Jannicke, Morten Tobias, Eirik, Mikael and Ingunn travel to Jotunheimen to go snowboarding but when Morten Tobias breaks his leg, the group seeks shelter in an abandoned hotel. They soon discover that there's someone else living in the hotel as well and it doesn't take long before the quiet turns into screams.
I'm a big sucker for Danish flicks, they got it all together and have created amazing films. Sweden also spit out movies every now and then but their neighbor Norway has been trippin behind with just a few, not very good flicks coming out at a very slow rate. So therefore I felt that it was really cool to hear about that Norwegian director Roar Uthaug was making not just a film, but a horror/slasher film. My thoughts before I had even seen the film was pretty much that even if the film would suck, it would still be something different that I was about to watch. But to my big surprise it was not just an ok movie, it was actually pretty darn good so now I'm more than looking forward to the sequel that'll hit the market next year.
Now the setting/location of the film does a helluva lot of work for the movie on its own; It takes place in Jotunheimen which is basically just mountains covered with snow and makes for a very cold, isolated and grim landscape, in other words, it's the perfect place for horror to take place. As COLD PREY starts we're introduced to five guys and girls who are heading to Jotunheimen to do some snowboarding but as soon as they get there one of the guys breaks his leg and the group need to seek shelter. Soon they find an abandoned hotel and since their car is located too far away they decide to spend the night there. With nothing else to do they go on a search in the big old hotel which leads them to find out that the place was closed down in 1975 due to the disappearance of the managers' son. Not too long after they realize that someone else is in the hotel and it looks like it's gonna be a long bloody night ahead.
 
A lot of slasher flicks are stupid and even touches on retarded sometimes so it was really refreshing to see a film where T&A and stupid dialogue didn't get much room at all. First off, COLD PREY deal with a normal group of people that actually behave like regular folks do and this helps a lot not making the movie look stupid or not serious enough. There are no bimbos, no jocks, no nerds and what not, and than God for that. The kills may not be extreme but they're well done even though blood is not the main thing that the film has to offer. No, the main thing that COLD PREY delivers is suspense and it sure delivers a lot of that.
While COLD PREY may not be the most original of films out there it still makes for an excellent film when it comes to the slasher genre. It gets going rather fast and keeps that good pace all the way through. And more importantly, it doesn't disappoint in the end which is so often the case otherwise.
With genuine suspense and a location that is just ace, COLD PREY truly delivers as a slasher flick. Serious horror fans may have pretty much seen it all before but I'd say it's still worth taking a look at. If you're into horror, well slashers, COLD PREY won't disappoint.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Fritt Vilt
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Roar Uthaug
WRITING CREDITS: Roar Uthaug, Thomas Moldestad
GENRE: Horror, Slasher
CAST: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen
COUNTRY: Norway
RUNTIME: 93 min
RATING: 8/10
Cold Prey Website/IMDB Click here
Cold Prey Trailer Click here
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