Dead Snow

A group of medical students heads into the mountains of northern Norway for a break over the Easter holiday, staying in a remote cabin belonging to one of their number. They bring skis, snowmobiles and beer, expecting little more than a few days of partying in the snow. Their plans change after an encounter with a local wanderer who warns them that the area is not safe, and a stranger who turns up at the cabin with his own grim account of what happened there. The students dismiss both warnings until the past catches up with them in the form of a unit of German soldiers who died in these mountains during the occupation and are now moving again.

Tommy Wirkola directed and co-wrote the film with Stig Frode Henriksen, who also appears in the cast, alongside Vegar Hoel, Charlotte Frogner, Lasse Valdal, Evy Kasseth Røsten and Jeppe Beck Laursen. It was Wirkola's first feature, made in Norway and shot on a modest scale; the 59 credited crew reflect a small production. The film became his breakthrough and opened the way to the larger English-language projects that followed, among them Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, What Happened to Monday and Violent Night, and it was popular enough to be followed by Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead.

Released in 2009, the film reaches a wide audience without being a major commercial performer, with worldwide takings of about 2 million dollars. On IMDb it holds 6.3 out of 10 from 73,000 votes, and on TMDB 6 out of 10 from 1,271 votes, indicating a modest but steady following rather than broad acclaim. Critics rated it 6 out of 10 across 76 reviews, close to the audience scores.