Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead

Did You Know?

• The film was shot in both English and Norwegian at the same time.
• Many of the zombies were professional mixed martial arts fighters.
• Wirkola found it easy to direct the MMA fighters because they were willing to perform showy stunts.

Plot

Martin, having survived the first film, wakes in a hospital after a car accident. The police charge him with murdering his friends, disbelieving his story about Nazi zombies. A surgeon attaches Herzog's severed arm to Martin's stump, and the arm goes berserk, killing several people. Martin is sedated and strapped to his bed. Meanwhile, Herzog replaces his lost arm with Martin's and resurrects freshly killed locals to build his zombie army. A young American tourist named Bobby frees Martin after hearing rumors of a zombie attack, but the zombie arm throws Bobby out a window. Martin tries CPR, but the arm crushes Bobby's chest, killing him. Martin flees the police, now seen as a child killer, and contacts the Zombie Squad—three nerdy friends named Daniel, Monica, and Blake—who promise to come to Norway. They ask Martin to discover what Herzog wants.

Release

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead first showed to audiences at the Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2014, then came out in Norway on 12 February. It also played at the Stanley Film Festival on 25 April. The movie hit online platforms on 7 October and got a limited run in US theaters on 10 October. Well Go USA put out the home video version in the US on 9 December, while Entertainment One released the DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2015.

On Rotten Tomatoes, 80 percent of 30 critics gave it a thumbs-up, with an average score of 6.6 out of 10. The site's summary says the sequel broadens the first film's scope without cutting back on the bloody fun, making it a treat for fans of the original. Metacritic gave it a 59 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, pointing to mixed or average reactions. Dennis Harvey from Variety knocked the movie for its Troma-like style and called the American characters a bid for international appeal.

Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter described it as a mix of cartoon violence, action, gore, and humor in a schlocky but fun package. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times noted the film's hilariously cruel treatment of the disabled, balanced by crisp cinematography, gross effects, and witty lines. Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times praised it as one of the more good-naturedly crazy bad-taste splatter comedies. Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B and labeled it dementedly enjoyable.

Ryan Daley of Bloody Disgusting awarded it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a textbook case of a director using extreme violence as a cathartic release. Brad McHargue of Dread Central also gave it 4 out of 5 stars, saying its silliness and embrace of absurdity are why it works.