Cold Creek Manor

I didn't read any reviews prior to watching this film or I wouldn't have wasted my time. It is one of those good idea movies (maybe too many ideas at the same time) that just didn't take me where I expected or wanted it to go. I expect a "thriller" to build to a crescendo with possibly a disturbingly logical or a emotionally shocking ending. After 119 minutes I was left feeling disappointed and confused. Although there are lots of deleted scenes-it still moves too slowly. An unfortunate choice for Dennis Quaid-he tries very hard to keep the movie going-but it is dead in the water like Jaws 3-D. Some of the horror scenes are comical. Some of the scenes are truly frightening. Some are just plain redundant. I'm still not sure you aren't supposed to expect ghosts around the corner.

Cold Creek Manor

Here's yet another film that I believe suffered from some poor advertising. Or, at the very least, some misguided advertising. As I recall when it was released, there was a strong vibe to those ads that indicated some sort of haunted house or ghost story or something. So it came up on Encore, I remembered those ads and wanted to see what kind of haunted house story I was going to get. Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone? Sounds alright. I'm not generally a big fan of haunted house pictures, but I figured I'd give it a look. At least it's rated R, right?

Well, well, well... So. So where are the ghosts and sh*t? Turns out this is not the ghost story I thought it was... A big, rich family from "the big city" (I think it was Boston or New York--of course--everyone's from either those cities or LA these days) gets fed up with the hustle and bustle and insanity of living in the city and decide to move out to the middle of nowhere. They stumble upon a glorious old house in glorious old decay--Cold Creek Manor. The house is owned by a bank ready to off-load it for whatever they can get for it. Apparently, they could get around 200 grand for it. Sh*t, this house is huge! The property goes on forever! There are houses in the Twin Cities here that are 1/6th as big as the house in this film that cost more than that! Anyway, eventually, the last surviving, capable, member of the family that once lived there turns up, fresh from prison, and a little annoyed that his house is all gone. So he starts terrorizing the family all slowly and methodically and weirdly... Or does this family just have some really rotten luck...? Well, at any rate, Dennis Quaid thinks the guy is out to get them and goes mildly berserk trying to prove it. He's a documentary filmmaker, and it doesn't help matters that he's doing his current documentary on the family that lived in that big ol' mansion before he and his family moved in.

Here's the breakdown:

The Good:

--The acting is generally pretty good (one scene I'll point out later is the exception)

--Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone after all. She's done well to prove she's more than just a remarkable specimen of femininity--she's also an actress, after all.

--Impressive sets--that house is beautiful--from the decaying look of it's years of neglect to it's remarkable half-restoration--it's a great lookin' place to live.

--Fairly interesting story.

--Pretty good chemistry between Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid, they're characters (the married couple) endure arguments and crumbling marriage with hints of adultery.

Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:

--The atmosphere was pretty mild. Nothing special, and nothing doing a really intriguing job of building tension.

--The usual plot-point that one part of the mystery can only be solved by a chance discovery by the children is, of course, present here too.

--Average Cinematography.

--Some very mild blood/gore scenes. Mostly, with just some blood--and a skeleton or two. Nothing major. Looked good, but wasn't anything special.

--Only mild violence. Fight scenes, mostly.

--Very mild nudity, and one sex scene--through window blinds no less. The nudity is pretty much relegated to pictures--photographs--of the wife of the last member of Cold Creek's original family.

The Bad:

--Sharon Stone kept her clothes on. Okay, I'm kidding. She did, but that didn't hurt the film in any way.

--The music varies from average, to simply obnoxious. We get scenes that contain mild drama, but have a piano pounded on with a feverish, near lunatic intensity. Here's an example: Car driving down stretch of road, someone's worried about an argument--overcast with DUNN-DUNN-DUNN-DUNN-DUNN-DUNN-DUNNNNN!!!! as loud as the howling of hell beasts in hell.

--One exceptionally poor scene where the family is apparently threatened by generally harmless American mountain snakes. The snakes slowly slither to and fro through the house and everybody freaks out with enough overacting to match any Keanu Reeves scene. It just wasn't scary. Not at all. Maybe, if there were tons and tons of snakes--like in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" it would've been mildly scary. But whole family is running away from a terrifying torrent of roughly 6 snakes. The scene, very simply, wasn't believable. I almost laughed at it--it was that stupid.

--Some clichés and cheesiness pop up occasionally. No real surprises.

The Ugly:

--Occasionally feels like a "Deliverance"-style "big city folks out 'n their element" movie--but not as good as "Deliverance" (which is a classic).

Memorable Scene:

--Dennis Quaid punches Sharon Stone in the face. Oopsy!

Acting: 7/10 (except for that one scene) Story: 6/10 Atmosphere: 5/10 Cinematography: 5/10 Character Development: 7/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 (not much to note) Nudity/Sexuality: 2/10 (quantity) Violence/Gore: 6/10 Sets/Backgrounds: 8/10 Dialogue: 7/10 Music: 3/10 Writing: 6/10 Direction: 6/10

Cheesiness: 3/10 Crappiness: 0/10

Overall: 5/10

I'm giving it a 5 because the film suffers from a few too many problems. It's probably good for fans of horror/thrillers to take a look at, but is likely too mild for hardcore horror fanatics to care about. Better, maybe, for the average movie-goer looking for a light thriller to spend an evening with.

www.ResidentHazard.com

OK we've all seen this type of film before, family leave problems and life in the city for a new start in the country only to find far greater and real problems than those they left behind.

Unfortunately it's just not done particularly well in this movie. It starts well and gives the impression it will lead into some kind of haunted mansion movie once the family arrive at their new home. However, what happens is far less exciting.

Quaid gives another solid but unremarkable performance, Dorff is passable but his character never seems as threatening as he should be, Lewis plays the kind of role she seems to fit like a glove. The one thing I realised from this film is Sharon Stone has no impact or presence on the screen at all, I mean she had an impact on me when I was 15 and first saw Basic Instinct, but hey. She is one of the few actresses I would actually advise to only accept films with nudity scenes involved.

The direction is only apt, you feel there is meant to be some kind of attraction or sexual tension between Dorff's and Stone's character but whether due to the fault of the Director or actors it does not work at all. It is also at times very predictable, which is not a good factor for a thriller.

The film does have it's redeeming features, it does at least keep you interested enough to follow through to the climax just to see what happens. It is one though you will not be revisiting soon again.

The director and producer of documentaries Cooper Tilson (Dennis Quaid) and his wife, the executive Leah Tilson (Sharon Stone) have a stressed life with their two children in New York. After a minor accident with their son Jesse (Ryan Wilson), they decide to move to the country. They find a huge old house with furniture and a large field for a bargain and decide to buy it. They make a garage sale to get rid of the possessions of the former owner, and a couple of days later, Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff) visits them, introducing himself as the previous owner, who lost the house for the bank after being sent to the prison for three years for accidentally killing a man. He asks for a job in the repair team, and Cooper accepts to hire him. The life of the Tilson family changes after the arrival of Dale, and deep secrets about the former family are disclosed.

"Cold Creek Manor" is a Mike Figgis' thriller, having names such as Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Julliete Lewis and Stephen Dorff in the credits; therefore I expected a great movie. Most of the time, I kept saying to myself: "-Surprise me, surprise me". Indeed this film surprised me, in a bad sense: it is nothing but a standard and bureaucratic thriller, full of clichés and incredible situations. For example, who would hire a weird man, former owner of a property and that has just left the jail? Or when Cooper is threatened, why he stays alone in the isolated house, with doors and windows completely open? Or when Leah and Tilson are threatened, why do they look for refugee in the house, climbing to the higher floors, after seeing their car on fire? This movie is a typical commercial product, broadcast on Saturday night by the largest Brazilian open network: shallow, predictable and full of stars. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Garganta do Diabo" ("Devil's Throat")

Reviews and reputation be damned: I enjoyed Cold Creek Manor and it's chilly, mean spirited thrills at the expanse of a family entwined in nasty decades old secrets. I know it's not the greatest flick, and doesn't quite deliver the freaky effect promised by both trailer and cover art, but it's still a lurid little freak show of backwoods danger and sweaty menace. Dennis Quaid plays Cooper Tilson, relocating his family to the country, where they have purchased a run down mansion which used to be a grand estate. Problem is, the manor has a dark and sordid legacy of danger, the overgrown property hiding a murder already years old. The family's arrival awakens long buried demons among the roughneck locals and gradually starts to threaten them with mounting unease. Sharon Stone is reliable as Quaid's wife, and a very young Kristen Stewart plays their daughter. It's ragged edged Stephen Dorff that gives the film life in his intense portrayal of local lowlife Dale Massie, who grew up in the manor and provides a hanging presence of unease for the Tilson family. Juliette Lewis plays yet another snarky rural skank, and there's an unnerving cameo from a barely coherent Christopher Plummer as well. Sure it's cheap thrills and doesn't contain much substance to flesh out its doom laden style, but it's it's a lot of fun and I revisit it quite a bit.