Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies – 2016, Austria, 78m. Director: Dominik Hartl. Streaming: Tubi
Dead Snow – 2009, Norway, 91m. Director: Tommy Wirkola. Streaming: Tubi
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead – 2014, Norway, 100m. Director: Tommy Wirkola. Streaming: Peacock
ATTACK OF THE LEDERHOSEN ZOMBIES (2016) To compensate for the lack of snow due to climate change, the owner of a ski resort in the Alps concocts a chemical that seamlessly produces the white powder. Unfortunately, when consumed, the chemical transforms people and animals into drooling, pock-faced zombies. Soon the quaint Bavarian village is overrun with the walking dead, trapping a group of snowboarders on the mountain. The survivors arm themselves with whatever weapons they can find, which includes ski poles (used by a barmaid to take out the eyes of a zombie), and, naturally, snowboards in the climax’s snowboarding-cum-zombie massacre—accompanied by Johann Strauss’s “The Blue Danube.” It might lack the energy of Shaun of the Dead—the obvious inspiration—as well as any actual lederhosen-wearing zombies, but it’s difficult not to enjoy this spirited romp as nothing more than stupid escapism. The practical makeup effects are excellent. B–
DEAD SNOW (2009) Norwegian friends on vacation at a remote mountain cabin spend their time snow tubing, discussing horror movies, and drinking a lot of pilsner. Their play time is interrupted by the arrival of an old fart who tells the friends of the place’s unsavory history involving the torture and murder of the locals at the hands of Nazis during World War II. The civilians had enough and slaughtered most of the Germans in retaliation, with many escaping into the mountains but leaving their stolen loot behind. Much like the gut-munching Nazi zombies of Jess Franco’s Oasis of the Zombies, the SS soldiers in Dead Snow return as the rotten undead and go to any lengths to protect their cherished Nazi gold. Naturally, this includes ripping the vacationers to pieces, all of which is executed via some truly impressive makeup FX—one guy wearing a t-shirt of Peter Jackson’s Braindead has his face split in two. As with Jackson’s splatter classic, Dead Snow is an energetic homage to the gory delights of films like The Evil Dead, complete with deadpan humor intermixed with moments of outrageous bloodshed. A must-see for the splattery zombie aficionado. B+
DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD (2014) In the spirit of the Evil Dead films, Dead Snow 2, like Evil Dead 2, is a slicker, more polished production. It’s also breathlessly paced and filled with wall-to-wall splatter. Martin (Geir Vegar Hoel), the sole survivor of the zombie massacre from Part 1, narrowly escapes the undead Nazi army. Standartenführer Herzog (Ørjan Gamst), the leader of the Nazi zombie squad, begins recruiting soldiers by killing a group of tourists and turning them into the walking dead. Martin discovers that the severed arm of Herzog—which was cut off at the beginning of the film—can bring the dead back to life. With the help of an American zombie expert (Martin Starr of Freaks and Geeks) Martin starts his own army by resurrecting Russian soldiers Herzog himself wiped out in 1944. Perhaps the funniest bit is during the climax where a Nazi zombie doctor sets up a makeshift battlefield triage and uses hay to “fill in” the literal gaps in the zombies’ dismembered bodies. If Red vs. Dead achieves anything it’s the reminder that sequels can sometimes be just as good (or better) than their predecessor. B+