Review: "Cold Creek Manor"

Texas Star · #1 09-08-2012, 08:53 PM

I stumbled across, "Cold Creek Manor" today on the CW channel while trying to avoid sports broadcasts. Knew no one in the cast but Sharon Stone so I checked her movies and found her role, which gave me the rest of the info on the film.

Briefly, Stone plays the wife of a character portrayed by Dennis Quaid. They came from New York to buy an old house in a rural area. But the house was previously owned by a strange man played by Steven Dorff, the sort of creep who likes to bully people in bars and hit women. He might even have murdered his wife and kids and he threatens the new family. He wants the house back after it passed from his ownership.

I came in halfway through the movie, which was also edited for television, but it was a bang-up flick that I enjoyed. (I apparently missed a stirring scene where someone put snakes in the house. (Pity: I'd like to have seen which species.)

What emerges as events unravel will leave you wondering why Quaid's character didn't get a gun and start carrying it, The cute female sheriff would probably have expedited his application for a permit. One spoiler that I'll let slip is that she becomes a casualty of escalating violence as the madman seeks to cover up dastardly deeds, the sort of thing that breed nightmares. Oh: there's a dark and stormy night to help the mood along!

Look for Kristen Stewart as the daughter of the family, well before her recent running around on her wimpy-looking boyfriend, Robert Something. Pattinson?

In all, a film worth renting, and many will want to buy it. I may rent, to see the entire movie. Of course, some used video stores sell DVD's for what it costs to rent at other outlets...

This was a 2003 release, so should be available at used video shops. No skin, based on what I saw, but good, realistic drama and a fine cast, although I'd not heard of most. Worth seeking out. Not recommended for young or timid viewers or for anyone who can't stand to see a kid's pet pony killed for the sake of vanity and to terrify a nice family. You may never look at a swimming pool as a pleasant place again. But, "Jaws" should have cured you of getting into water beyond the bath tub, right?

P.S. I pasted this in from another location (not gun-related), but the post is mine. Can a moderator lighten the background, to make it easier to read?

Onomea · #2 09-08-2012, 09:03 PM

Sounds like a fun movie, T-Star. I checked Hulu and Netflix to no avail, and found it in iTunes, but for $20, no rental available, unfortunately...

Thanks for the review!

(BTW, I use the old forum format and your text looks normal to me.)

Texas Star · #3 09-08-2012, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onomea

Sounds like a fun movie, T-Star. I checked Hulu and Netflix to no avail, and found it in iTunes, but for $20, no rental available, unfortunately...

Thanks for the review!

(BTW, I use the old forum format and your text looks normal to me.)

Onomea-

Thanks. I use the new, default format, and the letters look dark when I paste from another board. When I make a new post here, the letters are white on a dark background.

Ditrina PM'd that he sees the letters as normal, too, so he may also use the old format? I saw nothing awry with the former board, but slightly prefer the more elegant look of the new.

Are you still in Japan? That presumably affects what films in English you find?

Good to hear from you again.

Your posts invariably add class and worth to this board.

Onomea · #4 09-08-2012, 09:39 PM

Aw shucks...

Recently I have started to use a VPN service which can make your computer look like it is wherever the VPN server is. E.g., San Francisco. Handy for net-based services which only serve the US. I was in CA for much of the summer and my son's friend was using a VPN service and a UK-based server to watch BBC broadcasts of the Olympics. Realtime and no NBC ads. Pretty cool.