This film was tasteless, wall-spatteringly gory, and incredibly simplistic…and was the most fun I’ve had watching a movie in a long time. This sequel to 2009’s Dead Snow couldn’t help but remind me of another sequel—Evil Dead II (1987). First, because it didn’t take itself too seriously, and included a good deal of humor with the gore, and secondly because it’s one of those rare exceptions in Hollywood where the sequel is quite a bit better than the original. Now Vegar Hoel’s Martin is no Ash, and the humor isn’t quite as good, but a lot of it does elicit laughs; some of the best center around The Revenant’s Kristoffer Joner, who plays the sweetest, unluckiest schoolteacher zombie you’ll ever see.

The film takes over where the first one left off—lone survivor Martin thinks he has staved off the Nazi zombies by returning their gold, and that all is well again. Fortunately for us, he’s wrong. Nazi zombie leader Herzog seems hell-bent on finishing his final mission, which involves killing everyone in his way and turning them into soldiers in his zombie army. Martin elicits help from “The Zombie Squad,” who he thinks are zombie-killing experts from America, but are really just three nerds—Daniel, Monica, and Blake (played by my not-so-secret crush Ingrid Haas, looking so adorable here in her nerd glasses, ponytail, and red boots I could scarcely concentrate on the story).  This rag-tag Scooby crew gives it their best; however, it’s going to take an army to fight the Nazi zombies…a dead Russian army!

I thought this would be a low(ish)-budget film (estimated budget was about $4 million), but I have to admit that they really made the most of what they had. The effects, although really gory, were inventive and well-done. A word of warning on that front: nothing and no one is verboten when it comes to the killing, and that may be a little too dark for some viewers.

It’s a film that falls dead center in the comedy-horror genre. If you like films like Evil Dead II, Dead Alive, and Tucker and Dale vs Evil, you’ll likely enjoy this one, too. If you’re looking for a more traditional zombie film, best to look elsewhere.

IMDB gives this a 7.0. That’s probably just a little high for me, but for the sake of those who dig this type of film (and Ingrid!), I’ll go as high as a 6.5. It’s not great cinema, but I really, really Reich it…I mean, like it. (Running time: 1:40)