Customer Reviews

Cold Prey

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I popped this one in not expecting much. More straight to video drek from Starz I thought, formerly known as the once great Anchor Bay. I watched not expecting much, & to my suprise, it just kept getting better & better. This one really & truely is worth watching. This is slasher the way it used to be done... the way that it should be done. Now a quick warning for that certain few that can't get into subtitled films. This is in fact a foreign film & is in fact in a different language. The acting is great, the suspense, the horror, the villain, the blood & guts all done top notch, hats off to the makers of this film. This is a truely spooky flick that has you at the edge of your seat, well worth at least a rental, I was certainly impressed, & I think you will be too. Definately check this one out!!!

I do enjoy horror flicks, so I do not have a lot of negative things to day about even the worst of them. This was pretty good. The typical gang having fun and ending up in peril. Not much original there. A couple of fun scenes and good jumps. The photography is great and the scenery is beautiful. Not bad.

This is a well done movie, with talented young actors and great photography. It just suffers from plot monotony. A group of young people get stranded in an out of the way location, find an abandoned place to stay. They pair up to have sex and procede to get killed off one by one until one person is left who decides to get angry instead of scared, fights back and saves him or herself. Its just like a trip to your favorite fast food restaurant - not bad, just more of the same. Until you find a finger in your french fries . . . oh wait, that was another movie.

Cold Prey really isn't my type of movie. I enjoy a good horror flick every now and then but the standard "slasher" movie just doesn't do it for me. If you enjoy this kind of thing then you may be in for a treat, because Cold Prey has some good things going for it. Ultimately it feels very much like countless others I have seen with the cliches and the predictable outcomes.

This movie was supposedly a hit in Europe and succeeds in paying homage to so many others classics before it. The basic premise is as follows: 5 friends on a snowboarding trip are forced to stay in an abandoned (or is it?) cabin for the night, but guess what...they're not alone. There is a killer on the loose who is looking to meticulously murder each one of them. Sound familiar? The characters are likeable but are stereotypical of any movie of this type. Yes it is scary, yes there is blood and the killer is pretty freaky but by the time the ending hits you may or may not have figured it out already. Another thing that may bother some people is that the spoken language here is Norwegian. There are subtitles but it felt like too much of a chore to read and also keep up with what is going on in the movie. The included English track is helpful if subtitles aren't you're thing but be warned that the dubbing is pretty awful here as well. Nothing matches up well but I guess that should be expected.

There are a few good things going for Cold Prey. I love the icy, mountain setting. It gives it a unique and creepy feeling of isolation and adds to the feeling of terror the audience feels for the characters. The movie is well-made, both acting-wise and effects-wise. Not bad at all coming from the low budget this film apparently had to work with. The acting by the cast is actually good when you compare it to the usual acting you can expect from horror movies these days.

If you love the typical "slasher" flick then definitely give this at least one viewing. Unfortunately, one viewing is all I am willing to give and I don't think this will go down in my mind as one of the greats. It's too predictable and the ending is disappointing though I will let you see to decide that for yourself. If you decide that you like the movie and if you are a fan of the genre in general then I recommend owning this quality dvd.

Director Roar Uthaug's COLD PREY is is a truly terrifying horror film that hearkens back to 1980s-era slasher flicks. What makes the film so unique--at least for American audiences--is that it was shot in Norway by a Norwegian crew and features an all-Norwegian cast. But if the fresh talent and fresh faces aren't enough, the film offers a tightly plotted story that adds a new twist to the old slasher formula. It basically transplants FRIDAY THE 13TH from the abandoned summer camp at Crystal Lake to an abandoned ski lodge in the frozen, snow-packed mountains of northern Europe. Another fresh twist to the formula is that even the virginal kids get whacked, and the true identity of the killer, while not a total surprise when revealed at the end, makes him a more sympathetic character than genre icons Jason or Michael.

The acting in COLD PREY is outstanding--if you watch with the original Norwegian soundtrack, that is; the English dub is...well...a dub--and Norwegian beauty Ingrid Bolsų Berdal is especially effective in her tough-but-sympathetic portrayal of the film's obligatory final girl. Roar Uthaug's direction is also top-notch--he's definitely a Euro-horror director to keep your eye on--and the special FX are seamless and realistic yet eye-poppingly fun. As with the '80s slashers to which COLD PREY plays tribute, a lot of the really gruesome violence is off-screen (the camera cuts away just after contact), but that's part of the fun. The only real flaw in the film is that there isn't a single T or A shot--and the film's two beauties would be worth seeing sans clothing, even if only in a quick cutaway--which has been a must-have part of the genre since John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978), but that's only a minor gripe.

The DVD edition of COLD PREY from Anchor Bay is well worth the price of admission. It features a beautiful digital transfer of the film in anamorphic widescreen at its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with soundtracks offering either the original Norwegian in DD 5.1 Surround Sound or an English dub in DD 2.0 Surround. Tons of bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, a featurette on the special FX, interviews with the cast, and much more!

COLD PREY has lots of jumps and scares, and the story is several notches above a lot of slasher fare. If you're a fan of old 1980s slasher flicks and would like a break from the torture-porn that seems to have taken control of the horror screens these days, give this film a screening. You won't be sorry.

I'm trying to think of a good horror movie that isn't a gore-fest like Saw II - V. First good ones that come to mind less than 25 years ago are Aliens and one of my favorite movies, American Psycho ... but the best are in the past, and still hold up today, such as The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, one of my all-time favorites What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and so many more even as way back as Nosferatu.

I bring all that up because this type of film is the worst to review. Comparing it to amazing 5 star classics or good 4 star cult flicks makes it near impossible. "Cold Prey" is three stars being very generous. That is upsetting, because this is a film with a good filmmaker with a low budget. It ends up unintentionally paying homage to predictable classics such as Friday the 13th (the real one!) but made with Splenda.

The entire movie was spot-on predictable to me. Within the first minute, you know who the killer is, and when you meet the horned out teens on vacation, you know exactly who will live or become the hero. They make their way up the mountain, you know what is going to happen, and how it forms the result. In other words, it's hard to protect the plot in a review, since there is none.

The characters are exactly what you think... the couple going through some issues, the couple that are connected by their tongues more than speaking, and then there is the token loner that makes love to his hand, with pride. There are no other people except for Jason...ummm... whatever his name is.

... oh, did I mention they are speaking Norwegian? Don't worry, you have the option for the English overdub, however, the voice acting is so bad, you are better off reading the subtitles for the true audio. I started watching with the dub, but I could not take more than a few minutes. Obviously with no plot and limited utterance, you'll make it using subtitles instead.

The film is getting 3 stars because of the extras, and meeting the Director, behind the scenes footage and even bloopers. The cinematography is excellent, and directing just fine with the limited location. It's negative for the actual movie and it's lack of content.

Yep, it's kids in a cabin getting hacked... but with an ice pick. There is a lack of much needed gore due to the scenario. It's just not scary, so it needed something gross. We hardly ever see what is happening to the person. There's some blood and dragging of bodies, but you just want him to hurry up and kill them all so you can stop watching the movie. The scariest and grossest part of the whole movie was the Super Glue scene. I can't even explain it.

The description of the video claims there is a "final horrific twist", and I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

I guess some will say it's a rental, and maybe so. But I cannot imagine paying this list price.

Ain't It Cool News exclaims "Probably the most perfect slasher film ever made".
... I want to see that film!

Got to love those people that do the write up on the back of DVD's. For Cold Prey it says that, "If you think this is going to be the usual `trapped teens stalked by a maniac' movie, you're dead wrong." The finishes off the blurb by quoting Arrow in the Head that says, "If you enjoyed the original Friday the 13th and Halloween, you're going to love Cold Prey." Two movies that created the "trapped teens stalked by a manic" genre.

First off, it should be noted that Cold Prey is actually Fritt Vilt and is from Norway and is spoken in all Norwegian (aside from the occasional English songs). Naturally reading and horror flicks do not mesh very well as you are reading what they are screaming but are distracted by the words you sometimes miss what they are actually screaming at.

Despite what the back cover would have you to believe the movie is about a bunch of teens being stalked by a maniac (of whom it is pretty easy to figure out within the first five minutes). The one thing that differs is that they are not stuck in a warm climate conducive to fornicating but instead takes place in an abandoned cabin resort. The kids are stuck there as one of them has a snowboarding accident and it is too far to drag them back in the impending snowstorm to their car and just happen to see the cabin just up ahead.

The injured friend makes for a hard dilemma of flight or fight when one of the five comes up missing. Even with all the reading, you can still sense the fear and claustrophobia that the snowboarders feel as someone in an oversized parka, ski goggles, and an ax hunting them down and manage to frightening and entertaining even as it goes through more than one horror clichés. And if you are grossed out by gore, you can still enjoy this movie as it doesn't show much because it cares much more about the hunt than the kill, cleaning up the broken leg is as gruesome as onscreen gore as it gets in the movie. And being five character the maniac takes his time getting to each of them.

The scenery is beautiful and the film is great at creating tension. Don't go into this one expecting anything new or groundbreaking and you will almost definitely like it. A very solid addition to the slasher genre

Originally made in 2006, Fritt vilt, or Cold Prey as it is known outside of Norway, is one of those few forgein horror gems that every so often you may stumble across, and thanks to the good folks at Anchor Bay, it has finally made its way here. A pure slasher through and through, Cold Prey doesn't do anything new with the slasher genre, but it defines enough of the conventions to make it notable, and it is a compelling horror exercise as well. The story revolves around a group of friends looking to enjoy some snowboarding action, only to have one of the group get injured. They find shelter in what appears to be an abandoned ski lodge, which just so happens to be inhabited by a hulking killer. Soon enough, they are stalked and picked off, culminating in a snowy showdown. While it isn't quite as bloody as gorehounds may hope, Cold Prey relies on some well orchestrated suspense to keep you glued to the screen. The script is intelligent, and there's actually character development (in a slasher flick? Egads!) to be found as well. The DVD itself is worth noting, and is packed with an assortment of extras including two short films, trailers, a blooper reel, an alternate ending, a music video, and various featurettes on the making of the film and the visual FX. All in all, Cold Prey is a compelling, suspenseful slasher that is more than worthy of your time. Now let's hope that it doesn't take two years for Anchor Bay to bring Cold Prey 2 over to our shores.

OK,I've been a big fan of this type of movie since the 70's,you know the sort. A group of cool teens head out for a weekend of fun times and the body count starts,except this isn't made in the USA...We're talkin' Norway here.
First I'll tackle the technical end first. It has a Norwegian 5.1 surround soundtrack which sounds great if you like to read the English and hear the voices from Norway. I opted for the Dolby 2.0 English soundtrack and it's well done and sounds great.The film looks great 2.35:1 Widescreen picture.

The extras include an alternate ending,some bloopers,a couple shorts and several films about this movie.
It's an ok movie but if you've seen the Halloween movies or Friday The 13th or many others of the type (Last House on the Left,etc etc.)you've seen it all before.
If you LOVE film,it is interesting to watch Norwegian take on the whole thing.
I never once looked at the time during it and I enjoyed the whole thing.
I will watch it again somewhere down the line and next time Not in English...