‘Cold Prey’ is a Snowbound Slasher With a Phenomenal Final Femme
Welcome to The Overlook Motel, a place where under-seen and unappreciated films are given their moment in the spotlight. I hope you enjoy your stay here and find the accommodations to be suitable. Now, please take a seat and make yourself comfortable, I have some misbehaving guests to ‘correct’.
This week, I will be looking back on Roar Uthaug’s woefully under-seen snowbound slasher flick, Cold Prey. Cold Prey is a tense stalk-and-slash film that delivers high levels of tension combined with gorgeous cinematography and a great cast of characters.
Watch the latest Overlook Motel:
The film follows a group of friends that set out on a snowboarding excursion at a remote locale. At first, the pals enjoy getting at some untouched powder. But when one of the group members breaks his leg, they take shelter at an abandoned ski lodge. Little do the comrades know, a deranged killer is stalking the grounds. He badly wants to rip each and every one of the winter sports enthusiasts to shreds!
While we may never get a snowbound Friday the 13th film, Cold Prey certainly gives viewers an idea of how effective the approach can be when executed properly. The flick smartly uses the combination of severe weather and a gruesome compound bone fracture to immobilize the core cast and limit their options for escape. That culmination of circumstances makes the pals particularly vulnerable. Yet, in spite of circumstances beyond their control, the group makes (mostly) smart decisions and gives the audience reason to cheer for their survival, rather than waiting for them to succumb to the maniacal antagonist that’s after them.
Also Watch: Return of the Living Dead III is a Punk Rock Zombie Love Story for the Ages [The Overlook Motel]
Among that core group of likable characters, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is especially memorable. She is well-cast as Jannicke. Jannicke is confident and resourceful in the way she handles herself in a series of harrowing situations. She’s also vaguely reminiscent of the quintessential final femme Laurie Strode in Halloween. She isn’t afraid to put the welfare of others ahead of her own. And she won’t back down, no matter how dire the circumstances may be.
Furthering the film’s efficacy are top notch effects that are plenty goopy but avoid delving into torture porn territory. I point that out because, in 2006, excessive gore and lingering shots of disembodied intestines were fairly commonplace in the wake of the Saw sequels and the success of films like Hostel. I commend Uthaug for that because, in hindsight, a lot of films that leaned too heavily into gratuitous gore for shock value look very much like a product of their time. Whereas, more than 15 years after its initial release, Cold Prey is just as enjoyable as it was upon my inaugural viewing, if not more so.
Related Post: 6 Films to Help You Overcome Your Fear of Subtitles
As for why this flick remains relatively under-seen, I’d say that has everything to do with the fact that it is a foreign language flick. I recognize that subtitles can be a barrier for some viewers. But I assure you, this snowbound slasher picture is engaging enough that you likely won’t even realize you’re reading captions once the proverbial shit hits the fan.
As of the publication of this post, Cold Prey is available as a digital download or rental. It seems the physical media release is out of print. But it’s not yet commanding outrageous sums of money on eBay if you’re a physical media person looking to pick up a copy. `
If you are keen to chat more about Cold Prey, let me know your thoughts on Twitter @FunWithHorror!
Categorized:Editorials The Overlook Motel
