Dead Snow review

If you know me at all, you know that I love the horror genre of movies and am always raring to watch them. Especially zombie movies! Last night we watched Dead Snow which is available on Netflix for instant watch. Upon learning that this was a foreign movie involving Nazi zombies, I was more than enthusiastic about watching it. I cannot think of anything more terrifying.


Dead Snow is a foreign film that takes place near Øksfjord in Norway. The characters are medical students that are having an Easter holiday in a remote snowy mountainous area. The characters are essentially stranded in the mountains; this adds another level of scary to the plot. The snow helps keep the plot interesting by making you wonder what you would do differently in a snow setting while being attacked by these creatures. I picture the American equivalent of Dead Snow involving a group of attractive graduate students vacationing in the Appalachians or Cascades.


Dead Snow is perfectly structured and possesses classic elements of every good horror movie. There are jokes about classic horror movies such as Evil Dead, you get to root for a character's survival, and there's even a sex scene that seems to be out of place with the plot. While watching the movie you get the sense that if any of the characters survive there is no way they can return to a 'normal' life in society after these experiences. Surviving would be nearly pointless but not entirely in vein of course.

Manohla Dargis of the New York Times writes, "(The writer and director of Dead Snow) doesn’t just hit every horror beat; he pounds it to an indistinguishable pulp."

Once the movie finished and Richard was snoring on the couch (he missed the ending), Poppy made it very clear that she needed to go outside to pee before bed. While I was waiting for the dog to finish her business, I was open to the possibility that a crew of Nazi zombies might come charging through the darkness...
Who am I kidding? I was convinced that this was going to happen. The petrified of 'what's lurking in the shadows' feeling is what is so enjoyable about watching horror movies. I think that's what makes a horror movie successful. If extreme gore doesn't bother you and you enjoy horror movies, Dead Snow will not disappoint.

Judgement Day 2011 campaign

I am an advocate for freedom of speech. These are rights that need to be protected unconditionally. It's one of the greatest things about being an American. It's good to know that with enough money you can spread a fearful message to the masses. Judgement Day 2011 (May 21) has received a great amount of publicity. With millions of dollars invested into spreading the message, I would say it it has proven to be a "success" for Family Radio Christians. I think that other groups should start doing the same thing; so that ultimately all American advertising is a threatening message. However, no one is asking me my opinion, so here I am. I do wonder what kind of protest would occur if the Church of Satan (for example) decided to "invest" its money into this kind of campaign. My guess is that the Christian church would ultimately shut it down because money equals power in our society. It's too bad that I don't personally have enough money to test this theory.

What about non-Christian parents who have had to explain the rapture advertising to their children? I guess that's their problem for not being a Family Radio Christian. And aren't other groups of Christians pissed off? Pissed off that this group is stealing the judgement date, etc.

The upside is that the money being spent here isn't going directly toward a bigoted agenda (though I'm sure they have "rainy day" cash set aside for that too). All in all, I think that the goal for the Judgement Day 2011 campaign is to see how many people can be controlled. Controlled by advertising, controlled by the Family Radio Christian church. Instilling fear makes people a lot easier to control.

Probably my biggest problem with this whole shenanigan is that there are children that go hungry in America everyday; yet millions of dollars have been spent on this ridiculous campaign. It's okay to put hungry children on the back burner if you believe that the world will end tomorrow. In the end, (pun intended) it's their money and they can do whatever they want with it, as that is the American way.

The good news is that debt collectors will quit calling if it really is the "beginning of the end." So, cheers to everyone who will be left behind with me. That is very American.