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[DVD Review] ‘Cold Prey II’ Does Not Disappoint
Reviewed by Patrick Cooper
In the first Cold Prey, a burly man slaughtered a group of friends in an abandoned hotel in the mountains of southern Norway with a pickaxe. Cold Prey II kicks in with the lone survivor of the group, Jannicke (Ingrid Boldo Berdal), stunned and nearly frozen to death on the side of the road. She’s taken to a nearby hospital and the nightmare finally seems over as Jannicke begins her quiet recovery. Local authorities travel to the scene of the crime and retrieve the bodies of her friends, as well as the killer’s. All of the corpses are brought to the same hospital Jannicke is resting in and needless to say she flips the fuck out when she sees the killer’s body bag.
With the lone survivor reunited with the killer in a hospital, there’s a real Halloween II vibe going on here. This hospital staff is a little craftier than Haddonfield Memorial’s crew though. No one quite believes Jannicke’s story about the abandoned hotel and loony killer – until the bodies start piling up, of course. Although director Mats Stenberg leaves most of the gore off-screen, he uses blood splatter very, very effectively. One scene in particular in a hospital shower includes some balletic blood splatter that’s damn near gorgeous. The hospital’s long, sterile hallways make a great atmosphere for these well-orchestrated bursts of violence and Stenberg populates the setting with characters you actually care about.
Besides Jannicke, who’s as tough as “final girls” come, the hospital staff is all well developed as characters. There’s a young female doctor named Camilla (Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik) whose relationship is crumbling under employment pressures. A solemn, male doctor is suppressing his feelings for her as they both deal with the inevitable closing of the hospital. The cops have some interesting stuff going on as well, especially the grumpy chief who goes rogue to investigate the identity of the killer.
The big giveaway is that the killer has an enormous birthmark that covers nearly half of his face. Somehow the chief recalls a case from decades before about a missing child with a similar birthmark. This bit about the killer’s past is interesting, but it doesn’t really make you sympathize with him at all, which I think is the aim of the whole, sad backstory. I felt for Jason Voorhees because those hunky counselors let him drown, but the missing-child backstory of the Cold Prey killer didn’t really touch my heart. I didn’t mind the chief snooping into his history though because it adds some depth to the story and it never feel like wasted time.
One of the biggest problems with a lot of slasher flicks is that filmmakers don’t spend any time developing the characters before killing them off. Cold Prey II spends plenty of time on development though – bodies don’t start dropping until about an hour into the 90-minute film. Berdal is the obvious standout – the mix of fear and determination she exudes hits right on target – but Rovik also delivers as the nurse thrown into a bloody nightmare. Together, they make a great team and are a nice twist on the “final girl” trope.
Fans of the original film definitely won’t be disappointed. Since it’s a direct sequel, those who haven’t seen part one might want to start there first, but it’s not necessary because part two dishes out enough flashbacks to catch you up. It’s a nicely crafted film with believable, well-developed characters you can latch onto. Mats Stenberg knows when to hold back on the violence and when to let the limbs fly. Besides sorta missing the mark with sympathy towards the killer, there’s really nothing to complain about.
A/V
Cold Prey II is presented in 2.35:1 with a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround mix. It’s in Norwegian with English subtitles. The picture is clear as DVD can be, but there are some minor grain issues during the dark scenes. The bleak blues of the snowy exteriors look especially great. The audio track is fine, with the eerie score nicely highlighted.
Special Features
The only special features are a trailer and a series of extended scenes that don’t really add anything juicy to the experience. The film itself makes up for any lack of bonus content.
Scream Factory brought Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 Halloween movie Lady in White to Blu-ray several years back, and now Vinegar Syndrome gives the film a 4K Ultra HD upgrade.
Vinegar Syndrome’s Lady in White 4K release is available now and shipping now!
Watch the trailer below and grab your copy from Vinegar Syndrome today.
This limited edition 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray x 3 set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Dylan Haley), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 8,000 units. It is only available on their website and at select indie retailers.
The full Special Features package includes…
- 4-disc Set: 1x 4K Ultra HD (High Bitrate BD100) / 3x Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- Presented in three versions: 126-min Pre-Release Director’s Cut (UHD+BD), the 118-min Extended Home Video Cut (BD), and the 113-min Theatrical Cut (BD)
- New group commentary track with writer/director Frank LaLoggia, alongside actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut
- New commentary track with Frank LaLoggia, moderated by Scott Neumyer for the Extended Home Video Cut
- New commentary track with authors Emma Westwood and Stephen A. Russell for the Extended Home Video Cut
- Archival commentary track with Frank LaLoggia for the Extended Home Video Cut
- “Learning How to Fly” (10 min) – an interview with actress Karen Powell
- “A Snapshot in Time” (9 min) – an interview with actress Lisa Taylor
- “Human Touches” (6 min) – an interview with actress Lucy Lee Flippin
- “Still Relevant” (16 min) – an interview with actress Rose Weaver
- “75% Listening, 25% Editing” (9 min) – an interview with editor Steve Mann
- “Welcome to Willowpoint Falls” (6 min) – a location featurette hosted by Benjamin Scrivens, founder of Fright-Rags
- “Dream Talking: Looking Back” – a visual group commentary for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut with Frank LaLoggia, and actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou (103 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (36 min)
- Behind-the-scenes footage with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (16 min)
- Extended behind-the-scenes footage (73 min)
- Introduction from the 20th anniversary dvd release
- Promotional ‘industry sales’ trailer (7 min)
- 40-page perfect bound book with essays by film historians Molly Henery, Mark H. Harris, and Heidi Honeycutt (limited edition only)
- Multiple radio spots
- Theatrical trailer
- Multiple TV spots
- Workprint trailers (7 min)
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
1962. Nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti enjoys a homespun childhood in a rustic Western New York town. The entire community gets into the spirit of Halloween, but then two bullies prank Frankie by locking him in his school cloakroom, leaving him trapped for the night. Alone and afraid, his slumber is interrupted when the ghost of a little girl appears, and Frankie witnesses the specter of her murder by an unseen assailant. Later, while recovering at home, the girl’s ghost appears to him again. With help from his older brother, Frankie begins investigating the circumstances of her death. He soon discovers that her murder was one of several unsolved crimes connected to a local child-killer. As the town’s bucolic veneer fades and long-buried secrets and tensions bubble to the surface, all of the clues to the mystery seem to point towards a huge mansion inhabited by a reclusive woman known as “The Lady in White.”
A nostalgia-driven ghost story wrapped within an intricate murder mystery and coming-of-age drama, writer-director-composer Frank LaLoggia’s passion project Lady in White remains one of the most beautiful and original American horror films of the 1980s. Featuring acclaimed actors Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Len Cariou (Executive Decision), and Sydney Lassick (Carrie, The Unseen), it boasts the first starring role by Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Inception) as well as breathtaking photography by Academy Award® winner Russell Carpenter (True Lies, The Lawnmower Man). Vinegar Syndrome is honored to bring this genre masterpiece to 4K UHD, newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative and presented in three versions: its pre-release director’s cut, its extended home-video version, and its original theatrical version, along with an abundance of both new and archival extras.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2023, “Over the years, fans have described this film as gateway horror, but they liken it more to The Watcher in the Woods than, say, Hocus Pocus or Casper. There are chilling moments that warrant its PG-13 rating.”
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