Cold Creek Manor (2003)

An enjoyable film, with a good creepy character. City people in a small town discovering something more sinister. Worthy of a watch.

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.

The Tilson's son Jesse almost gets killed in a traffic jam, and that forces The Tilson's to relocate from New York. They move into a dilapidated old mansion, which was once a huge estate. The belongings of the previous owners are still in the house. A mysterious man shows up, and makes things difficult for The Tilson familyYawn. That pretty much describes what I thought about this movie, but IMDb insists at least 200 words to write a review, so I'll give it a go. The main problems with this movie are that it's quite dull, and it's very derivative. If you've seen movies like Pacific Heights, and so on, you'll know what to expect coming into this one. The suspense is pallid, and there are no thrills to speak of. The setting is certainly good, but they don't take advantage of it. The Tilson family is filled with selfish and inconsiderate people, and these are supposed to be the good guys. They are completely disoriented. Cooper (Dennis Quaid) is a complete wimp, and whines a lot. His obsession with the mansion also drove me crazy. If someone put a bunch of poisonous snakes into my house, I'd forget about my pride, and ensure the safety of my family, and get the heck out of there! But he wants to stay. It's sheer stupidity like that, which makes Dennis Quaid's performance tough to buy. Quaid himself isn't bad, but his character is idiotic. Sharon Stone does well, but her character is also unlikable. She is selfish in the extreme, and is willing to sleep with her boss to get a VP spot. How am I supposed to rally behind that? Her character becomes a little more understanding in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Stephen Dorff (Dale Massie) got on my nerves as the villain. He smokes cigarettes in almost every single scene! I don't have a problem with smokers, but that's a bit much! I got tired of his overacting quickly, and I wanted to backhand him one. I also got irritated by how everyone is oblivious with him. Juliette Lewis plays his girlfriend, and gets smacked around by him, insults him, and then defends him when the Sheriff comes to defend her (!) Kristen Stewart does fine in one of her early roles, but she's a bit of a complainer. It also has stupid plot holes. Cooper tells The Sheriff that Dale Massie is crazy, and The Sheriff asks for important evidence, before she can investigate further. Yet, she saw just how crazy he was, when he beats up Juliette Lewis. The finale feels like it goes on forever, with a prolonged attack from Stephen Dorff. I actually yelled out loud "Just end the @######! thing!" Final Thoughts: I hated this movie. It wastes a great cast, and gives them foolish characters. It's also boring, and uninteresting throughout. Save yourself the trouble3/10

Cold Creek Manor is another example of a group of great actors populating a horrible film. It is an action/thriller that is neither thrilling nor action-filled, with a bland and predictable plot which plods on slowly and steadily to its very obvious and uninspired ending. There are no twists, turns, or interesting developments. This potential-filled cast was doomed to a bad script, made worse by one of the cheesiest and most poorly timed scores I've ever heard (hackneyed suspenseful piano riffs await you at every camera change from the start to the end of the movie, even when there is no reason whatsoever to feel in suspense). Simply put, this movie is not worth your time.