Thursday, February 24, 2011
Michael Allen
Writers: Lars Gudmestad and Peder Fuglerud.
The Cold Prey series is set in the slasher genre and each of these films has been produced in the cold climes of Norway. The first film was completed in 2006 and the second in 2008. Each film follows the murder spree of a mute Geir Olav Brath to an eventual bloody conclusion. A different director has highlighted each film, with Mats Stenberg showing the best of the series with Cold Prey 2. Unfortunately, this latest film, a prequel, is not up to the task of thrilling audiences. Full of been-here-done-that, Cold Prey 3 offers very little back story on killer Brath and instead, the film serves up repetitive trope after trope.
The plot begins with a young boy tortured, by an isolated couple in a remote mountain resort. The opportunity to delve into Brath's psyche is overlooked in favour of bringing still more twenty-somethings out to the woods for slaughter. The usual divide and conquer strategy is used by a now adult Brath to turn a fun camping trip bad. Enter in a concerned police officer and soon, you will be praying for the credits to roll, too.
It is completely unfathomable that the reason's for Brath's callous treatment by others is given about five minutes worth of attention. Apparently, Brath spent some time in a closet and this turned him into a killer. This is not believable. Also, this reviewer's Norwegian really let him down and whether the couple in the early part of the film are actually Brath's parents cannot be firmly relayed. What is evident is the overuse of cliches, which will bore the majority of viewers.
Whatever happened to darkly lit hospital hallways and an unstoppable Brath? Come back to the series soon Stenberg! Viewers will instead be served up the Laurie Strode effect, as a female protagonist does much of the the fighting against Brath. The rest of the film seems to be stolen from the Wrong Turn franchise, as some ugly hillbillies go about their misdeeds. The women are used as potential baby making machines, while the attention wanders. Then, the tried and true, send out some youths into the forest for some killing, begins and this reviewer went to prepare himself something to eat, while the film played on.
Cold Prey 3 is freezing this series in ice and hopefully, that is where Brath will stay, unless a competent director comes along. In need of some adrenalin, Cold Prey 3 does not deliver anything noteworthy, or redeemably exciting. You have seen this film before and you have likely seen it done much better.
Overall: 5 out of 10 (missed opportunities, cliche ridden, predictable, disappointing and uninteresting).
*Released in Norway October 15th.
**No release date scheduled for North America. Be thankful.
Cold Prey 2 is a must see, even if you missed the first:
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Posted in: 2011,camping,cold prey 3,mikkel braenne sandemose,movie poster,movie review,norway,norway slasher horror movie review,twenty somethings in the woods
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