There's just something about the country of Norway that lends itself to being the perfect location for a horror film. Maybe it's the image most people have of it being desolate, cold, dark, and isolated. It might also have something to do with the fact that 90 percent of the music we hear coming out of the country is death or black metal. "Cold Prey II" definitely doesn't help give movie audiences an alternate view of what to expect if you plan a ski trip to that part of the world.
After surviving a horrific killing spree at an abandoned ski lodge, a college girl named Jannicke (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) is taken to a remote hospital for treatment. She tells her story to the local police who decide to investigate her claims. They return hours later with the bodies of her four friends and the mountain man responsible for the massacre. Unfortunately, the monstrous murderer isn't dead and begins slaughtering the patients, nurses, and doctors in his mission to finish what he started with Jannicke.
"Cold Prey II" is the perfect example of a modern slasher film done right. Although it brings nothing new to the table, it manages to keep up a level of suspense and delivers some legitimate jump scares at the same time.
I couldn't shake the feeling that director Mats Stenberg and writer Thomas Moldestad were doing their own version of "Halloween II" and "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" for a Norwegian audience. Like those classic 1980s films, much of the action takes place in a hospital. The vision of the giant killer in "Cold Prey II" standing at the end of a corridor with the lights blinking reminded me of the same type of scenes in the sequels to John Carpenter and Sean S. Cunningham's iconic originals.
"Cold Prey II" is a welcome addition to the slasher genre. It's not doing anything new, but continues passing the torch to a new generation of horror fans and filmmakers. It will give viewers a sense of hope we don't get much anymore when it comes to these types of movies.
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