Plot
New Yorkers get a crash course in the more dangerous aspects of moving to the country and buying a "handyman's special" in this thriller from award-winning director Mike Figgis. Cooper and Leah Tilson (Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone) are a wealthy couple who have grown tired of the high stress of life in New York City and are looking to move to someplace with more breathing room. Upstate, they find a mansion in the village of Cold Creek which has fallen into disrepair after it was repossessed. Convinced the house has great possibilities, The Tilsons buy it, and with a little hard work Cooper, Leah, and their two children are soon living in their dream home. Unknown to The Tilsons, the house used to belong to a lifelong Cold Creek resident named Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff), a ne'er-do-well who ended up behind bars. After he's released from prison, Massie makes it clear to the new owners that he wants his home back, and before long Cooper and Leah begin learning the disturbing truth about the history of the mansion -- and that many Cold Creek residents don't take kindly to new arrivals. Cold Creek Manor also stars Juliette Lewis and Christopher Plummer. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Somewhere in this high-concept muddle of class warfare, yuppie angst and aborted infidelity lurks a fun little gothic chiller. Juliette Lewis and Stephen Dorff provide pitch-perfect trashy victim/villains, while Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid hit all the right notes as an upper middle-class couple seeking some respite from go-go New York. The problem with Cold Creek Manor, then, is that instead of relegating all of its cultural baggage to the background, it brings it forward and, eventually, over the top. It's a romantic drama masquerading as a horror story rather than the other way around. How else to explain the generally limp haunted-house set-pieces and the focus on run-of-the-mill relationship angst? If screenwriter Richard Jefferies and director Mike Figgis trusted more in the conventions of psychological horror and focused on executing them with understated flair, this could have been an edge-of-your-seat delight. As filmed, though, Cold Creek Manor is more like warmed-over One Night Stand, all clever contrivances and pat resolution. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviCast
- Dennis Quaid - Cooper Tilson
- Sharon Stone - Leah Tilson
- Stephen Dorff - Dale Massie
- Juliette Lewis - Ruby
- Kristen Stewart - Kristen Tilson
Credit
Peter Grundy - Art Director, Nancy Pankiw - Art Director, Peter Grundy - Supervising Art Director, Amanda Mackey-Johnson - Casting, Cathy Sandrich Gelfond - Casting, Robin D. Cook - Casting, Marie-Sylvie Deveau - Costume Designer, David J. Webb - First Assistant Director, Mike Figgis - Director, Leslie Dilley - Second Unit Director, Dylan Tichenor - Editor, Lata Ryan - Executive Producer, Richard Jefferies - Executive Producer, Mike Figgis - Composer (Music Score), Leslie Dilley - Production Designer, Declan Quinn - Cinematographer, Mike Figgis - Producer, Annie Stewart - Producer, Michael Seirton - Set Designer, Patricia Cuccia - Set Designer, Pawel Wdowczak - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Jefferies - Screenwriter, Harry Lake - Additional Cinematography, Scott A. Hecker - Supervising Sound Editor| Cold Comfort Farm (1995 Film), Cold Comfort (1990 Film) | |
| Cold Creepy Feeling: Paranormal Exorcism (2011 Film), Cold Deck (1917 Film) |
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
