''Cold Prey'' ( no, Fritt Vilt, lit. "
Open Season") is a 2006 Norwegian
slasher film
A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
directed by
Roar Uthaug
Roar may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Roar'' (film), an American adventure-comedy film starring Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith
* '' Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans'', a 2014 Hindi-language Indian animal horror feature film
* ''Roar'' (199 ...
. It premiered in Norway on October 13, 2006, received positive reviews, and was hailed as one of the best modern Norwegian horror movies.
In 2017,
WWE Studios
WWE Studios Inc. (formerly known as WWE Films) is an American film studio owned by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. WWE Studios movies frequently mix well-known actors and actresses in lead roles with WWE wrestlers, and teams with existi ...
has acquired the exclusive English-language remake rights to the franchise and has sealed a deal for an option to purchase the screenplay Casey La Scala is writing. The American remake will also be named ''Cold Prey''.
Plot
In
Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
, a boy with a large
birthmark
A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocy ...
covering one eye runs frantically through a blizzard, pursued by an unknown entity. Eventually, his pursuer catches up to him. Despite his pleas, the person proceeds to bury him alive in the snow.
Years later, a young group of friends consisting of Jannicke, her boyfriend Eirik, and their friends, Mikal, Ingunn, and Morten Tobias are going on a snowboarding vacation in Jotunheimen. They drive to a secluded area in the mountains to avoid the crowds. When they arrive at the peak, they immediately begin snowboarding down the mountain slopes. Morten Tobias suddenly takes a bad fall and breaks his leg. Jannicke takes charge and sets his leg but realizes they cannot care for it properly out in the elements. They also have no cell reception and the car is too far away to get there before dark. Wandering over a hill, they spot a lodge and decide to seek help there.
When they get to the lodge, Eirik discovers that the place is deserted. He breaks in through a window and unlocks a door. As Jannicke looks for medical supplies she comes across a box that contains superglue and a single shotgun shell. Jannicke treats Morten's broken leg with alcohol and the superglue. Eirik, Mikal and Ingunn go explore the abandoned resort, while Jannicke stays to keep Morten company. The three discover the
generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
, which Eirik fixes, and power is restored to the resort. Afterwards, Mikal and Ingunn run off by themselves. While exploring the various lodge suites, they discover a room in disarray with a bed burnt to cinders. Eirik, on his way back to the parlor, hears a clanking noise from down in the cellar, and assumes it is 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 relaxes in the parlor. Jannicke finds the hotel's guestbook and discovers that the last guest checked in some time in 1975 and there is a message reading "We hope you find your son". Inside the book, there is a picture of a family that includes the boy with a birthmark over his eye.
The group settles in for the night with Mikal and Ingunn running off to a suite, Jannicke and Eirik cuddling under blankets in the parlor, and Morten Tobias alone on the couch. Making out in bed, Mikal begins to get aggressive and Ingunn shoves him off. He then leaves in a huff. Ingunn hears a strange noise and, thinking it is Mikal returning, enters the hall. She is suddenly attacked by an unknown shape and runs through the halls screaming for help but is drowned out by the music playing in the parlor. Before she can reach Mikal, who is sitting at the bar, she is stabbed by a
pickaxe
A pickaxe, pick-axe, or pick is a generally T-shaped hand tool used for Leverage (mechanics), prying. Its head is typically metal, attached perpendicularly to a longer handle, traditionally made of wood, occasionally metal, and increasingly ...
and dragged away.
The next morning, Eirik leaves to go for help and Mikal heads to the suite to apologize to Ingunn. Eirik stumbles across Ingunn's body in the snow. He is then smashed in the head by the blunt end of a pickaxe. Mikal gets no answer from Ingunn so he and Jannicke explore the basement. They find items that were invented long after the lodge closed in the 1970s and become nervous. Jannicke goes to talk to Ingunn and enters the suite to discover it is covered in blood. She brings Mikal and Morten Tobias to the suite just as a blast of wind flows through the hallway from an open door. They realize someone else is in the lodge and barricade themselves in an empty suite. Footsteps are heard in the hall and someone begins to slam against the door, trying to get in. When they eventually leave, Mikal tells Jannicke they should run. She points out that Morten Tobias cannot and Mikal says they should just leave him. Jannicke refuses and Mikal escapes through a window. Jannicke and Morten Tobias watch through the window as Mikal hides in a shed. Suddenly, a massive Mountain Man appears outside wearing animals skins and goggles. He enters the shed and Mikal tries to run, but becomes stuck in a
bear trap. The Mountain Man breaks Mikal's neck.
Jannicke drags Morten Tobias to a pantry and tells him to memorize the label on a can until she gets back. She narrowly misses being spotted by the Mountain Man as he drags Mikal's body inside. Jannicke runs to the shed where she finds some skis, a sled, and a
shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
. She runs into the parlor where she picks up the discarded shotgun shell and loads the gun. She goes back to the pantry and tells Morten Tobias that she has a plan.
They go down to the basement where Jannicke kills the generator, alerting the Mountain Man to their whereabouts. Morten Tobias finds a
box cutter and puts it in his pocket. Jannicke waits for the Mountain Man to appear so she can shoot him but discovers the keys she gave to Eirik on the floor. When she enters the back room she finds Eirik tied up but alive. Unable to free him, she goes back to wait for the Mountain Man. When he appears, he goes straight into the back room. Jannicke points the gun at him, but he shuts off his flashlight and disappears into darkness. Thinking quickly, Jannicke shuts the door and locks him in the back room but refuses to leave him in there with Eirik. Opening the door, she shoots but is knocked askew by Morten Tobias who realizes the Mountain Man is using Erik as a human shield. The Mountain Man impales Eirik with his pickaxe, killing him. Morten Tobias tells Jannicke to run. He tries to stop the Mountain Man with a saw but to no avail, and The Mountain Man kills him. Jannicke grabs her skis and runs outside into the darkness only to be knocked out by the Mountain Man.
When she awakes, she is on the sled, buried under her dead friends. The Mountain Man brings them to a deep
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.[Ingrid Bolsø Berdal
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (; born 2 March 1980) is a Norwegian actress. She started her career with the 2005 short film ''Limbo''. Her first leading role was in the Norwegian slasher film '' Cold Prey'', released in October 2006. She has since appear ...](_blank)
as Jannicke
*
Rolf Kristian Larsen
Rolf Kristian Larsen (born May 18, 1983) is an actor from Stavanger, Norway.
He portrayed the character "Morten-Tobias" in the Norwegian film "Fritt Vilt" (English title "Cold Prey") in 2006. He also starred in the film " Mannen som elsket Yngv ...
as Morten Tobias
*
Viktoria Winge
Viktoria Winge (born 5 March 1980) is a Norwegian actress. She is the daughter of actor and director Stein Winge and actress and singer Kari Onstad
Kari Onstad (24 February 1941 – 24 March 2020) was a Norwegian singer and actress.
She began ...
as Ingunn
*Tomas Alf Larsen as Eirik
*Endre Martin Midtstigen as Mikal
*Rune Melby as The Mountain Man
**Erik Skjeggedal as Young Mountain Man
*Tonie Lunde as Mother
*Hallvard Holmen as Father
*
Tom Green
Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted ''The Tom Green Show'', which a ...
as Extra
Production
The movie was shot at the peak of
Jotunheimen
Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
. 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
The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...
in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, United States. Since February 2015 the video on demand rights are in the United States by
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
.
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 Slamdance Film Festival took place in Park City, Utah from January 18 to January 27, 2007. It was the 13th iteration of the Slamdance Film Festival, an alternative to the more mainstream Sundance Film Festival. A full list of films appeari ...
, the 2007
San Francisco International Film Festival
The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...
, the 2007
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...
, and the 2007
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...
, and was also shown as part of the Night of the Dead VII during the annual
Leeds International Film Festival
The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is the largest film festival in England outside London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November at various venues throughout Leeds, West Yorkshire. In 2015, the festival welcomed over 40,000 visitor ...
, as well as the 2007
London FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event ...
in the United Kingdom.
Reception
At
Kosmorama
Kosmorama is the annual international film festival in the city of Trondheim, Norway first held in 2005.
Festival name
The word “kosmorama” (in English: cosmorama) means an exhibition of perspective pictures of (usually) landmarks of the worl ...
in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
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 Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival is a Slovenian film festival specialized in genre movies, with emphasis on horror and fantasy. The festival takes place every summer in the town of Ljutomer, in the Prlekija region of northeastern Slo ...
, the film received the "Vicious Cat Award."
Dennis Harvey from ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' 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
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
''-y faceless ghoul in goggles and heavy winter wear."
Justin Kerswell from ''Hysteria Lives!'' wrote a mixed review, complimenting the film's acting, and characterizations, but criticized its languid pacing and ending.
Scott Weinberg of FEARnet believed that the film "works well by force of style, splat, and intensity."
Sequel
The sequel ''
Cold Prey 2
''Cold Prey 2: Resurrection'' ( no, Fritt Vilt II) is a 2008 Norwegian slasher film, directed by Mats Stenberg. It is the sequel to the highly successful '' Cold Prey'' (''Fritt Vilt''), and premiered in Norway on 10 October 2008. Written by Roar ...
'' under the direction of Mats Stenberg was released in 2008.
The prequel, called ''
Cold Prey 3
''Cold Prey 3'' ( no, Fritt vilt III) is a 2010 Norwegian slasher film, it is the prequel to the highly successful '' Cold Prey'' (''Fritt vilt''), and ''Cold Prey 2'' (''Fritt vilt II''). It is directed by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose and starred N ...
'', was filmed in 2010.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{films directed by Roar Uthaug
2006 films
2006 horror films
2000s slasher films
Norwegian horror films
2000s Norwegian-language films
Norwegian slasher films
Films directed by Roar Uthaug
Films shot in Norway
Films set in Norway
2006 directorial debut films