Cold Prey

Plot

The film starts when boy with a large birthmark covering one eye is running frantically through a blizzard in Jotunheimen, being pursued. Eventually, he stumbles, and his unseen pursuer catches up to him. Despite his pleas, the person proceeds to bury him alive in the snow.

The film then introduces the protagonists: a group of friends in their late teens going on a snowboard vacation to Jotunheimen. They are Eirik, the oldest, who has a mature sense of duty, Jannicke, Eirik's strong-willed girlfriend, Mikal, the "cool" guy of the group, Ingunn, Mikal's girlfriend who's not too sure of herself, and Morten Tobias, the jokester and entertainer of the group.

The group are driving in their car towards Jotunheimen. When they arrive, they climb the first mountain and are stunned by the magnificent view. The gang immediately whip out their snowboards and surf down the mountain slopes, but unfortunately, Morten breaks his leg. They treat it the best they can but realize they can't care for it properly out in the wilderness. They spot a hotel, and decide to seek help there.

When they get to the hotel, Eirik soon discovers that the place is deserted. He breaks in through a window and unlocks a door, then Mikal and Jannicke proceed to lay Morten down on a couch in the parlor. They then treat the broken leg with alcohol and superglue. Eirik, Mikal and Ingunn later go to explore the abandoned resort, while Jannicke stays to keep Morten company. The three discover the electric generator of the hotel. Eirik fixes the generator and power is restored to the resort. Afterwards, Mikal and Ingunn run off by themselves. While exploring the various hotel suites, they discover a room in particular disarray with the window broken, and Ingunn is slightly shocked to find blood and small amounts of hair on a glass shard. Eirik, on his way back to the parlor, hears a clanking noise from deeper down in the cellar, and assumes it's Mikal and Ingunn. He calls for them to be more careful, but he receives no reply. With the lights back on, music playing and plentiful amounts of food and alcohol, the group are all quite content and have a great time in the parlor. Jannicke finds the hotel's guestbook and discovers that the last guest checked in some time during 1975, and under the names of the last registered guests, there is a message reading "We hope you find your son". Inside the book, there is a picture of a family. And the boy is the same one who was being chased and buried in snow during the opening sequence.

What the group does not know is that a mysterious figure has been watching them since they arrived, roaming about the hotel without their knowledge.

Cast

Production

The movie was shot at the peak of Jotunheimen. Helicopters flew the 20 tons of equipment to the top of the mountain where the temperature was below −25 degrees Celsius. It took 2 years to shoot the film and another 9 months for special effects and editing.

Release

Cold Prey premiered on October 13, 2006 in Norway and in January 2007 part of the 13. Slamdance Film Festival in Utah, United States. Since February 2015 the video on demand rights are in the United States by Hulu.

Box office

The film was the 9th highest-grossing film of the year in Norway.

The film has been shown in North America at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival, the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival, and the 2007 Montreal World Film Festival, and was also shown as part of the Night of the Dead VII during the annual Leeds International Film Festival, as well as London FrightFest Film Festival 2007 in the United Kingdom.

Reception

At Kosmorama in Trondheim in 2007, Martin Sundland and Magne Lyngner won Best Producers and Christian Schanning won Best Sound for the film. At the 2007 Grossmann film and wine festival, the film received the "Vicious Cat Award." Dennis Harvey from Variety gave the film a positive review calling it "a conventional but nicely handled slasher pic", praising the film's cinematography, likable characters, and scares. Harvey's only criticism was the film's killer which he called " a generic “Halloween”-y faceless ghoul in goggles and heavy winter wear." Justin Kerswell from Hysteria Lives! a mixed review, complimenting the film's acting, and characterizations, but criticized its languid pacing and ending.

Sequel

The sequel Cold Prey 2 under the direction of Mats Stenberg was released in 2008. The prequel, called Cold Prey 3, was filmed in 2010.