Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)

Episode 138, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Podcast

Todd: Hello and welcome to another episode of Two Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd.

Craig: And I’m Craig.

Todd: We’re on week 3 of request month and, we’ve done Cujo, we’ve done Def by Temptation, and this week we decided to do one we’ve been putting off for a little while. This is a request that came in from Carson and Francis and we think a few other people as well over the last couple years. And the only reason that we have waited to do it so long is because honestly, we prefer to do if if we get a request for a sequel, we kinda wanna make sure we’ve done or at least both us are really familiar with the original. In this case, we hadn’t seen the original Dead Snow until, I think it was, was it last year?

Craig: It’s been a while. Yeah.

Todd: It’s been a while. Maybe it was 2 years ago. We saved it for the wintertime, to do Dead Snow as a movie I had seen and Craig hadn’t seen. We both pretty well enjoyed that movie. This time around, because Carson, Francis and a bunch of other people, originally wanted us to do Dead Snow 2, we decided we would go ahead, even though it is the, hot heat of summer, go ahead and cool ourselves off up in Norway with the ice You’re so witty. I swear, I just come up with this crappy banter off the top of my head. So this is the, 2014 film. It’s an Icelandic Norwegian production horror comedy, by directed by Tommy Wirkola. And, we saw the original Dead Snow. The original Dead Snow, I thought was a lot of fun. And, I mean, I remember when we did it, I think, you did too. Right, Craig?

Craig: Yeah. I liked it. I mean, I didn’t I didn’t think it was amazing, but I I thought it was funny. It was it was, yeah, it was a good time.

Todd: It was just a goofball movie, really, that just kind of tried to to take the zombie idea to the extreme. It was a bunch of people, cabin, instead of in the woods, it’s out in the mountains of Norway of, you know, a bunch of college guys and gals who got together to have a party. And, Todd be set by Nazi zombies. Yep. Who are looking for their gold. And, And Dead Snow 2 picks up immediately right where that leaves off.

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: The end of that film, they basically decide that the way to get the zombies to go away is to return their gold to them that they had dug up, inside this cabin that they had found in a hatch underneath the floorboards. And, it isn’t until about the end of the movie that a couple of the characters realize this. And so, one of the guys, his name is Martin, who has, by this point, been bitten by a zombie and sawed off with a chainsaw, his own arm, in order to keep it from infecting him. Runs to the gold, gives the gold back to the zombie horde, which is led by a general, general Herzog and, runs to his car and he thinks he’s gonna be fine. And and, as he pulls out his keys, a single gold piece drops and lands on the floorboards of the passenger side. He looks down and goes: Oh shit. And at that point Herzog’s face appears in the window. And that’s exactly where this movie picks up. There’s actually quite a nice, recap of the first movie showing all of the gross gory moments actually from the first movie. And then it brings you right to this point and, sure enough he ends up surviving this. He tosses the the coin out the window. He has a bit of a deal with Herzog in the car and there’s a chase scene with him, zombies jumping on the car, him going down the road. Finally Herzog gets, thrown off of the car, and taken off by a

Craig: Yeah. A big truck. And his arm gets cut off. Yeah. It’s funny because when we, did this before I had never seen the sequel and I it’s been a long time and I didn’t go back and revisit that episode, but I I think that I said or I think that I asked you do any of these characters come back in the sequel and and you couldn’t remember? I I really I I appreciated Todd, you know. It’s a mixed bag. Sometimes in sequels, you get recurring characters. Sometimes you don’t, whatever. It doesn’t really matter, but, I kind of liked that this was really just a direct continuation of the original story. And I thought it was kind of clever the way that they did it because at the end of the first movie, you know, it it kinda seemed like Martin was gonna get killed despite all of his efforts or whatever, but you didn’t know for sure. And it was it was kinda cool to see this quick recap, which they did really quick, and, you know, it was fun, like you said, all the good gory stuff and the kills and all that, and then right back to where we left off. This movie, you know, I’m not gonna say that I absolutely loved it. It’s a it’s a good movie. What I will say about it is it’s, like, exceptionally well made. Like, it’s it’s it’s really super well made.

Todd: It really is.

Craig: It’s a big budget movie. I think it had a budget of, like, $35,000,000 or something like that, and it shows. And it’s shot really well. The cinematography is fantastic, excellent special effects, but, I think that what got me, you know, on board with it from the very beginning was that I already felt invested in this character. You know, I I knew what had happened in the first movie. Mhmm. And and I think that they did everything that I would have wanted them to do with the sequel. You know, they they amped up the violence and the gore, whereas the first one was, you know, these 6 people or however many people it was in this cabin. And, you know, the first movie was very gory and and there was lots of fun, you know, action sequences, but this just, you know, broadens the world even more and and there’s a lot more at stake. And and so they got that right, and and they did a lot by, you know, inserting new elements into the movie, which I really liked. And and the first thing that I thought was really clever was you had mentioned that Martin had had to saw off his arm, for fear of becoming infected. And then in this first action sequence where, you know, he’s driving along and Herzog is hanging on to his car, and eventually, he’s able to kinda sideswipe like this big semi truck, and and Herzog gets, you know, thrown off of his car, but not before his arm gets amputated and thrown into the floor of the of the car. Then Martin, like, falls asleep at the wheel, and he has a car crash or whatever. But then he wakes up in the hospital, and, the doctor tells him

Clip: When we found you, you were hurt. Your right arm was ripped off by the elbow. Yeah. Yes. It was cold when we found you. The snow kept you cool, which was good. Do you understand? And so we found your arm in the car. Yeah. It was a bit bruised and pale, but the operation was a success. We managed to put your arm right back on.

Craig: And and he pulls back he pulls back the sheet, and it’s the zombie arm that has been reattached to him. And it’s hilarious. It’s a great gag. And so then it’s like he’s got, like, this evil arm that, like, is super powerful. And, initially, like, he’s kind of not in control of it. Like, it does bad things. Like, it kills the doctor and, like, beats up the cops and stuff. And, but, eventually, he kind of starts to get control of it, but it’s still super powerful, and it’s got these supernatural powers and things. And I just thought that was a really clever addition to the mythology of the movies, and I appreciated that they that they threw in some new stuff. You know, like, it wasn’t just a complete rehash of the first movie. And for that, I give it major, major credit.

Todd: Oh, and it and it’s an integral part of the movie. It is Yeah. It is so cool. You know, this whole first bit of the film owes so much to Evil Dead 2.

Craig: Oh, god. Yeah. Yeah. Mart the guy I don’t I didn’t even write down his name, but the guy that plays Martin, especially in these first 20, 30 minutes, is so reminiscent of Bruce Campbell. It’s hilarious.

Todd: He is. It’s the whole recap. It’s the whole fact of sawing his arm off. Almost even shot for shot at some moments. It’s almost a direct homage to Evil Dead 2 with the voice over and everything, you know. Right. It’s so cool. Then, of course, in Evil Dead 2, we had him sawing off his hand. And there’s even a point in which, you know, his hand comes to Iife and causes trouble and runs around and is a character all of its own. And so, in a way, you know, this aspect of the movie really amps that up as well. But it’s done in a comedic way. -You know?

Craig: -Yeah. -There are movies -That’s funny.

Todd: Yeah, it’s hilarious. And the whole movie is a total comedy. And when you say that this movie is well made, I have to say the writing is really good too. Yeah. It is. There are moments here where I truly believe it elevates to the level of comedy that we saw in Shaun of the Dead. Yeah. Yeah. The wittiness of the things that the characters say and the hilariousness of the situations and the quality of the acting. And a lot of it’s intentionally cheesy. A lot of it’s intentionally silly. But a lot of it could have been eye roll and not have worked if we didn’t have such a talented cast behind it who’s able to just pull off the comedic timing. And the line delivery and and all those little bits and pieces that are necessary, you know, to to to make something really funny. And I think that that it works on every level. I really do. There wasn’t a minute of this movie that I wasn’t totally engaged, and and on board with.

Craig: Yeah. No. It is. It’s it’s funny, you know, I I I can’t say that I was laughing out loud. I mean, some of the some of the the jokes I I don’t wanna say they’re hit and miss because they’re all pretty funny, but some of it’s like, oh, hardy har. Like, I see what you’re doing there. You know? Yeah.

Todd: Of course.

Craig: I was go I was getting ready to say it’s not stupid. I mean, it is stupid sometimes, but it’s fun. You know? Yeah. It’s it’s very tongue in cheek. It’s it’s entertaining. It’s a fun movie to watch.

Todd: Well, it it does this really cool thing of of making the excessive gore and violence almost like, actually, I was reading a review where somebody said it’s like a cathartic safety valve. Right. Where, you know, just when you’re kind of, you’re into the movie and stuff like that, that these these over the top gore moments are just so they’re just so out there, and in so many ways, they’re just so tasteless. Yeah. And in your face that you just laugh, you know, you just laugh at it. And it and it really, I don’t know. Just the movie, the pacing and everything, I think, is really well done. So Martin, wakes up, of course, like you said, his arm goes Craig. And actually, Martin’s in trouble because he’s the only survivor of this whole incident. And immediately the police, are in the room there with him in the hospital accusing him of having killed all his friends. And one of the people that he killed was his girlfriend accidentally. He actually did kill her, in the first one. He swung around, thinking there was a zombie behind him and actually ended up impaling her with a pickaxe. And that was a pretty tragic moment, in the first movie. In an otherwise really hilarious and silly film. And, that also, you know, that element of it becomes a big element of this movie as well. And, you know, it’s hard to know if if, the director, you know, Tommy Warkola, who who wrote and directed this, along with a couple other people, had any of this in mind, you know, when they did the first movie.

Craig: Right.

Todd: They thought, you know, oh, we’re gonna, you know, we’re gonna have to leave these elements here. They’d be good for a sequel or if they just very skillfully, I think, plucked these elements and said, we can carry this on into the second one. Either way, it really makes the 2 movies feel like a cohesive movie. Oh, absolutely. Not just where one picks up where the other leaves off, but thematically and as almost one continuous story, it just works.

Craig: Yeah. Yeah. And they, you know, we’ll we’ll get into kinda what the premise is of this movie really quick, but, like, I just appreciated the fact that it does. I mean, it you could watch these movies back to back, and it would just feel like one real long movie. You know? Like, it, it it it it literally, you know, is the next day after, the first movie, and it’s just a continuation of the story. And I also just appreciated that, while they did some new things, and I really loved all the new things, they stuck with what worked with the first movie too. The zombies are are gross and scary, but, like, you know, one of the things that we found hilarious about the first movie was one of the big gags was that people’s intestines were all all the time just getting pulled out, like like, you know, like Scotch tape. You know? Like and and they carry that over into this movie, and they do it over and over again. And it’s it’s it’s really just kinda like a wink and a Todd. Like, yep. We’re still doing this. It’s still gross and funny.

Todd: Within the first five minutes this happens. It was just like Oh,

Craig: and it’s a it’s a total gag. Like, you know, the zombies will pull people’s intestines out and and strangle other people with them. At one point, they pull some guy’s intestines out and use his intestines to siphon gas for their stolen Nazi tag. Like, it’s it’s it’s just hilarious. But kind of I guess what the the premise here is is that I I haven’t mentioned yet that not only did Martin get Herzog’s arm attached to him, but the zombie field doctor also attached Martin’s arm to Herzog. So it’s like they traded arms. But whether he had this power in the first one and just didn’t have any reason to use it or whether it’s something new, but it’s new to this movie. Now Herzog can reanimate any dead person to be one of his Nazi followers. Mhmm. And there’s a cool scene where he goes to, like, a churchyard, an old, graveyard cemetery, and he punches the ground. And and, you know, like, there’s just this really cool effect. All of the effects are spot on. Like, they just look fantastic. And he punches the ground and, like, light kind of lightnings through, the ground, and people rise up. And he kills a priest and he reanimates the priest and the priest is now, like, one of his minions or whatever, and he can do that. And that’s really cool, and he’s gonna do that throughout the movie. It’s like he’s, you know, increasing his ranks or whatever, like, building his forces. And, as it turns out, we find out later, that because he has the zombie arm, Martin is capable of doing the same thing. In the beginning, it’s it’s kind of, you know, Martin is on the run from the local cops because they think that he killed his friends. And not only that, but he had been tied down, like, strapped down in the hospital. And there was this hilarious scene with a kid. And that’s another thing that I love about this movie is that it doesn’t pull any punches. No. Like, there’s this this hilarious scene where this kid pops up at the foot of the bed in Martin’s hospital room where he’s being guarded and he’s totally strapped down. And I thought for sure that this kid was gonna be, like, a sidekick throughout the whole movie

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: Because he was so goofy and annoying.

Clip: They’re wondering if I can get some more info. More than just a picture of the arm? Who? What? The zombie squad. They’re wondering if I can get some more info. They’re experts on zombies. They live in America. They’ve trained for this for years just waiting for a zombie outbreak to happen.

Todd: So they

Clip: can come here? What? Just tell them to come here Yes. But right now to get the zombies. If they’re our experts, they can kill the zombies for us. I know. You’ve seen the zombies? Yeah. Because they’re real. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And Martin

Craig: convinces the kid, tricks the kid into letting him go. And then he’s trying to get and he’s trying to get out, and he’s, like, there’s no way to get out. And the zombie arm just grabs the kid and, like, throws him through the barred window out onto the ground. And, Martin goes out there and, like, the kid’s unconscious or whatever, and he feels bad because this his little kid. And he goes to, like, try to perform CPR, but he’s got the zombie arm. So he just crushes the kid and, like, starts starts pulling his guts out. And I’m like, oh, yeah. It it’s I I forgot it’s this kind of movie. You know, nobody’s safe. Even the cute annoying little kid is just gonna get slaughtered here in this first 15 minutes.

Todd: Oh my gosh. And as the movie goes on, we see, like, people in wheelchairs getting killed and just, like, infirm. I mean, it just doesn’t even matter. This movie is just gonna go to all those places. It it they don’t even care. Actually, it works. You know? It’s part of the charm, you know, of the movie. It’s just going to be that funny. This thing of the of the zombie squad, they come into play now. Somehow, very shortly after this, Martin gets a phone call while he’s in the car driving away from the hospital with the police close behind. It’s from this mysterious guy who at first is set up to sound like this hardcore, like, secret agent or something like that. He’s the head of the zombie Todd, and his name is Daniel. Daniel, I’m the leader of the zombie squad. We we tracked your location. We sent, you know, Bobby in to you and what’s going on, how is he, blah blah blah. Martin gets kind of excited because zombie squad, you guys are professionals. Oh, you’re gonna come out and help me. Daniel’s like, don’t worry. We’re coming right there. Daniel hangs up the phone and swings around and we see that he’s like a kid. I think he’s supposed to be like a

Craig: He’s this dorky guy.

Todd: Yeah. A dorky guy in an attic, above his parents house, I guess, with 2 nerdy girls. One of whom can’t stop quoting Star Wars.

Craig: 2 nerdy girls, but, like, you know Take off their glasses

Todd: and they’re hot. Yeah. Right.

Craig: Exact like, they’re both, like, models. Like, they’re both gorgeous, but, yeah, one has glasses in a ponytail, so she’s a dork. Yeah. And the other one and the other one is obsessed with, Star Wars, so she’s a nerd. And, of course, you know, these 2 hot hot girls would be hanging out with this dorky guy who really, to be fair, is a very attractive young man as well. And, of course,

Todd: if he didn’t have the Coke bottle glasses on.

Craig: Right. But, you know, like, they’re they’re very serious about what they do, but they all, like, live in their parents’ attics and stuff and

Todd: We we’ve been telling everyone for years that it’s just a matter of time before the first outbreak happens. And what have we seen in return? Laughter, ridicule, Wedgies.

Craig: I don’t know. It just it just works. It’s so silly. So silly. It’s goofy as hell, but it it it’s it’s funny.

Todd: It it shouldn’t work, but it does. Yeah.

Craig: You’re on board.

Todd: It’s one of those things. Like, you could have been rolling your eyes at this, but it just it’s so funny that you’re just willing to let it go. And Right. And, I think it’s interesting that one of the girls, can’t stop quoting Star Wars. That’s, again, almost a direct homage to one of our characters from the first movie who couldn’t just stop quoting movies.

Craig: Remember? Right. Right. Uh-huh. The big blond guy. Yeah.

Todd: Yeah. And, and, honestly, like, what she has to say isn’t really that funny for most of it, quite frankly. It almost seems a little forced. That might be the only part of the script where I just kind of, like, oh, she’s about to say may the force be with you. And sure enough, she

Craig: says may

Todd: the force be with you. Kinda stupid. But, in any case, these three characters are a lot of fun. And, I think also so this, like we said, this is a Norwegian movie. And it was actually shot, in 2 different languages. So you’re able Yeah. To see this in English or you can see it in Norwegian either way.

Craig: And I know, you know, I know it’s not like they’re the first people to ever do this, but I just think that that’s really ambitious. But at the same time, it makes me wonder. Like, you know, I I would almost I would almost be willing to watch it again in Norwegian with subtitles just to see the different delivery and stuff. Because, you know, you know, when it comes to performance, every time you you deliver a line or a joke or whatever, it’s a little bit different.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: I’m I’m sure ultimately, you know, it’s the same feel, but, I was just impressed that. And I guess it must have just been because they were successful enough internationally, that, it was worth their while to shoot it in both languages. And I’m glad they did. And I guess all of these people now the the zombie squad, I think, are all American actors. No. I I looked at them. No, they’re not.

Todd: The 2 girls aren’t, are they? I looked at them. I thought they were, let’s see we had, well, Ingrid Haas and Jocelyn DeBoer.

Craig: Well, they I I I didn’t look at them much, but I saw that they had both worked or or at least one of them had worked with Amy Schumer, and they I think both of them and I may be getting people mixed up, but they had worked on American TV shows like Comedy Bang Bang and and stuff like that. So I just assumed they were American. They they played American very I I believed it, very believably. But maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know. No. I might be wrong, actually. I just I just looked at those last names and I thought, oh, you know,

Todd: I mean, of course, you can be wrong, actually. I just I just looked at those last names and I thought, oh, you know, I mean, of course, you can I just I just looked at those last names and I thought, oh, you know, I mean, of course, you can be American and be Hass, you know? But, anyway, yeah. No. You’re right. And I think this element of the movie was kind of funny and maybe played even better for international audiences because they’re obviously making fun of Americans in this. Yeah. You know, there’s this whole notion, okay, here are the Americans. They’re gonna come in and save the day, right? Yeah.

Craig: Like, they

Todd: try to do all over the world. These 3 nerdy people are gonna go all the way across. They even make, you know, they’re like, Norway, where’s that? That’s halfway. That’s all the way across the world. And, you know, they don’t even know where it is. I think at one point after they get their first zombie kill or something, they’re all staying there shouting, USA. USA. Yeah. One of the characters in the background is just rolling his eyes.

Craig: Yeah. But, you know, it as an American, you know, it did not come across as mean spirited at all. You know? Like, it was just it was we’re laughing with you, American audience. You know? Like, we’re we’re we’re gently poking at you. And and I I thought that it was it was funny and and well deserved because we are pretty lame. Yeah. Well,

Todd: it’s also kind of, like, all the Norwegian characters and all the people in Norway, they’re these everyday people who are in this extraordinary circumstance and, you know, they’re trying to get out of it. It’s that kind of classic movie trope. Whereas, the American actors here are these this, like, dead serious crack team, you know, coming in to, like, swoop in from halfway across the world and save the day which is such an American Hollywood trope, you know. Yeah. I just thought they were kinda playing those two things against each other. I mean, both tropes do also show up in Hollywood obviously, but I just thought it was interesting because that is such an identifiably American. It’s the kind of movie we make.

Craig: Well, and I thought it was really funny because, like, the way that they set it up, you just think these guys are total lamos who, you know, live with their parents or whatever And, you know, they just kinda have this zombie club or whatever. But they say, you know, they’ve never actually seen a zombie. They’ve never actually done anything real. And then so I’m expecting them to just be, you know, kind of the comic relief, you know, always getting themselves in bad situations or whatever. And but then when they shovels and pick, like, axes and hammers and stuff. And when they walk out, they say

Clip: Todd be a lot easier if you could buy weapons here.

Todd: I know. Is the matter with

Craig: this country? It’s a total jab in America. It’s funny. But as it turns out, when put in action, they’re actually pretty badass. Like they kick some butt with their hammers and shovels and and stuff. And so you know at the same time that it’s poking fun they end up being pretty heroic.

Todd: That’s right.

Craig: And I like that. The other thing okay. So the zombie squad tells Martin that these are not typical zombies. They’re not just the, you know, eat everybody in their path, infect as many people as you can kind of zombies. These must be cursed zombies. And cursed zombies either you are, like, protecting something like the gold in the first movie or they’re they’ve got some, like, unfinished business. And they tell Martin, you get you know, while we’re on our way there, we’ll get there as soon as we can, but you’ve gotta figure out, you know, what their goal is. And so he goes to a World War 2 museum and meets the the the guy who is, like, the desk clerk at the museum is, named Glenn Kenneth, and he’s kind of this, like, gothy gay guy. And I expected him to just totally be a 2 second character, like, you know, a joke at his expense because he’s, you know, femi and gothy and whatever. And then he ends up sticking around for a long time, and I actually ended up like, he was my favorite character. Yeah. He he was the great character.

Todd: Once again, you thought that he was gonna be this guy who was just gonna get totally creamed. You know.

Craig: Yeah, just a gag. I just thought he was just gonna be a gag, but,

Todd: But no, he goes, he actually performs some pretty important tasks. He’s the one who rolls his eyes at the girls when they’re shouting, USA, USA. And I was really quite sad to see him go, toward the end of the movie. Yeah.

Craig: And I was really surprised, you know. I really kinda thought he was gonna make it and he does it, which is too bad. But, he he’s a fun character and I I appreciate it. You know, there’s not there’s not a lot of positive representation of LGBTQ people in horror or in cinema period. And this guy, you know, like, he’s he’s pretty stereotypical and, you know, you laugh at the stereotypical things about him. But, ultimately, he’s a good guy and and you’re rooting for him by the end. And I was I was really sad when

Todd: when he got killed at the end. I agree.

Craig: But, anyway, so they he at this World War 2 Museum, Martin figures out that when the Russians were killed, they were actually on this mission. Like, there had been there was some whole big story that he reads off this placard, but, like, they were supposed to secure some German ship that they were hiding, you know, like in a Norwegian port, but then the Russian army destroyed that ship. And so then Herzog and his, crew killed like, slaughtered this entire Russian army, and then they got orders from Hitler to advance on the nearest town and just slaughter everybody in the town in retaliation for having lost this ship. And so Martin realizes that that is now the mission that they are trying to complete. They’re trying to make it to this town, and they’re gonna slaughter everybody. And that also kinda leads to how Martin and his crew of losers is gonna try to stop him.

Todd: And there’s a tour bus outside of this, this museum out in the middle of nowhere. There’s a tour bus of people unloading, and about the time Martin figures all this stuff out, he looks out the window because they hear some noise, and they see that the zombies have already, advanced, and they have, started slaughtering all these tour buses of people. So, they do this this total gag where they pose as mannequins inside the museum while Herzog comes in and takes him him and his buddies, loot the museum for, you know, antique weapons and whatever else they needed, to go on their way. And I guess one thing that they grab is an old antique tank that was at the museum,

Craig: which is It still runs.

Todd: I know. It still runs. And I guess I guess the museum was holding on to a bunch of live ammunition that could be used with the tank as well. Right. You gotta suspend your disbelief for this point. But anyway, after they take off, Martin and, Glenn run out and see the carnage there. And this is where Martin accidentally discovers that his hand has the ability to wake up people. He just casually goes down. He’s like, oh, what a terrible sight, and tries to close the eyes of 1 of the, dead tourist zombies.

Craig: It was it was the tourist that had been in the wheelchair.

Todd: Yeah. And was it a man or a woman? Was it?

Craig: I think it was a man, but I was questioning myself throughout because it was kind of an androgynous person. But

Todd: Well, he wakes up and, you know, kind of like, as as the 2 of them are looking off across the car and this guy ends up waking up behind them and just kind of this is kinda looking around and kinda comes up behind them, and startles him and he runs around. He turns spins around instantly, you know, his zombie arm takes this guy out immediately. But then Glenn is like, well, did you just do that? You know, just like we saw Herzog do, you know, through the window. And he says, well, let me try it again. He gets down and sure enough, they wake this guy up again And then, at this point, they noticed that he’s not attacking them. He seems to be, like, kind of under his control or his spell. And just as they kind of put all 2 and 2 together, a giant cleaver goes into this guy’s head, or it’s a hatchet that goes into this guy’s head that was thrown. And they turn around and they see that the zombie squad has finally joined them and this hatchet is thrown, by Daniel from the zombie squad. He’s like, yeah, my first zombie kill. Hey, come take a picture, you know. Right. So it becomes this running gag throughout it that this zombie is sort of like their little puppy dog. Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. They keep waking him up, and they put him through hell. And if he dies or whatever, they wake him up again. And, he’s more and more brutalized as they go along. But he’s jumping up beside him just like a loyal dog would, you know, helping them out throughout it.

Craig: It it it’s kinda cute and funny and, like, because he even makes, like, little noises. Like, he’s not, like, grunting and growling like the other ones, but he’s making kinda, like, little

Todd: Wimpering.

Craig: I don’t wanna say not not literally like puppy dog noises, but just, you know, little kind of high pitched sounds or whatever. Yeah. Right. And, it’s cute. I have to say, honestly, that by the end of the movie, I’m like, oh my god. This poor guy. He’s like you said, they really do put him through hell. Like, there’s like, they just take him along. Like, he just tags along and, they split off, the the 2 girls, from the zombie squads split off with, Glenn and they’re supposed to try to slow down the Nazi zombies from getting to this town while Martin and Daniel and the puppy dog guy, go off. And Daniel said he he’s done his homework, and he knows all about how the Nazi zombies or before they were zombies had killed all of these Russians. And he says, and, they slaughtered them all and they just left them there. So they are, you know, buried under the earth, under the frozen earth, preserved. So we need because, Martin, you’ve got the zombie arm. We need to go wake up them and then they will be subservient to you And they will want their revenge on the Nazi zombies, and that’s how we’ll take them out. Hence, the red versus dead, you know, dead snow Todd thing. But they split off, and they’re, like, there’s there’s just some scenes of Daniel and and Martin and the puppy dog, like, in the car, like, driving for a while. And but at one point, the car gets stuck, and they use the poor zombie guy as traction.

Todd: Right between his legs.

Craig: They stick him under the car. Yeah. Like the the tire right between his legs and it’s not like it happens quick. Like the wheels are spinning right on his crotch. It, like, he’s, like, moaning and, like, clearly in pain. I felt so bad for this poor zombie guy. I was like, you guys, he’s your friend.

Todd: And then they wake up right back up and stick him in the back seat. It’s so quick. It’s hilarious. It becomes, you know, it’s funny, like, how the first movie was sort of a takeoff on the old cabin in the woods Yeah. Kind of movie. This movie is a war movie, you know, through and through. It’s there’s this battle army is advancing and it’s this ragtag group of soldiers who have to gather, you know, encounter them a few times along the way and have to gather this, you know, alternative force to come up and meet them and finally do their big battle. And so it’s got a lot of those elements in here as well. It’s quite cool. He ends up waking up all these Russian zombies, they get there and sure enough, you know, they’re subservient to them and they look mean. They look, they look meaner than the German zombies quite honestly when they get up. In the meantime the girls are with, Glenn and they are supposed to do this ridiculous plan of distracting these zombies. And they they think that they say, okay, we need somebody who’s nimble and light on their feet, who knows these swamps and can, lure the zombies out through this little, this swampland as they’re marching across with the tank. And then as

Craig: And that’s and that’s what they do. But I I just wanna mention that before that, they witness these zombies, like, roll through this rural area where they are just killing everybody in their path. And it’s like they come across don’t know if it’s supposed to be a small town or just, you know, kind of a small collection of houses kind of out in the rural area or whatever. But, like, there’s just this 5 minute sequence where they are just slaughtering these unsuspecting people.

Todd: Children, parents.

Craig: They run over kids in a sandbox in their tank. They, like, they’re killing old people on the toilet and, gosh. There’s 2 pregnant or no. 2 women with, baby carriages that are, like, running and they just shoot the, like, the tank arsenal at them and blow them out, you know, into the sky. It’s it’s so funny, and it’s gory and gross and Brutal. And it’s It’s just so fun. It’s so much fun.

Todd: There’s a woman pushing another woman away on a on a wheelchair, which she realizes she can’t go. The woman pushing just leaves the woman on the wheelchair, keeps going. The woman on the wheelchair is trying to go forward. She just falls backwards, and the zombie comes up right behind him and just stomps on her head. I mean, it’s just so terrible that it’s funny.

Craig: Yeah. Oh, yeah. And it’s over the gore is just over the Todd. Like, people’s heads getting crushed, intestines getting pulled out. It’s blood splattering everywhere, including on the camera lens. So, like, blood is, like, spraying and running down the camera lens. It’s, it’s it’s great. I mean, if you if you like gore, I mean, you’re you’re in for a good time.

Todd: So after they witnessed this, the girls, decided that they need to, you know, do their distracting Todd. And so they have this plan, and they turn to, Glenn, and it’s like, oh, you know, it can’t be me. And she’s like Hey, Talvik is your hometown. Am I right? Yeah. You must have people you love there. Yeah. Especially one woman that I love, long hair and big breasts. Do it for her. A couple of these, like, a kind of dated, kinda silly, cheap shot. Oh, he’s we all know he’s gay, but he’s gonna pretend he’s not kind of jokes. But, oh, well. Yeah. That that would be the only criticism I kinda have with this movie. But I think maybe Todd, some of that’s maybe some international humor that maybe gets lost. I think in America, those jokes don’t really fly even in 2014.

Craig: Yeah. I 2014. Fair enough. But e e even I thought even I thought it was funny. You know? Like, it’s silly and, yes, potentially a little dated, but I still got a chuckle out of it. I thought it was cute.

Todd: So so so he runs across the the yard. You know? It’s like this hopeless task. I thought this guy was gonna get creamed at this point. Oh, sure. We’ve seen that these zombies can run faster than anybody, and they take off after him. And he’s just this one guy, you know, leaping and prancing through. It’s just a big field.

Craig: And he just he just jumps right in front of them. Yeah. And he just jumps right in front of them and is taunting them. I think he says something like, I didn’t know there was an ugly face convention in town. And then when they do start chasing him, you’re right. Like, he’s not overly effeminate all the time, but, like, when he’s running, like, he’s got his limp wrists, like, in the air and they’re right behind him. Like Yeah. They could almost just reach out and grab him, and they almost do a couple of times. And, oh, Todd. But it’s funny and and and the girls are throwing fertilizer bombs and taking out these zombies and it’s it’s it’s all it’s all fun. Yeah. It’s good times.

Todd: Cove. Yeah. So they do their thing and they they kind of get away and, the zombies train their tank. Finally, Herzog and a few men, hold back, so they don’t all get decimated. And, they train their tank at, at, at them and shoot them from afar. And whereas these 2 could blast away 2 women in prams from like half a mile away, they can’t seem to shoot these people, you know, from, the distance of a foot football field.

Craig: Right.

Todd: So they end up, running away, from that. But I guess they’ve accomplished their mission.

Craig: Right. Slow them down.

Todd: And then we just get a big face off in battle. There’s there’s there’s a side thing going on that’s almost hardly worth mentioning because it’s just a big joke. Yeah. And that is that the local police have been alerted to what’s going on. There’s a police chief, I guess, and he’s pretty silly. He’s total comic relief making all kinds of quips and comments. And he has a female police officer with him who just kinda tolerates him and who’s just updating him on it. And they always arrive on the scene after something’s been going on.

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: And, what’s what’s going on? There’s just a couple dumb jokes about seagulls and things like that. Yeah. See, and

Craig: and frankly, I wouldn’t even have mentioned it because if I had really any criticism of the movie, it would be that because it’s it ends up being entirely unimportant. Like, they don’t do anything. Like, they just kind of show up every once in a while and throw out some stupid sexist jokes, and it amounts to nothing. You you know, they they end up just being in the background kind of watching as things play out, and it I didn’t like them.

Todd: No.

Craig: Yeah. I I I I felt kinda bad because, the the lady like you said, there’s the the one female cop, And she was, a very pretty lady and, like, it seemed like she was probably a pretty good actress, and they just didn’t really give her anything to do. Like, she just got kind of paired up with this jackass cop guy who, I I didn’t really find funny at all. Like, he was just kinda stupid. And Yeah. So yeah. They’re there. You know? They they fill a good minutes of the movie, but I I you could’ve cut them entirely out, and I would’ve wouldn’t have missed them at all.

Todd: Yeah. They’re just there to answer the question, like, what are the police doing while all the stuff is going on? Oh, okay. The police are in Apton. Yeah. That’s it.

Craig: But you said okay. So the hours in the the movie, excuse me, the movie is an hour and 40 minutes long. And when I see that, you know, I I like a good hour 20, hour 30 when it comes to my horror movies and the hour 4

Todd: about that. You’re low Todd 10 minutes over my normal hour and 30. Well, this better be good.

Craig: I know. But I’m but seriously, you know, a good 80, 90 minutes, I think that’s usually just about right for a horror movie. And, I see an hour 40 or longer. I’m like, better be pretty good. But this one, there were probably about, I don’t know, 20 minutes left, and it came down to the big showdown. And I’m like, oh, well, if we’re gonna have this big showdown for the last 20 minutes, then I’m totally on board. And it paid off, you know, like, Martin and Daniel, I guess, somehow, inexplicably, head these guys off at the pass, you know, in this town that the Nazis are planning to decimate. Yeah. And Martin says something like, we’ve already cleared everybody out of Todd. And apparently, that’s true because we don’t see any citizens around. I don’t know how they manage that, but whatever. But then it’s just these 2 armies of zombies and they just go full on hand to hand battle combat and it goes on for a good 10, 15 minutes and it’s really really good.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: And and I read that, some of the or or actually many of the people who played zombies were mixed martial arts experts, And so they didn’t have any difficulty with, doing these kinda crazy stunts and and all of this fighting. And it’s just so fun and it goes on for so long and it’s just a huge battle. And there are different things going on all over the place. Like, my favorite, I think, was, Herzog and the main Soviet general. They meet up and fight. And and the the main Russian guy is huge. Like, he’s like this 7 foot tall guy, and they go at it for a long time and, you know, just different people are fighting in different scenarios all over the place and it just keeps cutting back and forth and it’s all action packed and it’s all gory and and brutal and and fun and, oh, man. I was just like, yeah. I mean, this is it’s a payoff. It’s it’s a major payoff at the end of the movie.

Todd: It is. And, then of course the rest of the of the zombie squad team join up. There are a lot of fun little gags in here, like, one of the characters almost gets, taken out by a zombie but at the last minute, our little sidekick zombie runs in and leaves on, leaves on him and takes him out. And just just like a puppy dog, and the guy turns and looks at him and says, good boy. And, there’s this point where it seems like all is lost. Daniel’s in the tank and he’s getting over, you know, he’s inside the tank trying to fight those zombies off and take out the tank, but he gets overpowered. The girls are getting surrounded. The girls Glenn’s

Craig: already been killed. Yeah. Glenn’s been killed. He’s stabbed in the throat. Yeah. It’s funny. He’s like, you know, they’re all surrounded and it looks terrible. He’s like, I’m just gonna say it. I, Glenn, Kenneth, am and then he gets stabbed right in the throat.

Todd: Like he had to come out before he died. Right.

Craig: Oh, but Todd, I and it and it came out of nowhere. I didn’t see it coming and I really thought that he would make it. And I I really was

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: Sad. I mean, it’s not like I shed a tear or anything, but I was like, oh, man. I like the

Todd: cool guy. Yeah.

Craig: And what’s gonna happen to his 2 kittens? That’s right. Because when because when Martin first found him, he’s like, please don’t hurt me. I have 2 kittens. Oh, god. Anyway That’s

Todd: so great. Carry on. No. That’s fine. They’ve, the Russian guy gets, killed finally by Herzog, and they noticed that then all the other Russian soldiers are totally weakened at that point and they’re taken out easily, they fall. And so, that’s when they put 22 together that in order for them to live, they’re gonna have to take out Herzog. And once they take out Herzog, you know, then the rest of the zombies under Herzog’s command or whatever are just gonna die. That’s when they focus on, getting on killing Herzog. And it’s basically Martin. Martin runs up to him. He’s, like, shows him his arm. You want this back kind of thing, you know. And, and he and Martin battle, and it is an epic battle. Like, they’re They end up in a house. And because Martin has the superpowered arm, and Herzog is a superpowered guy, they’re, like, literally, like, throwing each other through the walls from room to room in this house. And it is a fantastic battle sequence. It’s fantastic.

Craig: Yeah. And I I like it when they, you know, when they first, like, come face to face, and Martin says to him, don’t you just hate it when someone who’s supposed to be dead come back to kill you? Like, just there are so many good little one liners, good little jokes. But, yeah, that that fight is great. And, like, like you said, they’re throwing each other through walls and stuff, and at one point, Herzog grabs Martin by the head and puts his face down on a hot burner on the stove. Like, it’s it’s brutal. But eventually, you know, again, in this moment where everything culminates and it seems like everything is lost, the tank comes busting through, and it’s it’s just running willy nilly, like nobody’s at the helm or anything. And it comes busting through the house, and both Martin and Herzog end up on it. And so then they’re continuing their fight on there, and then that kind of leads up to the final showdown, which, I was really pleased with. You know, I I was really pleased with the way it went

Todd: down. Yeah. Martin gets tossed onto a car and the tank comes to a screeching halt and Herzog is standing over Martin and approaching him. But at this point, inside the tank, Daniel, has gained control. And, the 2 zombies in there are dead. And so, unbeknownst to Herzog, he spins the the turret of the tank around right behind Herzog’s head. And Martin has a funny line here.

Craig: He’s got like a whole monologue about, You know, he says, why didn’t you just stay on the mountain? It’s because you got greedy, isn’t it? And he he says, you know, that’s I liked it. You know, it’s it’s really clever. You know, he’s like, that’s why you lost the war. And he says, you knew that. Right? You lost. You guys lost, and it’s because you got greedy. And then he says, and you’re about to lose again. And then Daniel, blows Herzog’s head off. I mean, like, it’s point blank, like, this huge tank gun, right behind Herzog and he blows his head off. And then just as they had anticipated all of the Nazi zombies fall down dead and they won. Yeah. And, Martin survived. He looks terrible, but he he survived and you know, he’s like spitting up blood and stuff. And Daniel at one point had been stabbed, but he’s okay and the girls are okay and they kinda have a little moment where they acknowledge that Glenn didn’t make it and they’re sad. And I don’t know who says it first, but Martin and the zombie squad say to each other, it’s really been an honor to fight zombies with you. Mhmm. And and then they just kinda go their own way.

Todd: It’s just it’s just classic war movie, you know. It really is. It’s just so funny. And they leave, and then you think the movie’s about over, but Martin’s got one last task to do.

Craig: Yeah. This this part, I mean, I I appreciate it. I I think that it’s clever, but Oh, it’s clever. I’m so gross. It’s gross. It’s hard

Todd: to watch, but it does answer the question, if you had an arm that could raise the dead again, what would you do with it? And of

Craig: And I knew I knew what was gonna happen because it shows Martin driving and in the background, the song that’s playing is Total Eclipse of the Heart. And that was from the first movie. Right? Like, wasn’t that, like, his girlfriend’s favorite song? Oh, you’re right. I’m pretty sure. I’m pretty sure it was. Yeah. So, anyway, you say it because it’s kinda gross. I’m like, oh, I don’t wanna

Todd: say it. Oh my god. Okay. Okay. So he drives to church. He finds his girlfriend’s grave. He digs her up, wakes her to life. And, of course, she’s a gross zombie, but then they start making out. And it culminates in them actually, like, screwing in the back of

Craig: a truck. Complete with the whole, like, Titanic hand on the steamy window. Oh, god. That’s so disgusting. Like, it whatever is going on in there, like, yeah. They’re banging, but there’s it could it could be that they were like like, she was eating him. Like, it it sounds very exciting and and rough and Yeah. There’s lots of noises. And then, you see the pet zombie approaching like he’s found his master, and he’s like, oh. But so gross. Like, I Todd yeah. Like, you’re right. Yes. You know, if you had the power to reanimate dead people, surely it would cross your mind, but it’s disgusting.

Todd: Not in this way.

Craig: No. And and went like, he opens it up and she’s gross. Like, she’s all decomposed and, like, she’s one of the nastier Did you did you stay for

Todd: the end of the credits?

Craig: I did. I figured there would this this is the type of movie that you just figure that there will be a post Craig scene. So, I I scrolled through my browser and saw that there was gonna be one, and I saw that there was. So Yeah.

Todd: It’s It’s just a simple deal where the Nazi zombie, doctor the Nazi doctor zombie is in the woods, and he picks up Herzog’s head, which should be in a 1000000 pieces, but we’re supposed to be. We’re just blown across the the the countryside, and as he picks up the his head, the thing’s eyes open. So, you know, leaving it open for a sequel that hasn’t been announced and, I don’t know, 4 years later may not happen.

Craig: Probably not. And and, you know, like, whatever. It’s Yeah. It’s a goofy it’s a goofy zombie horror movie, and so I’m not gonna pick nits. But, like, the it really doesn’t make any sense. Like, if all of the other Nazi zombies fell over dead when Herzog got killed, why didn’t the field doctor Nazi zombie fall over dead? Yeah. Or if he wasn’t really dead, why did any of them fall

Todd: over? Fall over.

Craig: Like yeah. It’s it’s stupid, but whatever. You know, like, great. Leave it open for a sequel. And in fact, if they made Dead Snow 3, I’d probably watch it. Oh, for sure. It’d have

Todd: to be pretty darn good, though. I mean, this is a good one. I mean, this is a not disappointing sequel at all.

Craig: Agreed. Yeah. Oh, I would say that this might be one of those few examples where the sequel probably is better than the first movie. Now I for sure liked the first movie, but it was kind of limited in scope and this one just really opens it up to a whole another level of opportunities. Yeah. And and the first one was funny and the first one was gory and gross and I really liked it and I thought it was really good. I thought it was worthy of a sequel and and I think that this sequel is at least as good as the first one if not better than the first one.

Todd: Oh, it’s better. I mean, it’s not as derivative. Of course, being derivative was kind of the whole point of the original. It’s more of an homage, really. But, you know, this one was just way more original

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: I thought because it had that it had that luxury of, you know, really being able to take it in whatever direction it wanted. And, I thought it very much succeeded in that. I’m really disappointed, honestly, to see that Tommy Ricola doesn’t seem to be doing a whole lot right now. He’s got something some new project that was announced called Hansel and Gretel witch hunters 2, which doesn’t sound I didn’t even know there was a witch hunters 1.

Craig: Yeah. Neither.

Todd: You know, and aside from that, he’s in preproduction on a movie called War Pigs. I don’t know. We’ll be interested to see what that’s like. But at any rate, what a fun movie. What a really fun movie. And I’m glad we didn’t wait until, the wintertime, which we would normally do.

Craig: Yeah. Yeah. Good good good suggestion, those folks who, recommended this one. I I get it. I I see now why we had several requests for this one. It makes sense. It was a fun one to watch. It was a fun one to talk about.

Todd: Well, thanks again for joining us for another episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. You can find us on Facebook. You can also find our website, 2 guys.redfortynet.com. Leave us a comment there. Give us more requests. We have at least, one more request coming up this, for request month. And, of course, we do request throughout the year. If you go to our website also, you can also find the occasional written reviews of films as well as our entire back catalog. Until next week, I’m Todd And

Craig: I’m Craig.

Todd: With 2 Guys and a Chainsaw