The Norwegian horror film, “Dead Snow,” came out of Sundance last year riding a wave of good buzz. It didn’t exactly sound like a cult classic, but the concept seemed strong enough to make for a fun midnight movie. Unfortunately, director Tommy Wirkola can’t even manage that, instead churning out a relatively dull horror film that fails to take advantage of its comic potential. The story is like so many others before it, with a group of medical students falling prey to a horde of zombies during a sex-and-booze-fueled weekend at a remote cabin in the mountains. What makes this film different, however, is the fact that these particular zombies also happen to be Nazis. It’s a match made in horror-comedy heaven that could have earned “Dead Snow” a spot among the other zombie classics. But instead of finding the humor in the situation like “Evil Dead 2” and “Dead Alive” (both of which are referenced in the film), Wirkola’s movie is an absolute bore until the final minutes when it suddenly turns into the silly romp it so desperately needed to be. Had the blood-gushing, chainsaw-slicing antics started sooner, “Dead Snow” might have won me over, but as it stands, it’s far too little, too late to make any real impact.
