The original Dead Snow was a riot and then some. Combining awesome gore and a cool setting, mixed in with some (subjective) comedy and an obvious love for the genre, director Tommy Wirkola hit a lot of the right notes with this Nazi zombie fest. After a so-so response from Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters, Wirkola’s back to bring us more undead goose-stepping mixed with more plasma.

Picking right up at the end of Dead Snow, Martin (Vegar Hoel), despite missing his arm, manages to fend off Colonel Herzog (Orjan Gamst). A car crash later, Martin wakes up chained to a hospital bed. Seems the police found his friends, and Martin’s the prime suspect. All’s not lost for Martin, however, as his arm was found and successfully reattached. Problem is, the reattached arm isn’t his. An even bigger problem? Herzog’s still kicking, and is looking to bolster his ranks by killing Norwegian villagers and raising them for his undead army. What’s Martin to do but make a call to the Zombie Squad for help, along with raising an undead army of his own?

Let’s get this out of the way: Wirkola is an obvious fan of the Evil Dead series. So much so, that like Sam Raimi, Wirkola cranks up the laughs and camp in this sequel to a film that was already leaning in that direction. As such, Dead Snow 2 is pure splatter with a heaping of dark humour and camp. The film definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously, and why would it? You have Nazi zombies rampaging around Norwegian villages in a tank, our protagonist’s new arm having some wicked power and a mind of it’s own, and over-the-top splattering of anyone and everyone that ranks up there with Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive? Yes, the Evil Dead 2 nods aren’t lost on me, either. It’s just a blast.

On the acting front, Vegar Hoel is lots of fun as Martin. The poor guy just can’t seem to catch a break with his arm, as it’s overpowered (I had a genuine laugh when he tried doing CPR) and just downright mean. While not as big on the physical acting front as Bruce Campbell, Hoel elicits as many laughs as he does sympathy. As head of the Zombie Squad, Martin Starr’s Daniel is appropriately geeky (no pun intended for the “Freaks & Geeks” star). His compatriots in the group, Monica (Jocelyn DeBoer) and Blake (Ingrid Haas), are also appropriately geeky in their own right, but also a lot of fun.

If there was anything negative to be said about Dead Snow 2, it’d have to be the film’s constant straddling of the line between the hilarious and the attempts at trying too hard. Aside from a couple of painful attempts at eliciting laughs (a plunger for a leg?), the film’s subplot about the cops trying to figure out just what the hell’s going on threatens to grind things to a halt. Things start to peter out once the third act rolls around, but Wirkola switches things up to keep things going with the giant zombie brawl as the climax.

So, is it fair to say that Dead Snow 2 surpasses the original? In many ways, yes. The absurd and and over-the-top humour and gore in this film far outshines the original, and the cast is far more likeable. And while the first film may have felt uneven to some, things are better-paced this time aroun. The obvious gross-out gore and political incorrectness of some of the humour won’t appeal to everyone, but Dead Snow 2 is still a fun ride to take, and definitely worth the watch. Heil Wirkhola!

Video/Audio:

Presented in 1.85:1 AVC-encoded 1080p widescreen, the film looks damn gorgeous. Iceland looks absolutely beautiful (and was cheaper to film), with vibrant colour and great detail. Fleshtones (the living and the undead ones) look natural and consistent. The night scenes are appropriately dark, although details are kind of hard to discern because it’s perhaps a bit too dark (more of a lighting issue, really). Top marks all around.

Things are pretty solid with the English 5.1 DTS Master Audio track. The sound gets appropriately busy with the frenetic action, and the surrounds do a great job of immersing the viewer in the heat of the fights. Dialogue is clear and free of any distortion. The same can be said for the other language tracks included (English 2.0 Stereo, Norwegian 5.1, French 5.1).

Extras:

In what you definitely don’t see everyday, Dead Snow 2 is available in two cuts. The International Cut is essentially the same film, however with some differences. Being that this is a Norwegian film, Dead Snow 2 had scenes filmed twice: once in English, the other in their native Norwegian. As such, we get the same scene, but with two very different takes. Definitely a cool feature. Some people will want to stick with the English version, but it’s pretty cool to have both versions on the same disc. The International Cut is available in Norwegian or French 5.1 tracks, with optional English subtitles.

For the English version, we get an Audio Commentary by Director Tommy Wirkola and Writer Stig Frode Henriksen. The duo obviously had a hoot doing this commentary (Stig providing more of the humourous comments while Tommy dished more info), and cover a wealth of trivia and production notes. Very enjoyable and informative, there are few dead spots while they’re watching the film, but it’s a minor nitpick.

Following that is a short film called “Armen”. The short follows a man (Jan Martin Johnsen) who loses an arm in an industrial accident, but then regrows the arm. Problem is, the arm doesn’t quite behave as the man wants to. It’s actually a pretty funny short with some great physical acting by the man, and serves as a great little companion to the main film.

“Dead Snow Comic Book” is a prequel slideshow comic book that details the origins of just how Herzog and his troop received all that gold, and how it became cursed. It’s all done in black and white with red being the only colour used for the blood and Nazi armbands.

“VFX Breakdown” is a short piece that goes over the compositing work done for the film, which is pretty cool, though me being an effects junkie, I would’ve loved to have seen more than just one minute and a half of this stuff.

Rounding things out is the film’s trailer, as well as some other previews that play when you first start the disc.

There’s also a nice slipcover for the case, replicating the cover, but with some reflective red foil.

Overall, the disc should please fans of the film, but the extras could’ve used a little more meat.