Cold Prey III

I saw this for the first time recently n got totally disappointed.

The settings ain't that great. It takes away the tension n suspense. The locations are picturesque but doesn't add.

None of the kills are memorable or brutal n there is absolutely no tension n suspense.

Some of the scenes are very predictable.

The lead character from 1 n 2 Jannicke, is a strong protagonist n reminds us so much of yesteryear's bad ass female characters.

Cold Prey 3 has the disadvantage of not having a protagonist as strong as Jannicke.

This is a prequel to the first film, set in the 1980s but an unnecessary one.

While the first one reminded of The Shining due to its snowy landscape, the 2nd one of Halloween 2 n Visiting Hours due to the hospital set up.

Both were set during the chilly winter with lots of snow which added more atmosphere n isolation but the 3rd one ruined it by the summer set up n the forest locations. The 3rd one is more like a backwoods slasher in the veins of Wrong Turn, The Rituals 1977, Just Before Dawn, Deliverance, The Final Terror, FT13, etc.

While being set in summer with lots of ponds n lakes around, we expected some nudity but alas.

A girl undresses but we don't get to see any boobs. So uncool man.

The prequel to "Fritt vilt" and "Fritt vilt II" is telling about how the whole thing started up in Jotunheimen. It does, but being a prequel tells already that no one survives. That's one less that you normally have. That's the only thing not repeating itself in this movie. Not too well played by the youngsters, too "kitchy", to lame and too boring, I'm afraid.

The only thing which is really fun in the movie is the 80'ies songs they've pulled out of the darkness. Kim Wilde's "You keep me hanging on" is a great in-joke. Another is the nods to "Deliverance" and other classic "horror"-flicks.

The two first in this series was quite fresh, especially with Bolsøe Berdal, who made an excellent job. There's no Berdal here, I'm afraid.

The worst is some obvious mistakes in making this a nightmare. Up in the mountain close to winter, it's cold! The actors forget this, running around with barely no clothes on. No one (!) is making even the smallest shudder. even when the wind blows a door on rusty hinges repeatedly, while there's no wind in the trees.

Though being a bit boring, the 90 minutes went on quite fast. That's a sign on the good half. Slashing of humans is this films upgrade from the first two. The bad boy really goes hunting. as you might understand, this being a prequel, he gets nicer by the years...

When I first heard that they were making a third "Cold Prey" movie, which pre dates the first two showing a back story on the killer, I was actually quite pleased, as we only saw glimpses in the first two. I am a big fan of the first two and wrote glowing reviews for them rating them 10 and 9, but this one I only rate 5, because quite frankly I was really disappointed.

Okay the beginning opened up quite well, when we finally get to see what happened to his parents and the way they treated him, but that was over in 10 minutes and then it cuts to a group of teens camping in the nearby woods. I was hoping the third would somehow capture both positive aspects of each film, but sadly, Cold Prey 3 turned out to be your pretty standard backwoods slasher that we've seen several times before.

Another complaint is that this one is set in summer time which kinda defeats the object of being called "Cold Prey" There's even a clichéd scene where some of the characters decide to go skinny dipping in a lake, which seems to be some sort of requirement in backwoods slashers for some odd reason. Speaking of characters, none of them are likable, in my opinion. With the little development we're given for each person, it leaves us with little reason to care whether they'll somehow survive through the ordeal.

All in all "Cold Prey 3" isn't a particularly bad film, as a stand alone it would have been pretty good, it just lacks the brilliance the first two, so I hope it's now come to an end.

In 1976, in Jotunheimen, an abused boy stabs to death his mother Sigrid and his stepfather Gunnar in an abandoned hotel and the family is considered missing by the local Sheriff Einar (Terje Ranes) and authorities.

Twelve years later, the teenagers Hedda (Ida Marie Bakkerud) and her boyfriend Anders (Kim S. Falck-Jørgensen), Siri (Julie Rusti), Knut (Sturla Valldal Rui), Magne (Pål Stokka) and Simen (Arthur Berning) take a lift with Sheriff Einar telling that they will hike in the woods. However they go to the abandoned hotel expecting to spend the night in the place but they find dust and rats and prefer to stay camping in the woods.

In the morning, Siri and Knut fall into a trap of the eremite hunter Jon (Nils Johnson) and Knut is seriously wounded. Siri climbs the hole to seek for help to Knut, but she is captured by Jon while a stranger kills Knut. Soon the teenagers are hunted down by the creepy serial-killer.

"Fritt Vilt III" is an unoriginal slasher movie with the usual clichés. The only thing different in this movie is the language, since it is spoken in Norwegian. The rest is the usual stupidities of this genre, when the victims always take the most imbecile decision and the serial- killer is indestructible. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Presos no Gelo III – O Início" ("Trapped in the Ice III – The Beginning")

Ignore the negative review - this is an excellent prequel, and a great background story on how it all started. I enjoyed it a lot, I think most of the people rating here thought this is a spin-off or a sequel. Watch it you'll surely love it if you are a cold prey fan!