bus and into a WWII tank? Of course it worked because WWII takes run on the same fuel that your typical tour bus uses.
Again if you like silly gore with a bloody tongue firmly pressed into its cheek, I say check this movie out.
A few things to note:
- I love the fact that the director cast the same actor from the original in a completely different role, both of which were pretty prominent roles. I assume they weren’t supposed to be related in any way as Martin would’ve probably noticed.
- Speaking of Martins, how awesome was it that Martin Starr was cast as the head of the American trio that was the Zombie Squad? I became a big fan of his of course with Freaks & Geeks. I haven’t watched enough Party Down, but I know people love it – and of course he’s freaking great now as Gilfoyle on the great Silicon Valley.
The last scene of this movie is so ridiculous, but it basically sums of the movie as a whole. Equals part gross/silly/dumb/amazing all at once – and set to an 80’s classic. And if you stuck around until after the credits, it looks like they’ve left things open for a part 3.
Because of course they did.
18 down. 12 to go.
