Cold Prey 2: Resurrection

Director: Mats Stenberg

Writers: Thomas Moldestad, Roar Uthaug, Martin Sundland

Starring: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal

Released: 2008

After the success of the first Cold Prey, it was inevitable that there would be a sequel. These are horror movies after all, and as we all know, in the horror world, "you've gotta have a sequel".

Continuing where the original finished, heroine Jannicke (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal), the only survivor from the first film (it tells you that on the back of the DVD box in case you think I'm giving anything away), is taken to hospital in a state of shock.

Later telling the police about the events of the previous film, the dead bodies (including that of the killer) are also brought back to the hospital, operating with minimal staff as it is soon to be closed. Discovering that the killer is still barely alive, the decision is made to resuscitate him, much to Jannicke's horror... You can guess what happens next: killer escapes, starts killing everyone etc.

Intentional or not, the Cold Prey films owe a lot to John Carpenter. The first film was a cross between Halloween (big, silent killer picking people off one-by-one with seemingly no motivation) and The Thing (remote, snowy setting) and this film takes after Halloween 2 (also set in a hospital following straight on from the first film) and Assault on Precinct 13 (set in an about-to-be-closed police station with a skeleton staff). As with John Carpenter's earlier work, the Cold Prey films are more deliberately paced than a lot of other modern slasher films, and rely a lot more on building tension, rather than just being filled with multiple, quick kills. While the first film was sometimes a little too slow, the pace is slightly higher in this film, and it works much better, and includes a mad few minutes where a group of policemen go into the hospital after the killer and are killed gruesomely and quickly.

Although the film doesn't look quite as good as the first one, this is again a very well made horror film. Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is again excellent in the lead role, and we get to see more of the killer's past through one of the policemen's investigation into his childhood. Overall, this is superior to the first film and one of the best slasher films (if not the best) of the past decade; I can't really think of any better.

Rating: 4/5