Director: Tommy Wirkola
Running time: 87 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18
Norway release date: 9th January 2009
Watched on DVD Monday 22nd November 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
I have to admit I’m not a great fan of horror films, but I was prepared to give this one a go. I mean, how bad could it be, a Scandinavian (Norwegian in this case) horror film with subtitles that involves Nazi zombies! How could I turn it down? Well, I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, in fact I quite liked it, to a certain extent. But more of my thoughts later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters please chainsaw your own arm off while I write the next paragraph… pick it up after).
A group of young friends, Martin, Roy, Hanna, Vegard, Liv, Erlend and Chris are meeting at a cabin in the mountains for the Easter holidays. The cabin is owned by Vegard’s girlfriend Sara, who is skiing there and will arrive later. During their first night a stranger knocks at the door, they let him in and make him coffee. He tells them the creepy tale of the Germans who occupied the area during World War II. They were particularly evil to the locals and when they were about to be defeated many of them escaped to the mountains with a horde of cash and jewels stolen from the locals which was lost in the escape. Some say they still search the mountains for the horde. The stranger leaves and the group are slightly creeped out by his tale. Then Erlend, searching for some beer, finds a box under the floor (bet you can’t guess what’s inside). Needless to say, the group is picked off one by one until the final few are left for the big showdown at the end.
Although this film does not really do anything different to most in this genre, it was quite nice to see it from a different standpoint. What I mean is, it’s nice to see the Norwegian take on this type of film. I loved the soundtrack, some classical and then everything up to some really hard rock, all in Norwegian of course. I won’t say too much about the performances, everyone was ok and nobody really stood out. Although Vegar Hoel as Martin and Stig Frode Henriksen as Roy had a few really good comic moments towards the end.
So, overall, pretty gory with a nice soundtrack. It doesn’t really add much to the genre although the zombie Nazi’s move a lot faster than in most American zombie films. I really liked the sound design; they actually took their time and mixed a proper 5.1 surround sound track (Hollywood please take note). Some really great comic moments, particularly towards the end, but it does have subtitles which may put a few off. Over all, recommended.
My score: 6.2/10
LINKS:
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1278340/
Official Site (Note: Norwegian): http://www.dodsno.no/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi2978087705/
Running time: 87 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18
Norway release date: 9th January 2009
Watched on DVD Monday 22nd November 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
I have to admit I’m not a great fan of horror films, but I was prepared to give this one a go. I mean, how bad could it be, a Scandinavian (Norwegian in this case) horror film with subtitles that involves Nazi zombies! How could I turn it down? Well, I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, in fact I quite liked it, to a certain extent. But more of my thoughts later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters please chainsaw your own arm off while I write the next paragraph… pick it up after).
A group of young friends, Martin, Roy, Hanna, Vegard, Liv, Erlend and Chris are meeting at a cabin in the mountains for the Easter holidays. The cabin is owned by Vegard’s girlfriend Sara, who is skiing there and will arrive later. During their first night a stranger knocks at the door, they let him in and make him coffee. He tells them the creepy tale of the Germans who occupied the area during World War II. They were particularly evil to the locals and when they were about to be defeated many of them escaped to the mountains with a horde of cash and jewels stolen from the locals which was lost in the escape. Some say they still search the mountains for the horde. The stranger leaves and the group are slightly creeped out by his tale. Then Erlend, searching for some beer, finds a box under the floor (bet you can’t guess what’s inside). Needless to say, the group is picked off one by one until the final few are left for the big showdown at the end.
Although this film does not really do anything different to most in this genre, it was quite nice to see it from a different standpoint. What I mean is, it’s nice to see the Norwegian take on this type of film. I loved the soundtrack, some classical and then everything up to some really hard rock, all in Norwegian of course. I won’t say too much about the performances, everyone was ok and nobody really stood out. Although Vegar Hoel as Martin and Stig Frode Henriksen as Roy had a few really good comic moments towards the end.
So, overall, pretty gory with a nice soundtrack. It doesn’t really add much to the genre although the zombie Nazi’s move a lot faster than in most American zombie films. I really liked the sound design; they actually took their time and mixed a proper 5.1 surround sound track (Hollywood please take note). Some really great comic moments, particularly towards the end, but it does have subtitles which may put a few off. Over all, recommended.
My score: 6.2/10
LINKS:
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1278340/
Official Site (Note: Norwegian): http://www.dodsno.no/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi2978087705/
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