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Jannicke wakes
up in a hospital that's about to be
closed down. Only a few staff members are left and
the few cops in the area are busy collecting the
dead bodies of Jannicke's friends. What Jannicke
doesn't know is that the body of the killer has
also been brought to the hospital - and he's not
done yet. Will anyone survive the night this time?
I think that you all know that this has been my
most anticipated horror movie of 2008. It was a
magical feeling when I arrived in Oslo this morning.
Burger King had a Scary Whooper burger just for
the release of Cold Prey 2, there were ads for an
energy drink with the Cold Prey 2 poster on it
saying "Stay awake for Cold Prey 2" and there were
posters simply everywhere. This was it, Cold Prey 2
was finally here. Did it live up to my expectations?
Not at all but it's still a good slasher flick.
Let me explain. While Cold Prey was a teen slasher
flick with everything going for it, Cold Prey 2
is more of an action-horror where guns and shotguns
are the most popular weapons of choice. The sequel
obviously had a much higher budget than its
predecessor and I don't think that helped very
much since there was simply too much going on.
The focus was no longer on the dynamic between
the characters, instead we're introduced to a bunch
of flat characters who we couldn't care less about.
We barely know anything about them and what we
do know isn't very exciting. The focus was now
completely on the over-the-top action scenes with
gruesome death scenes, rifles shooting hysterically
and people getting thrown around like rag dolls.
Cold Prey 2 is very much like Halloween 2 in that
it continues straight where the first one left off,
plus it's also set in a hospital. Heck, we even
have a Dr. Loomis-like character show up at one
point despite the fact that he had barely anything
to do with the movie. This wasn't very surprising
however as most of the characters were just there
to get offed or to pad the film (such as a
young boy whose character was completely unnecessary).
That's really the main issue here because while
the basic story-line is terrific and could have
been a winner, the script is so inconsistent and
all over the place that you're never given a chance
to truly enjoy the film. It really seemed as if
something went wrong in the editing room. Also,
are they aware of the fact that you can put
alternate endings on DVD? You don't have to have
all four endings in the movie! No but seriously,
the killer is no longer a regular serial killer,
he's portrayed as some Jason/Michael Myers type
killer who has more lives than a cat.
This actually does turn out to be a good thing
though because the killer is much more intimidating
this time around. His eyes scream evil and he really
seems to be much more pissed off this time. Due
to the fact that they had a higher budget the
special effects were also top-notch and we get
to see some amazing scenes. Yes, the slasher aspect
of the movie is actually pretty damn brilliant,
now if only they hadn't involved all those annoying
cops, making it feel like some Beck-wannabe (only
Scandinavians will know what I mean by this and
it's not a positive thing).
Cold Prey 2 is an entertaining horror movie due
to its fast pace and exciting action scenes but
the suspense is nowhere to be found and the plot
is just thinner than water. Too much time was
spent on special effects and not enough time was
spent on the script. It's a good movie and I'm
sure that some of you will even like it more than
the predecessor because the two movies appeal to
very different audiences. For me however, as a
slasher fan, it pales in comparison to its predecessor.
It's a solid slasher movie but don't expect it to
be as brilliant as the first one was.
Much more this time with a slashed throat, an
impalement, a severed arm and a whole lot of
blood splatter. Good stuff.
Very similar to the soundtrack in the first flick.
I guess it worked well but it's far from as
powerful as the soundtrack in the first flick.
Cold Prey 2 is more of an action film than a slasher
film and it lacks that oomph factor that the first
movie had. The story is all over the place and
it's hard to get a grip on the movie, the characters
are flat and despite great special effects and a
top-notch performance by Ingrid Bolso Berdal, this
ended up being mediocre DTV horror for me, not the
theatrical masterpiece I had expected.
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