Dead Snow

Nazi zombies! That's the hook in this Norwegian horror movie, which is otherwise a fairly standard-issue tale of a group of young people—in this case, medical students—venturing into the snowy wilderness for a respite from cracking the books and finding themselves stalked by murderous villains. Directed by Tommy Wirkola, Dead Snow is the latest in a series of Norwegian slasher movies (such as Cold Prey) illustrating that blood and gore stand out very nicely against a crisp white background, but adding little else to a stale genre. Here, the killers are a troop of World War II–era German soldiers, transformed into the undead back in 1942, who haunt the place and sally forth to rip any interlopers to shreds. The specifics are unimportant (apparently the Germans lust after a trove of gold coins hidden in the cabin where our heroes shack up), and there's no logic to speak of (how did these zombies keep their uniforms so darn spiffy for 70 years?). But on the most basic terms Dead Snow delivers plenty of mayhem, ladled out in nicely spaced installments, and served up in a graphic style that doesn't exclude a bit of ironic winking. While aficionados of ‘80s-style slasher movies may appreciate, this is optional for others. (F. Swietek)