Wow! Now THIS was an enjoyable watch. COLD PREY (FRITT VILT in Norwegian) is a Norwegian horror film boasting a relatively cool (heh) setting and cast. By the way, did you know that this movie’s sequel, COLD PREY II, broke Norweigian box office records for domestic films? I recommend watching the two back-to-back, since the sequel picks up literally right where this movie ends.
Anyway, this movie opens on a young boy running through a blizzard who eventually gets buried in snow by an unseen force. In an interview, his parents express grief at suddenly losing their son. The movie then follows two couples and their wisecracking friend as the five young adults go for a snowboarding trip, avoiding crowds and traffic by traveling to an unknown, out-of-the-way slope in Jotunheimen. One of the snowboarders breaks his leg and the five are forced to find shelter. Luckily, they find an abandoned ski lodge, complete with electricity and supplies! Not all is as it seems, however. One by one, the snowboarders get hunted down by a large mysterious man wielding a pickaxe. Surrounded by miles of snow while being picked off one by one, our protagonists find themselves having to formulate a plan- and fast.
This movie can definitely be classified as a slasher film. But guess what? It manages to avoid most, if not all, of those extremely stupid and tired slasher movie cliches which other movies (some of which you may have had the misfortune of sitting through) find themselves relying on. This movie does have its share of cliches- we’re all familiar with the hulking, silent, masked killer wielding some kind of large weapon. TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE really established a classic killer trope. But the mere presence of cliches doesn’t make a movie bad. Many cliches exist solely because they work. Most of the cliches present in this movie fall into that category.
What sets this movie apart from most slashers I’ve seen is the protagonists are all relatable and likable in their own way. None of them are overly annoying or stupid, and most of the decisions they make are the same ones you or I would make in their situation. I did notice that the room in which the protagonists make their first off-putting discovery was Room 237; a subtle but neat nod to Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING. Looking back, the soundtrack wasn’t very memorable. But the ski lodge definitely was. In fact, my main gripe with the movie was I found myself wanting more. Sure, they found a Lost-and-Found area containing a box of wedding rings, phones, car keys, and other things that, as one character remarked, “people don’t leave behind.” But it would’ve been nice if the lodge had one or two more signs that it wasn’t safe. Then again, that was probably what the director was going for. The unmasking of the killer, by the way, isn’t very significant (or surprising, to be honest) at first. However, his backstory gets a lot more attention in COLD PREY II, which is why I recommend you set aside a few hours and watch both of these movies. They’re great! Just be sure to watch versions with good English subtitles- the movies are entirely in Norwegian (norsk).
