Movie Review: Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead

A brief review of Dead Snow is available here.

There were very few surprises in Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead, and that's one of the film's greatest strengths.  At least as gory as its predecessor and a lot funnier, it's a sequel that didn't have to be made, but I'm glad it was.  Horror comedy often goes terribly wrong, veering into bland, unfunny spectacle, but it did not happen here.  Between a hysterical script and some very inspired physical comedy, it's a fun movie all on its own.

• The Cast: Vegar Hoel returned as Martin, who survived Dead Snow and ended up getting his arch-enemy Herzog's arm grafted to his stump.  The transplanted limb has a life (or unlife) all its own, and creates not only some hysterical moments, but important plot advancement. The film's writer, Stig Frode Henriksen has a great role as Martin's reluctant friend/assistant, and Hallvard Holmen was very funny as an entirely incompetent cop.  
• Zombie Squad: Three members of the Zombie Squad arrive in the nick of time to help Martin deal with Herzog's new invasion of Norway.  The writers handled them deftly, making them funny but not (too) pathetic.  
• Language: It's going to mark me as unsophisticated and provincial, but I appreciated that the movie was filmed in English.  Reading subtitles tends to take me out of the experience and divides my attention, so that didn't happen for me here.  
• Gore: It's all here.  More intestine jokes, more blood, more disgusting scenes across the board.  It doesn't let up.  Ever.  Some parts, even the funny ones, were a little hard to watch.
• The End: There's a scene at the end that had me saying, "No, stop it, this shouldn't be happening, just stop, stop, stop."  Few movies can do that to me.

If you like funny, gross-out zombie movies, you'll love Dead Snow 2.  Four out of five stars.