Cold Prey 2 – Fritt Felt II (2008)

Directed by: Mats Stenberg | 86 minutes | drama, horror | Actors: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik, Kim Wifladt, Johanna Mørck, Fridtjov Såheim, Per Schaaning, Andreas Cappelen, Mats Eldøen, Vetle Qvenild Werring, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Robert Follin, Bernhard Ramstad, Inger

‘Cold Prey’ showed that people in Norway knew how to handle a bit of ‘old school’ horror. The film excelled in stylization and left the garish American competition far behind. “We can do that again!” one must have thought, but unfortunately part 2 of the series quickly disappears into the gray middle bracket.

It won’t be at the start of the film. With a big nod to the ‘Halloween’ series, ‘Cold Prey 2’ picks up right where the first part left off. That part ended – and you can now watch part 1 before you read this sentence, if you don’t want to be hopelessly disappointed by the continuation of this review – with Jannicke, who saw her best friends murdered by a monstrous night during a helluva night. appearance of a man. Dead tired of the battle she herself had with this beast, she is brought into a nearby hospital, which is about to be closed. Due to the approaching closure, there is a relaxed atmosphere, partly caused by the small number of patients left in the house. What they do not know, however, is that Jannicke is not the only one who will be brought in on that day.

You can already feel it coming: the killer will of course return for this part as well, so someone in the hospital is stupid enough to resuscitate him when his body is also brought in. For Jannicke it means that her fight from the night before will continue and that she will have to confront the man who brutally killed her friends.

From the beginning it seems to have been realized that this is not a very full story to tell and so Stenberg relies on faint scares to keep the tension in it. A mortal sin, because the original ‘Cold Prey’ was so successful precisely because of the lack of that kind of sensation. While director Roar Uthaug showed himself to be a master of self-control in that part, Stenberg is tempted to give in to his insecurity in order to win the favor of the audience. All too soon he lets go of the brakes in his sequel and the bear is sold before he is even shot. The end result is that there is hardly any time to build up tension and we are left with characters we don’t feel like. Then this second part can remain faithful to the slow pace of the first film, but in this case that only results in boredom.

Still, the failure of part two cannot be entirely blamed on Stenberg. The team of writers is also tempted and twists themselves twice in strange turns to get their story right with the ending they had in mind. It undermines credibility and that too was one of the strengths of the original. After seeing the film, ask yourself why Jannicke didn’t fire the first time and why a nurse in a hospital is given such a heroic role.

Finally, what dominates is disappointment: ‘Cold Prey 2’ can still compete with many American productions, who invariably have to rely on screaming actors and flirt as much as possible with the exaggerated youth culture. It would have been nice, however, if the comparison with the excellent first part had been made.