Cold Creek Manor (2003)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Originally published on Sept. 19, 2003If one is looking for by-the-numbers textbook Hollywood horror/thriller movie-making, look no further than Touchstone's newest release, "Cold Creek Manor," directed by Mike Figgis, for the basic instincts of the craft. First, there is the hassled city family, the Tilson's (parents Cooper, played by Dennis Quaid, and Leah, Sharon Stone, along with children Kristen Stewart and Ryan Wilson), who decide to move to a small town and purchase a dilapidated farmhouse that looks like something Herman Munster would pass by (it's even named "Cold Creek Manor" for crying out loud).But wait, there are even more clichés - the town's residents who naturally mistrust the newcomers, the creepy house and the mysteries it holds, an enigmatic old man who is the key to hidden horrors, the home's psychotic previous owner, the reluctance of local law enforcement to believe ANYTHING the new owners try to tell them, an invasion of vicious reptiles (which would have been my first clue to something unusual), several accounts of foreshadowing (when a camera shot lingers on particular objects that will play a huge role later in the story) and the climactic struggle between good and evil.Yep, it's all here. Unfortunately, anyone who has seen a horror film in the last, say, 20 years or so, can figure everything out about this one way ahead of time and the whole family-in-peril thing that has been done to death a million times is multiplied tenfold in "Cold Creek Manor."Plus, will someone PLEASE tell Juliette Lewis that her drugged-up, slow- witted slut character from "Natural Born Killers" and "Cape Fear" is getting really old, really fast already? Thank you. The film is rated "R" because of violence and some situations, but it offers nothing new to the genre - and, sadly, no one of any age will be very frightened at the proceedings.

I am not used to horror thriller films and only watched it because it was starting on TV the moment I sat on the couch. It is rather good, a good surprise, and I'm used to watch Bergman, Godard, Hitchcock, Kubrick, etc... not that that matters.Everyone seemed to get the idea from the trailer that something supernatural was going to happen, I didn't get that idea.The scenarios and the props were realistic, didn't had bad camera angles, no major or noticeable flaws, one particular shot of a window was actually very good. The dialog wasn't bad. The psychological behaviors, actions and reactions give the proximity of the real emotions one must feel under serious pressure and fear. The personalities of the secondary characters correspond to those of cliché movie personalities, the kind that are really uncommon in real life and very common in other movies, so that's a down point. Another down point is the focus on the dark figure of Dale as soon as he appears, I think it is real, it is there, his psychotic personality is there from the beginning if one is paying attention but it shouldn't have been mystified. That way it would give the thinking viewer the realization that everyone can be a murderer or a crazy person.Some say there is meant to be a connection, a spark so to speak, between Dale and Leah and it is not well portrayed. Wrong! Dave gives her the sweet talk, the concern and the attention, he gives her dirty looks. She on the other way is completely innocent on account to her guilty conscience on saying yes to sleeping with her boss but never actually doing it and realizing she loves her family.It was surprisingly good and it left me tied to my chair. Some said the not having the supernatural haunted house factor took the scary part away. I think the fact that it might actually happen makes it more scary.

Cooper (Dennis Quaid) is a poor documentarian. Leah (Sharon Stone) is a successful executive. Together they have two kids (Kristen Stewart, Ryan Wilson) living in the city. However after a near miss, they decide to live in the country, and buy an old estate called Cold Creek Manor. The former owner Dale (Stephen Dorff) comes sniffing by and gets a job to fix the place up. It's obvious that he and his girlfriend Ruby (Juliette Lewis) are up to no good.Stephen Dorff comes in this like a ton of bricks. He might as well be wearing a hockey mask and wielding a machete. It's too much. The movie is so obvious that Stephen Dorff might as well wear a neon sign. Juliette Lewis plays yet another white trash character. And Sharon Stone is somewhat wrong as the mom. She's just not the maternal type. Director Mike Figgis is on a long slide to average with this predictable movie. He also makes a big mistake by leaving the kids out of the dangerous climax. That would elevate the tension so much higher. That's sort of horror 101.

Wow. Never in my life have I watched a movie so bad in my entire life. It was more than bad, actually. It was excruciatingly bad. Words that will come to mind when I hear of this movie shall be: boring, bad, wtf, bad, horrible, long, chocolate cherries.I've never really taken the time to review a movie on IMDb, so this is my first one. Why haven't I ever reviewed? Well if I like a movie, I'll simply give it a good rating. Usually, the reviews by other people match how I feel. Same goes for it I don't like the movie. But I am writing this to someone else who might make the same mistake as me and see a positive review telling one to ignore the negative reviews and claim that it's "not that bad". Folks, it is! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.Horrible acting, horrible script/storyline, BORING atmosphere, no tension. D'you know what it's like? It's like 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' gone wrong (and I wasn't so keen on that movie). Yeah, instead of 4 teenagers, how about 4 members of a family! And instead of knocking a guy over with a car, how about you buy his house? Enter psycho who wants to cause a disturbance and kill and voilà you have 'Cold Creek Manor'.The movie took FOREVER to get into it. And even at that, it didn't 'get into it' per se. A showdown to be exact. Nothing new or exciting there. Now I'm not slating this film for being unoriginal, but seriously. We've seen this type of stuff before in much better films!All in all guys, there is nothing to see here. Honestly, move along and find yourself a better movie. It will save two hours of your life. A very long two hours...2/10