Year: 2009
Runtime: 91 min
Language: Norwegian
Director: Tommy Wirkola
While on a weekend trip to a remote cabin in Norway, a group of friends inadvertently awakens a legion of undead Nazi soldiers frozen in the mountain ice. As Easter celebrations turn deadly, the group must fight for their lives against the relentless and surprisingly agile Nazi zombies, discovering the horrifying secret of the area's dark history and battling for survival in a gruesome and chaotic struggle.
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As the snow-covered peaks of Norway create a breathtaking backdrop, a tense escape scene reveals a horrifying fate for Sara, whose frantic efforts to evade danger ultimately lead her to the merciless grips of reanimated Nazi soldiers, their World War II uniforms now tarnished by fresh blood. Meanwhile, a group of seven students has arrived for an Easter vacation at a secluded cabin near Øksfjord, the property of Vegard, Sara’s boyfriend. As they settle in for a night filled with celebration, a strange hiker appears, sharing chilling tales about the area’s dark history, where war’s horrors still reverberate.
During World War II, a ruthless Einsatzgruppe, commanded by the infamous Standartenführer Herzog, laid waste to the region, committing unspeakable atrocities against the locals. As Germany faced impending defeat, the Nazis ravaged the town, only to be met with fierce resistance from the resentful inhabitants, who mounted a bloody revolt that nearly annihilated their oppressors. The surviving soldiers, including Herzog, retreated into the mountains, presumed dead, but the grim legacy of their past is far from concluded.
That night, Vegard’s sleep is broken by what he believes is Sara stirring beneath the floorboards, but his calls go unanswered, leaving him feeling disturbed and perplexed. His tranquility shatters upon discovering Sara drenched in blood outside, though it is merely a nightmare, and he awakens alone. Meanwhile, the hiker camps in the mountains, enjoying a lonely dinner when he hears a chilling noise that leads him to become the first casualty of the undead.
The following morning, Vegard embarks on a quest to find Sara, only to uncover the horrifying remains of the hiker. This harrowing search plunges him deeper into the wilderness, where he crashes through the snow and is knocked unconscious in a concealed cave. As night falls, Erlend stumbles upon an old wooden box brimming with wartime treasures, celebrating their discovery until one student pockets a golden coin, which is later returned to the box. Their merriment is abruptly interrupted when Erlend sneaks away to the outhouse for an intimate moment with Chris, who soon falls victim to the zombie horde.
As they scramble to find their missing friend, they come across Sara’s abandoned backpack, a chilling reminder that the remnants of war continue to haunt the living. Upon emerging from the cave, Vegard is met with a gruesome sight: Sara’s severed head alongside German military artifacts. His brief moment of respite is shattered as a zombie attacks, and in a desperate attempt to survive, Vegard fights back furiously. Utilizing an intestine as a makeshift rope, he escapes to solid ground, but not before he sustains severe injuries. Grabbing an MG 34 machine gun, he attaches it to his snowmobile with grim resolve.
Meanwhile, the remaining group—Martin, Roy, Hanna, and Liv—desperately scatter for survival. Martin and Roy attempt to divert the advancing zombies, while the women make a break for the vehicles. However, Liv’s escape takes a horrific turn when she’s ambushed and knocked unconscious by a zombie; she awakens to a gruesome fate as her intestines are yanked out by two attackers. In a final attempt to evade her gruesome end, she activates a stick grenade, taking out both zombies—and herself.
Hanna manages to outwit a zombie, sending it plummeting off a cliff with a well-timed kick of ice. Meanwhile, Martin and Roy unwittingly set the cabin ablaze with Molotov cocktails, forcing them to flee and grab power tools as makeshift weapons. Just as Vegard arrives, his machine gun blasting, they all strive to fend off the relentless wave of flesh-hungry zombies.
The relentless fight takes a steep toll: Vegard falls amid the chaos, and Martin, in a tragic turn of events, accidentally ends Hanna’s life just as she returns to the cabin. As Martin prepares to confront Herzog, who commands an army of zombies, he suffers a terrible bite, prompting him to undertake a gruesome self-amputation with a chainsaw to stave off the infection.
When the dust begins to settle, Martin and Roy gather their courage to retaliate against Herzog, yet their effort is quickly thwarted as hundreds of zombies erupt from the snow—an unholy wave of death. In their desperate bid for survival, Roy meets a brutal fate at the hands of a hammer-wielding zombie, only to be disemboweled and ultimately killed by Herzog, who claims Roy’s watch as a grim keepsake of this nightmarish ordeal.
Last Updated: November 22, 2024 at 18:29
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Relentless survival battles against undead forces tied to a dark past.If you liked the high-intensity siege against Nazi zombies in Dead Snow, explore these similar movies where dark history reawakens as a relentless threat. Discover other horror films featuring desperate battles against undead legions or occult forces tied to a specific, gruesome past.
These stories typically begin with characters stumbling upon a location tainted by a historical tragedy. This discovery directly unleashes a supernatural force—often an army of the undead—that immediately begins a relentless siege. The plot is a straightforward, fast-paced sequence of attacks, escapes, and gruesome losses, where survival is the only goal against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy.
These movies are grouped by their core premise: a historical horror siege. They share a high-intensity, fast-paced experience, a dark tone rooted in real-world atrocities, and a focus on visceral, chaotic survival action against a uniquely themed antagonist, creating a very specific and potent subgenre of horror.
A remote getaway turns into a bloody fight for survival against an unexpected threat.Find more movies like Dead Snow where a peaceful cabin trip descends into bloody chaos. This thread features horror films about groups fighting for survival in remote locations against sudden, overwhelming threats, capturing the same feeling of isolated dread and frantic action.
The narrative follows a classic structure: a brief period of setup and camaraderie in a secluded location is shattered by the sudden appearance of a threat. The remainder of the film is a rapid-paced series of violent encounters, betrayals, and deaths, as the characters' numbers dwindle and their sanctuary becomes a trap. The focus is on visceral survival rather than deep mystery.
These films share a foundational horror setting and scenario—the isolated cabin under siege. They are united by a fast pace, high levels of gore and violence, a consistently dark and anxious mood, and the core theme of a group's cohesion breaking down under extreme duress in a confined, inescapable space.
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