Screen takes a peek at the opening of Nazi zombie story Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead.

One of the highlights of the third-annual Ramaskrik (Outrage) Horror Film Festival in Norway was the launch of the first seven minutes of Nazi zombie story Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead.

The sequel will open in Norway on Valentine’s Day 2014, screenwriter/actor Stig Frode Henriksen confirmed at the festival.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters), it picks up where the first movie finished and by the looks of things promises to be a very fast paced and bloody affair. This exclusive footage screening is a major coup for Ramaskrik.

“Norwegians usually don’t make sequels and there’s three this year,” says Morten Haagensen, Cinema Manager and Festival Director.

Norway didn’t tend to produce genre films until recently. Bergen-based director Pål Øie is the godfather of this scene. He was in Ramaskrik to give a mood teaser presentation for Villmark 2. His first feature, Villmark (2003), is considered the catalyst for Norway’s decade-long horror renaissance that now includes titles such as Cold Prey (2006) Manhunt (2008), Trollhunter (2010) and Thale (2012).

Ramaskrik came about in 2011 when some of the programmers for Kosmorama (Trondheim International Film Festival) thought just adding horror to their programme would get lost in their broader church of films. They looked further afield and found Oppdal Kulturhus. Their they also found Haagensen ready and waiting to develop a horror event. Together they have established the only annual horror film festival in Norway.

Oppdal is a small, ski resort town - population circa 5,000 - in the middle of Norway. It’s a two-hour train ride south of Trondheim and five hours north of Oslo.October means summer is over, but the winter snow is not yet ready to fall. Therefore, Ramaskrik has become a valuable asset to the local economy.

“[It’s] a festival that has become one of the most interesting film festivals in Scandinavia,” says Kay Olsen, a veteran of all three Ramaskriks, winner of 2013’s film quiz and a man returning to Oslo to begin work on his own horror film event in 2014.

Ramaskrik’s programme is littered with Nordic Premieres. Hot horror box office hits of 2013 like The Purge, You’re Next and Insiduous 2 all got their first showing at the festival ahead of their forthcoming general releases.

Before a handful of films they have added ‘work in progress’ slots. These show a real dedication to supporting independent genre film making in Scandinavia. For example, Bonita Drake, a Stockholm-based, Welsh-born writer/director, was invited there to share early post-production clips from her schlock horror American Burger before a screening of All Cheerleaders Die.

As a screenwriter, I was invited to present my plans working with Petter Schanke Olsen of Kindergarten Media and Johnny Kevorkian (The Disappeared) to shoot an English-language, Norwegian-folklore inspired tale in the mountains that surround Oppdal.

During a round of Tweets, while at Ramaskrik, with the writer of Grabbers, Kevin Lehane, tweeted his fond memories of his 2012 visit: “It was the warmest reception I had at any festival. The organisers are fantastic. I fell in love with Norway there.”