Cold Prey (Film) Review

Warning: The following review contains spoilers for the film Cold Prey, reader discretion is advised.

Even though it’s after the highs of Halloween, the winter season shouldn’t be an afterthought for horror. Sure, there’s a sort of post-pumpkin malaise that can’t help but permeate the air, but horror is primed for the wintertime. The coldness, isolation and darkness are all perfectly on-brand ingredients for a good horror flick. With this review, I’ll be skiing and skating my way through the sub-zeros and the winter-themed horror films that are worth their weight in ice.

In the Norwegian film Cold Prey, five friends take shelter in an abandoned ski lodge to escape the elements after an on-slope accident. It is just a matter of time before things get a little more cold-hearted. While it is slow in its build-up and a bit empty overall, Cold Prey still can’t get in its way enough to completely kill its atmosphere, cinematography, and tension. Just pray that you don’t rent the dubbed version. Sadly, the dubbed version is the only one that is readily available for most people.

Now it may just be the dub talking, but the characters are basically caricatures. There’s not much meat on the bone for any frostbite to grab onto. Of the five, you’ve got your “instant final girl” type, the perfectly fine boyfriend, the solo joker, and the couple who seemingly lives in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. Maybe a bigger cast could have helped liven up things and make the scenario feel more dynamic. The movie could have very easily buckled under that added weight, though.

Every movie should take place in an abandoned ski lodge. Its central presence in the film is worth the price of admission. From the creaky corridors and wooden lobby to the broken windows that have let snow sneak in, it’s perfectly lived-in and feels real among the surrounding mountains. Plus, it’s equally great at hosting some creepy night sequences and daytime debauchery. The snow flurries really do a great job of never letting the daytime feel like there’s any less despair in the air.

It’s hard to make a call if the dialogue suffers the most under the writing, the dub, or both. When in doubt, though, I would say the dub is to blame. Screams are emitted with the amount of dread that spilling an almost-empty glass of water would have. The laughs feel like they’ve been gathered from a funeral. All-in-all, for my bad-movie-loving sensibilities, it’s wonderful. It just isn’t great when paired with a polished product like this movie.

The killer design is top-notch, helping to further the game of cat-and-mouse until it’s revealed that they’ve been the kid from the intro who seemingly befell a horrible fate the whole time? That’s sad and all, and the frostbit face he bears feels aptly weathered. However, it doesn’t feel like the right climax for a film of this climate. For me at least, he’s too much of a man and not enough of a snowy entity when it’s all said and done.

The bits of lore and background we get throughout the story certainly help build up the mystique a bit, but that all feels tangential when it’s all said and done. We’ll just have to wait and see what Cold Prey 2 has to say. “Colder Prey” and “Cold Prey: 2 Below” must have already been taken as titles for a sequel I guess.

You can do a lot worse than Cold Prey. Its slow build and directness don’t feel fully realized, and it is not a stupidly fun time if that’s how you like your slashing to go. Otherwise, it’s a relatively lean thriller with good intent and a beautiful setting to showcase. Hit the slopes, get around the rough edges and it shouldn’t be too polarizing for you.