Review of Cold Creek Manor (2003) by Filipeneto — 14 Feb 2021

This is a psychological thriller where a madman will chase and terrorize a normal family that, by chance, has crossed his life. It is difficult not to make comparisons with a series of other more well-known films, such as "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" or the even more similar "Cape Fear". However, this film focuses much more on the house and the story around the house and what happened there before new owners appeared. With all these considerations, I think that talking about the script becomes redundant. It is a satisfactory film, but it is not brilliant nor justifies much attention.

The house is incredible. It is a huge mansion that, supposedly, was home to a large farm with thousands of sheep. However, watching the film makes it difficult to believe: there is not a single space that appears to have been used for agricultural use. Not even a tool shed. This is quite strange. Nevertheless, the film makes the most of the house and creates some tension thanks to the fears and insecurities of the new owners: the fear of snakes, the isolation, the fact that they are strangers in a community that seems to be all against them and willing to see them from behind.

The cast is average. The best interpretation comes from Stephen Dorff. He can be threatening and tense, but not so threatening as to be terrifying. Dennis Quaid is an actor who seems little tailored to be a protagonist and suffers from a chronic lack of charisma. Sharon Stone seems to be there just for the money, without much interest in doing anything to improve the film.

Technically, it's monotonous. Except for the good choice of filming location and good sets, the film does not present remarkable production values: normal cinematography, costumes that could be the clothes of any one of us and a rural environment that does not seem very genuine. The action scenes are somewhat forced and also the scares.