Fritt vilt III

It was a movie that showed that it was trying not to be cliché. But this were very certain. The characters were cliché but used in contrast. Again the expected action scenes were boring. The end and the idea was nice.

"These Norwegians definitely know how to generate the right mood for an atmospheric and nightmarishly intense horror film. When is the last time a slasher actually scared you? There's another entry on the way, apparently a prequel set in the 1980's. I, for one, cannot wait!"

The above quote is actually copy/pasted from my own user comment for "Cold Prey II", written somewhere late 2010, when I saw the first two films back-to-back. As you can read, I was very much impressed with this new slasher franchise – especially part two – and eagerly anticipated the third entry/prequel. Unfortunately now I have to temper my enthusiasm, because I have seen the prequel and it's without exaggerating one of the biggest disappointments in years. The refreshing and genuinely suspenseful format has sadly turned into just another mundane and hugely derivative stalk & slash picture without any added value whatsoever. What made the first two movies so exceptional that is missing here? Well, two vital aspects are missing, in fact, namely an extraordinary setting and amiable characters. The first two "Cold Prey" movies were covered with snowy landscapes and largely took place in creepy isolated settings, first an abandoned skiing resort and second a nearly abandoned hospital, and it was one of these rare cases where the main characters were identifiable and sympathetic people that you didn't necessarily wish they died in such barbaric way (but they nevertheless did, of course). The prequel takes place in and around the same skiing resort, but presumably in a much warmer season, as the teenage protagonists go camping in the surrounding woods and sleep under a clear sky without tents. Woods are a much more commonplace and familiar setting for slasher movies and, even though the Norwegian forests and streams are a lot more astounding than American ones, it's not sufficient enough to excel. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the lead characters have become standard "Americanized" stereotypes, including gun-crazy machos and hormones-overloaded skinny dippers. The script also nearly doesn't take enough advantage out of the prequel opportunities. "Cold Prey II" already hinted at a very fascinating background of the killer, a mentally disabled savage dumped by his parents near ravine in the midst of winter, but the prequel inexplicably doesn't explore the basic events any further. After a brief intro set in 1976, which is the best part of the entire film, the film fast forwards twelve years to the late 80's without giving any more clarifications regarding the killer's persona, so I'm actually not even considering as an authentic prequel. Just a redundant episode between the origins and the later films. Not only does "Cold Prey III" not exploit the advantages of the prequel format, it doesn't even grab the opportunity to make this a genuine 80's throwback movie. There are very few elements reminding us that the story takes place in the 1980's, except for the fact that one of the teenage characters listens to horrible punk-rock music on a prehistoric and bright yellow walkman device. Add to this several more dreadful sub genre clichés, clumsy editing, weak acting performances and unimaginative (again, especially in comparison to the previous installments) cinematography and we've got ourselves a very dumb and unmemorable slasher that even would have looked uninspired in the 80's already. There's a fair portion of brutality and gory effects, but those things you can nowadays even find in average TV-series, so don't bother.

When I set out to watch the final film of the Fritt Vilt trilogy, I had no idea it was going to be a prequel, and by that redeem itself from the total failure I had expected. After the first film presented the Mountain Man as a surprisingly human slasher (not in character and bahaviour of course, but in his level of strength and fortitude), the second one made him into too much of a Jason Voorhees kind of creature, beginning with the fact that he had survived the ending of the first film.

Fritt Vilt 3 proved to be quite a pleasant surprise in a few aspects. Being a prequel, it had already been known that Mountain Man was going to win, so that had been supposed to be left was a little guess work as to how. First of all - the film really didn't follow the "Hollywood" rules of Slasher-Horror. Personally I was wrong with all guesses that mattered - who was going to die first (the characters weren't exactly Hollywood stereotypes of Slashers either so that made it a little hard to guess), who was going to be the last survivor and how would the story end. The ending, while remaining true to the previous two titles and not having any twists or shocks, really wasn't what I had expected, and was a pleasant surprise.

All in all, the film gave us everything expected of a prequel, answered all the relevant questions about the Mountain Man that had been left unanswered by the first two titles (with the exception of the story behind Mountain Man's weapon of choice in the first two). and was just as good as the first (no Ingrid Bolsø Berdal though, unfortunately). The second was still my favorite, and I'm glad I got to see this Norwegian Horror trilogy.

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...

Four years ago I gave a glowing review to the first real Norwegian horror movie ever (unless you count Villmark which was more of a thriller or the DTV crap "22" which was more like a bad nightmare). Cold Prey blew my mind. Sure, to most of you it's probably a mediocre slasher flick but to me it raised the bar for Norwegian movies.

Maybe this is why the first one was a success. The second one was okay-ish. A bit too much action and not enough horror if you ask me but still a solid entry. Now we have the third, supposedly (and hopefully) final entry in this franchise and I have to say with a heavy heart that this was a disappointment to the extreme.

What is supposed to be a prequel comes off as a sloppy dtv-remake of the first one - without the snow - or the hotel. The dialogues seem to be copied and pasted from the first movie and even the characters are similar (only this time we have a bunch of REALLY bad actors without any real characteristics). These actors were so bad that I cringed in the seat as it was so uncomfortable watching them deliver their basic dialogues. The first 5 minutes or so are prequel-ish but the movie really doesn't explain anything. It felt as if the crew wasn't allowed to shoot inside the hotel this time so instead it took place in the woods and in two small houses near the hotel (??????).

This is less Friday the 13th and more Wrong Turn - but without the actual excitement. Imagine Cold Prey meets Wrong Turn meets Manhunt (yes, this could indeed very well have been the sequel to Manhunt aka Rovdyr, that might actually have made more sense as this felt nothing like the first two Cold Prey movies).

I won't go on about it but if you want a very standard DTV slasher from the 80s that somehow was forgotten and crawled onto the big screen 25 years later - here you have it. The mediocre slasher flick that everyone will forget within a year. Too bad, this franchise had so much potential.