ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses three recent Nazisploitation horror films Tommy Wirkola's Dead Snow, Uwe Boll's BloodRayne, The Third Reich and Richard Raaphorst's Frankenstein's Army examining their depictions of Nazism and deployment of Gothic motifs in story, theme, characterization and setting. It argue that these films, contribute to maintaining awareness of World War II in popular culture, are instances of young European filmmakers tackling this historical trauma via horror film tropes. They also attest to the potential of Nazisploitation horror and the harnessing of Gothic tropes for dealing thematically with World War II and Nazism's legacy. The Third Reich is the only film of the three discussed here which directly alludes to the Holocaust, which is consistent with Abbenhuis and Buttsworth's argument. Where Dead Snow's focus on comic gore gags and BloodRayne: The Third Reich's use of humor and action provide levity for viewers, Frankenstein's Army adopts a more downbeat, superficially realistic tone consistent with its found footage aesthetic.