Cold Creek Manor (2003)

Director:

Mike Figgis

Writer (WGA):

Richard Jefferies (written by)

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The perfect house hides the perfect crime.

Plot:

A family relocates from the city to a dilapidated house in the country that was once a grand estate. As they begin to renovate the place they discover their new home harbors secrets, conceals a horrific past, and may not be free of the former inhabitants completely.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Dead Horse | Bare Chested Male | Corpse | Child In Peril

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Cooper Tilson
Sharon Stone	...	Leah Tilson
Stephen Dorff	...	Dale Massie
Juliette Lewis	...	Ruby
Kristen Stewart	...	Kristen Tilson
Ryan Wilson	...	Jesse Tilson
Dana Eskelson	...	Sheriff Ferguson
Christopher Plummer	...	Mr. Massie
Simon Reynolds	...	Ray Pinski
Kathleen Duborg	...	Ellen Pinski
Paula Brancati	...	Stephanie Pinski
Aidan Devine	...	Skip Linton
Wayne Robson	...	Stan Holland
Jordan Pettle	...	Declan
Ray Paisley	...	Dink

Also Known As:

La maison au fond de la baie (Canada: French title)
The Devil's Throat (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA | Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #40089) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:12 (cut version) | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Italy:T | Argentina:13 | Germany:16 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Ayr, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Christopher Plummer only spent two days on the set. He was shooting one day, each with Dennis Quaid and Stephen Dorff.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Leah reaches over to turn off her alarm clock, set for 4:30 in the opening scene. However, if you look closely when she hit the button several times, you can see the time flashes to 12:00, showing that the alarm was never really set.

Quotes:

Dale Massie: [about to kill Leah and Cooper] Quick question. Do you think I'm crazy? Yes or no?
Leah Tilson: [Scared] ... No.
Dale Massie: Wrong answer!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Messengers (2007)

Soundtrack:

American Boy

Nothing new to see here, move along

Cold Creek Manor is just a collection of sad, tired "thriller" clichés. I know it's a bad sign when I'm rooting for the victims to die. Characters say and do things for no reason, apparently, other than the writer wanted to make the movie last just a little bit longer. Rest assured that if a course of action makes no sense or is just a bad idea in general the story will follow it.

As if that weren't bad enough, the characters are all cardboard cut-outs without any depth. Seemingly all the women in this movie are, in the words of Mr. Massie "cheatin' whores." Small town America is once again Hollywoodized into too-close-for-comfort chumminess on the one side and we don't take kindly to strangers xenophobia on the other. Once again the movies tries to impart to us the dangers of moving to the country. Although Quaid's mild-mannered, pushover character works for the most part.

Finally, the sound editing leaves a lot to be desired, lines are muttered requiring the use of subtitles to understand some parts. And the music that is supposed to evoke a sense of suspense just comes across as annoying.