DennisAlexis "Fritt Vilt", or "Cold Prey" as it was called in English, is a Norwegian horror movie from 2006, directed by Roar Uthaug.Five young friends are on a snowboarding trip in the Norwegian mountains. But when one of them is injured, they're forced to take shelter in a seemingly abandoned ski hotel. They soon discover that someone has been living in the hotel since it was closed down in the seventies, killing anyone who trespasses."Fritt Vilt" is one of the best horror movies made in recent years. Sure, it's not very original, but the entertainment value is high. And for me, living in Sweden, it's a plus that the movie is set in our neighbouring country, because it hits closer to home, making the movie more frightening. Sweden has a lot to learn from Norway when it comes to making horror movies.The acting is quite good for a slasher. Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is perfect as the leading lady Jannicke. In recent years, she's acted in international movies such as "Chernobyl Diaries" and "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters". Is a new "scream queen" in the making?The cute Endre Martin Midtstigen as Mikal brings the eye candy to the movie, but the most sympathetic character is the "clown" of the gang, Morten Tobias, played by Rolf Kristian Larsen. You keep hoping that he'll be one of the survivors."Fritt Vilt" is by no means a groundbreaking horror movie, but it's well-acted, professionally made and can definitely give Hollywood horror a run for its money. So if you enjoy a good teen slasher, give this one a try!I own the Scandinavian Blu-ray edition, which has the best sound and picture quality available.

Scott LeBrun As other horror fans have noted, director Roar Uthaugs' "Cold Prey" pretty much reverts to the kind of formula that we see in this kind of thing. Ultimately, it's very routine, but that doesn't mean that it isn't well made, or reasonably entertaining, because it is. Certainly Uthaug and company get a ton of atmosphere out of their main location, and another nice touch is the fact that this is "a black & white film in colour"; in other words, you won't see any truly bright colours. The film is gory, but never as gory as one might think. Its characters are thinly drawn, but appealing enough, and the no-name young cast is all engaging enough to watch.Jannicke (Ingrid Bolso Berdal), Morten Tobias (Rolf Kristian Larsen), Eirik (Tomas Alf Larsen), Mikal (Endre Martin Midtstigen), and Ingunn (Viktoria Winge) are five young adults who head into the Norwegian mountains for some fun on the slopes. Their day of snowboarding is cut short when Morten Tobias is wounded, and they have to do something about it. Fortunately, they spot shelter close by: an abandoned ski lodge. Things seem to be looking up, but soon the period of calm is disrupted by the fact that a hulking killer wielding a nasty pick axe is also on the premises.Appropriately stark cinematography by Daniel Voldheim is a heavy asset here. Less patient viewers may take exception to the pacing here, as it takes about 40 minutes for the true horror to start taking place. Still, up to then the actors are capable of maintaining interest, playing the material with likability and humour. Once the film is well underway, things only get darker and grimmer and Uthaug creates some good suspense. Fortunately, the killer isn't over explained. And the "final girl" in this scenario does do some thinking on her feet (or off her feet, as the case may be).Overall, a respectable effort.Followed by two sequels.Six out of 10.

Nitzan Havoc Lucky for me for being a Horror freak, as it has really helped me get over my phobia of foreign cinema. Beforehand I hadn't been able to get over the language barrier. This has been my first taste of Norwegian Horror, and I must say I liked it!Frit Vilt is a classic Slasher with a fairly common background story - youngsters go on ski vacation (to a far and desolate place, obviously), one of them gets injured, they find an "abandoned" cabin and use it for shelter, enter Slasher, let there be blood. No points for originality. Also, one of the cheapest cheats were used (can't call for help on account of cells having no signals, as according to most of the Horror genre there is no place in the world with cellular reception, and that always lowers a film's level for me.However, I was pretty impressed with how director Uthaug managed to take an unoriginal story and an unoriginal sub-genre, and still make a pretty decent film! The characters are interesting in their own unoriginal way, the Slasher was pretty neat, and the soundtrack was awesome! The Nords always did know their music!All in all, the Slasher sub-genre really isn't one of my favorites, as it has very little to show after we've seen it all in the classics (Friday the 13th and such). And still, I found myself really enjoying the film. Being a Slasher film made the road pretty obvious, and I still found the way the characters walked it to be interesting. After the many Slashers already done, it's not easy at all to make a good one, and Frit Vilt is a good one! Could have used a nice twist though. Looking forward to the sequel!

Coventry To avoid the crowded tourist resorts, five snow boarders head out to an isolated mountain with a dazzling descent rate. What they naturally forgot to consider is that one of them might make a nasty fall and in that case they'd be trapped and cut off from the outside world. This is exactly what happens, of course, when Morton Tobias breaks his leg and the quintet has no other option but to look for shelter in a nearby abandoned hotel. The place isn't just forsaken for no reason, as something dreadful took place here years ago. There was a fire and the disappearance of a deformed young boy. All this happened in 1975, thus plenty of time for him to grow into a unworldly and pick-axe wielding psychopath. "Cold Prey" represents a new – and not necessarily American – generation of uncanny slashers. It's wild and exciting, but also massively clichéd and derivative of at least a dozen of other movies. You can easily overlook the unoriginality, however, since the film boosts so many beautiful snowy landscapes and the breathtaking sight of authentic Norwegian glaciers. The atmosphere inside the hotel is grim and sinister, emphasized through detailed camera-work and eerie music. The lead characters are rather amiable (as in: you don't necessarily wish for them to die in such gruesome ways, but it happens anyway) and the killer is a fairly menacing figure. He's a huge bloke, kind of like the Norwegian counterpart of Jason Vorhees, with a thick furry coat and inseparable pick-axe. There's not a whole lot of gore in "Cold Prey", but the violence is mean-spirited and disturbing. The climax sequences are very intense and admirably reveals the answers to several questions that were raised earlier in the film. Good, chilling slasher-fun recommended to all fans of nowadays brutal horror as well as to fans of the nostalgic 1980's. The sequel is – surprisingly enough – even better!