Cold Creek Manor starts off as a promising thriller, with good performances delivered from Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid playing the Tilson's.
Minor spoilers...
The story begins in New York but relocates to the countryside as the Tilsons looks to escape the dangers of the city. However, acceptance from the locals soon becomes the least of their worries as they enter their new home, Cold Creek Manor.
Previous resident of the house Dale Massie, played by Stephen Dorff, enters the scene and, redolent of Cape Fear, terrifying events begin to unfold.
What begins as a reasonable thriller however soon plummets into a made-for-television moment, beginning with the terrible score for a scene involving snakes. Any attempt to relay the family's horror is quickly snuffed by the over-dramatic and gut-wrenchingly funny piano score.
Apparently, the score was also created by the director, Mike Figgis, who then decides to cast himself in a painful to watch alternative ending.
Not content with breaking his masterpiece onto a unsuspecting audience, Figgis then uses it again... and again... and again, to great, albeit unintentional, comic effect.
This film could've been good. The acting ability is certainly there, Dorff is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. However, Figgis' seeming self-importance as a director and composer transforms what could've been into a film that falls well below most TV movies.
A waste.
3/10
Minor spoilers...
The story begins in New York but relocates to the countryside as the Tilsons looks to escape the dangers of the city. However, acceptance from the locals soon becomes the least of their worries as they enter their new home, Cold Creek Manor.
Previous resident of the house Dale Massie, played by Stephen Dorff, enters the scene and, redolent of Cape Fear, terrifying events begin to unfold.
What begins as a reasonable thriller however soon plummets into a made-for-television moment, beginning with the terrible score for a scene involving snakes. Any attempt to relay the family's horror is quickly snuffed by the over-dramatic and gut-wrenchingly funny piano score.
Apparently, the score was also created by the director, Mike Figgis, who then decides to cast himself in a painful to watch alternative ending.
Not content with breaking his masterpiece onto a unsuspecting audience, Figgis then uses it again... and again... and again, to great, albeit unintentional, comic effect.
This film could've been good. The acting ability is certainly there, Dorff is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. However, Figgis' seeming self-importance as a director and composer transforms what could've been into a film that falls well below most TV movies.
A waste.
3/10
Tell Your Friends