Dead
Snow 2: Red VS Dead
(2014/Well Go USA Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C+ Film: A
Dead
Snow 2
(directed by the talented Tommy Wirkola who directed the original
Dead
Snow
and brought us last year's Hansel
and Gretel: Witchhunters)
is a blood soaked romp that surpasses the original in every way and
sets itself high on the list of Zombie carnage films of the past ten
years if not all time. The film has a fantastic mix of gore, humor,
and insanity that entertains fans of the genre as well as paying
homage to the original by picking up right where it left off...
Minor
Spoilers:
Martin
wakes up in a hospital after crashing his car while trying to escape
from Colonel Herzog after finding one of the Colonel's coins in his
car and placed under arrest when the police suspected that he killed
his friends, laughing off the zombie explanation. The good news is
that the arm he sawed off to halt a bite infection has been replaced
(Evil
Dead 2
anyone?)
though that's kinda bad news, too, since he discovers it's Herzog's
undead limb that's been attached to his missing appendage. He then
escapes from the hospital and his zombified arm kills a police
officer with a Mercedes star. Martin soon realizes that Herzog is
coming back for revenge.
The
gruesome Nazi Zombies are back to finish some 70-year-old business:
completing Hitler's order to wipe out an entire town in retaliation
for Norwegian anti-Axis subterfuge but Martin's not willing to die
yet. En route, he gains variably competent allies in Glenn, a gay
staffer at a local WWII museum, and the self-styled Zombie Squad, a
trio of nerdy American siblings who've been waiting and preparing for
the zombie invasion that popular media has taught them will surely
come.
Things
improve a bit once Martin (whose zombie arm suddenly arbitrarily
starts helping the good guys) manages to revive a troop of Russian
POWs executed by the Nazis for the final battle against Colonel
Herzog and his Nazi Zombie battalion...
End
Spoilers:
Watching
this film makes me wish that Wirkola had directed the reboot of The
Evil Dead
as I think his films find a good medium in creativeness, gore, and
humor that could have set apart that re-imagining and made it
actually watch-able. This film was made in Norway and Iceland which
makes me think that its really sad that an American filmmaker hasn't
come up with something lately that finds this nice balance of comedy
and gore. This is definitely the best horror film of its kind I've
seen since Cabin
in the Woods.
Well
Go USA did a great job with the transfer and sound mix on this disc!
The film is presented in 1080p high definition with an aspect ratio
of 2.39:1 and a powerful English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that
doesn't disappoint. There is also the original lossy Norwegian Dolby
Digital 5.1 track, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track, and a French
Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the disc with optional English subtitles.
As
far as extras go, we get Død
snø 2 which is the International Version of the film with either
Norwegian Dolby Digital 5.1 or French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.
Short
Film: Armen
VFX
Breakdown is a brief look at some of the film's special effects.
Dead
Snow Comic Book
Trailer
Audio
Commentary by Writer-Director Tommy Wirkola
This
is a MUST SEE for horror fans! Recommended!
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
