Premiered in England at London’s Frightfest weekend where I first saw this film., Roar Uthaug’s COLD PREY was a substantial hit in his native Norway, and deservedly so. It isn’t the first slasher film with a skiing backdrop (let’s spare a moment to remember ICED, SHREDDER, et al) but it’s arguably the best. It’s a taut, suspenseful old-school stalk n slash picture with no self-mocking jokes, no shaggy dog twists, and, best of all, a bunch of unusually sympathetic characters who act convincingly in life / death situations, don’t do stupid “dead meat” things and earn enough audience empathy to make their deaths have an impact.
Five pals choose a remote location to go snowboarding over Easter weekend. When one of the quintet suffers a leg-breaking accident, they all take refuge at an abandoned ski lodge. Even though the hotel hasn’t been used since 1975, the building contains evidently recent personal items and someone seems to be living in the cellar. What connection is there between the killer, clad in coat and ski goggles, and the small boy who disappeared without a trace during an avalanche three decades ago?
Uthaug, making a strong feature debut, downplays explicit gore in favor of tension while commendably avoiding the more well-worn slasher clichés (false scares, back-from-the-dead shtick, etc.). He does have fun with the conventions by subverting them wherever possible : the hot blonde is a virgin who dies first after turning down sex, while the conventionally handsome hero-type goes to pieces in the face of danger and winds up dead. What’s more, COLD PREY gets considerable atmosphere and menace from its beautiful snowbound location : alternatively eerie and majestic shots of the epic wintry vistas create an intimidating sense of entrapment and helplessness.
The performances impress : the characters seem natural and no one conforms to lazy stereotypes. Even the guy who would be the one-note, doomed practical joker type in a U.S. slasher is given unexpected depth. As a pure slasher movie, COLD PREY is strong on jumps and jolts, with an evocative music score and neat use of the widescreen frame adding to the overall effectiveness. Uthaug knows how to get his audience expecting the axe-wielding killer to loom suddenly from the edges and shadows of the screen. Typical of the pared-down tidiness of the film as a whole, the final confrontation is gripping while avoiding any elaborate explanatory monologues or left-field late plot developments.
The DVD has some cool extras including an Alternate Ending, a featurette called “Behind Cold Prey”, The Visual Effects of Cold Prey, Car Scenes, Bloopers, Two short films titles “Mountain Rose Runs Amok: and An Evening in the Green” Trailers & TV Spots and a music video by Bloodlights: “One Eye Open”
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
