Cliches of a Slasher Movie Revived

Fuchs, Cynthia. “Dead Snow (Død snø).” PopMatters 19 June 2009 19 June 2009 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/102208-dead-snow-dd-sn/>.

Cynthia Fuchs reviews the IFC movie, Dead Snow, commenting on the movie’s awareness of the clichés it plays off of. Fuchs gives a large synopsis of the movie, tracing the build up of tension resulting in Nazi zombies. A group of medical students on vacation go to the mountains to stay in a cabin and partake in snow activities. A “wanderer” ends up in their cabin, surprising them. He warns the young people about the town’s past, a past that the students did not look up before arriving at their destination. In 1942 there had been a conflict between the Nazis and the Norwegian villagers. Not much detail is given as to what exactly happened in the conflict, but the wanderer warns the students that there are things that should not be woken up.

Of course, the students wake up the Nazi zombies. This is Fuchs point. The movie is fully aware of the clichés and actually has characters refer to the clichés—they just do not realize that they are in one. The characters’ survival is also based off of clichés. The oversexed girl does not have much luck, while the one with morals and sensibility lasts longer. The jerk guy ends up having more trouble than the valiant guy. Yet, the clichés do not overpower the appeal of Nazi zombies.