Why Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola combined Nazi history with the undead for cult horror
In short: In the 2009 film Dead Snow, a group of students on Easter vacation encounter a battalion of Nazi zombies in the Norwegian mountains. Director Tommy Wirkola chose this premise to amplify the horror of standard zombies, blending local war history with the tropes of a supernatural ghost story.
The film, titled Død snø in Norwegian, follows seven students whose holiday near Øksfjord turns lethal after they disturb a hidden cache of gold looted by an Einsatzgruppe unit during World War II. Led by Standartenführer Herzog, these soldiers had occupied the region for three years, terrorizing the local population before being ambushed and driven into the mountains to freeze. The plot hinges on the discovery of this stolen treasure, which triggers the awakening of the cursed, undead soldiers.
Wirkola, who directed the film and cameos as one of the zombies, intentionally framed his monsters as Nazis first and zombies second. He sought to create villains that were inherently unsympathetic, drawing on the strong war history of northern Norway. While the film alludes to a curse, it avoids explaining the precise mechanism of the reanimation, opting instead for a tone that Wirkola describes as a mix of a ghost story and Indiana Jones. The production utilized extensive practical effects to achieve its visceral, often gory aesthetic.
Released in 2009, Dead Snow received a mixed critical reception, with some reviewers praising the makeup and action sequences while criticizing the thin character development. Despite this, it gained enough traction to earn four nominations at the 2009 Scream Awards and spawned a 2014 sequel, Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead. The sequel, also directed by Wirkola, expanded the scope of the original by being filmed simultaneously in both English and Norwegian, further cementing the franchise's place in the horror genre.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Dead Snow
- Also: Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead
- Also: Wikidata — Dead Snow · CC0
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