Nato – Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead
While Dead Snow wasn’t critically acclaimed by any means, even finding disapproval from horror junkies I’ve befriended over the years, something about Tommy Wirkola’s Nazi zombie thriller had me addicted. Whether it was the towering Herzog, that undead German monster, or the numerous references to American cinema, or Wirkola’s wildly brutal sense of gore – Dead Snow was a winter wonderland with a liberal coating of red mist. You’ve heard of yellow snow? How about red snow…
In true sequel fashion, Wirkola is picking up directly where he left off. Martin (Vegar Hoel) is armless, all his friends are dead, he’s just avoided certain death, and he wakes up in a hospital. Now, if you remember Dead Snow, you’ll remember that Martin has to amputate his own arm to avoid succumbing to the zombie infection. You’ll also remember that while driving away, Herzog’s detached arm ends up in the passenger’s seat of his car. Well, if you watch the trailer for Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead, you’ll be happy to find out that doctors assumed Herzog’s arm was actually Martin’s, and attached the undead limb to Martin’s healthy body. What does this mean? I have no idea, but in the trailer, Martin punches a zombie’s head and it explodes Scanners style. Add to that the casting of Martin Starr and Derek Mears, and you’ve got one seriously excited zombie fan.
In all honesty, I could probably just list each genre film premiering at Sundance and have a full list of anticipated horror movies for 2014, but considering the ones I’m MOST excited for, Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead is on top of that list.