Cold Prey III

The film begins in 1976 at the isolated Stehøe Mountain Hotel in Jotunheimen, which is on the verge of bankruptcy due to recent mysterious and bad incidents in the surrounding area. The couple running the hotel, Sigrid and Gunnar, are shown to be abusive towards their son, who has a large birthmark over his eye and is locked up in the basement while suffering harassment. The atmosphere of neglect and fear sets the tone for the haunting events to come.

The young boy, who is locked in the basement by Gunnar, manages to escape during the night. Gunnar tracks him outside, buries him alive in a ditch, and leaves him to die in the cold, causing a tragic disappearance that deeply affects the family and the surrounding community's perception of the hotel.

Sigrid, preparing for bed, notices strange noises and footprints, and upon investigating, finds her surviving son in her room. She embraces him, but he unexpectedly stabs her to death. Gunnar, hearing the commotion, discovers her body and is then attacked and killed by the boy he buried alive, who stabs him in the neck.

Fast forward twelve years, Einar, now a sheriff, is transporting a group of young people to the abandoned Stehøe Hotel. During the drive, there are conversations about the historic incidents, and Einar notices Jon, a hermit, having trouble with his vehicle in the remote mountains.

The group of teenagers, including Siri, Hedda, Knut, and others, reach the old, dust-covered Stehøe Hotel. They explore the interior, find old photographs, and express unease about being in such a haunted, abandoned place. Tensions increase as some members suggest leaving, while others decide to stay and camp nearby.

During a nighttime venture into the woods, Siri and Knut stumble upon a dead animal and fall into a trap pit, where Knut is impaled and injured. Siri escapes to seek help, but a hooded man appears, abducts Knut, and later kills him in a shed, revealing the sinister presence lurking in the area.

Einar investigates Jon's property and finds evidence of illegal hunting, dead animals, and bloodstains. Meanwhile, Siri, imprisoned in Jon's basement, witnesses the killer, who has hunted down her friends, slaughtering Knut and later Magne. Einar begins to piece together the dark history of the area and the connection to recent events.

Simen, one of the teenagers, spots a hooded humanoid creature in the forest, and during a confrontation, he is fatally shot in a panic. Hedda and Anders flee the house, desperately trying to escape the relentless killer, who leaves a trail of violence and terror as they run through the woods, crossing a river while under attack.

Hedda, Anders, and Magne attempt to escape through the forest and reach a hidden refuge. Along the way, Magne is attacked and wounded, and Hedda fights to save herself and her friends while the killer relentlessly hunts them. They find temporary shelter in an abandoned house as they try to regroup and survive.

Hedda and Anders confront the killer in the basement of Jon’s house after a series of tense encounters. Hedda manages to wound the killer and escape, but Jon is mortally wounded. The killer reappears, threatening everyone with a rifle, leading to a final deadly encounter where Hedda is shot, and Jon dies.

Hedda, armed with a shotgun, faces the killer in the burning basement, in a desperate attempt to end his reign of terror. She shoots him, but the killer survives, and in a confrontation with the sheriff, Hedda is mistakenly shot dead in a tragic case of mistaken identity, providing a grim conclusion to the horror.

Einar, the sheriff, uncovers evidence linking the murders to Jon’s illegal hunting activities, the skinned animals, and a cold case of a missing boy from years earlier. He begins to understand the deep-rooted connection between the past horrors and the current killer operating in the area.

The film concludes with the killer returning to the abandoned Stehøe Hotel, where lights turn on inside the corridors, suggesting that the cycle of violence and darkness continues in the remote mountains, leaving a haunting and ambiguous ending.