Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Python Hyena Cold Creek Manor (2003): Dir: Mike Figgis / Cast: Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Stewart: One of the worst haunted house movies ever filmed. Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone play a married couple with two children who are tired of city life and decide to move into an oversize outhouse. They hire the former owner to touch up the place and continually scare the sh*t out of them. His name is Dale Massey and the mood swings unexplainably during the dinner scene. Then snakes infest the house, and Quaid sees Massey's true nature at a bar where he smacks his girlfriend who happens to be the Sheriff's sister. Then a dead horse appears in the pool. Quaid suspects Dale of killing his family, etc. If we waited patiently then perhaps the kitchen sink would have made a cameo. The climax regards one factor falling through a skylight because that was the best dimwitted solution the screenwriter could muster up. Director Mike Figgis previously made Timecode but provides none of that artistic talent here. Quaid is flat and Stone is reduced to cardboard. Stephen Dorff gradually shifts to overacting as he becomes more psychotic. Juliette Lewis plays Dale's airhead girlfriend. Kristen Stewart has an early role as the daughter and this memory is one she will hopefully erase. Pointless bore should be buried under a ton of rock. Score: 0 / 10

juneebuggy Based on reviews this wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It has a good cast, which I think helped and an interesting initial setup, so that you feel like its going to develop into a decent thriller or haunted house type movie once things get going. Unfortunately they never do.The plot is kinda predictable, including the score of cheesy "be scared now" piano music, but I think the biggest problem is that this never manages to get into spooky or even thriller-ish territory, its just sort of bland. There were attempts made -Christopher Plummer as the creepy old man, the sheep killing instruments, the "evil" plaque in the woods, and the snakes but ultimately never followed through.I like Dennis Quaid and he does a decent job here as the Dad who relocates his New York family to the country where they buy a large house in a foreclosure sale. The Cold Creek house was once an elegant manor but is now in shambles and still filled with the possessions of the previous family. Turning it into their dream home soon becomes a nightmare when the previous owner gets out of prison.Stephen Dorff is the bad guy here, reminding me of a somewhat toned down version of Brad Pitt in Kalifornia. Ha, I just realized his character is also dating Juliette Lewis, who is wasted in a role I've seen her play multiple times. Sharon Stone, wow she's pretty awful as the mother, adding another of the "bland" elements to this movie. I did enjoy seeing a young Kristen Stewart as the daughter, all making faces and bratty kid, Yay you got me a pony. But can he swim? 3/15/15

ryansassy1 Here's an example of Don't Let This Happen to You for Directors: hire competent actors, scout out a great location, spend a hefty budget on productions values, and then set about filming one of the most mediocre "horror" scripts ever written. I mean seriously man, did you even see Jeffries' resume of flotsam before you signed on for this? It reads like a homage to underachievement. At least, that's consistent with the plot for this film: A family moves away from the big city to a house in the countryside, bought at a fantastic bargain price. At first the mansion-like building seems like a dream come true, and they set out to restore it. But as each of them explores the house's obscure history, disturbing family secrets of the original owners are revealed, and the father begins to suspect that something sinister happened at Cold Creek Manor. Suspense starts to build as strange incidents happen with increasing frequency, and then... not much. The answer to the mystery turns out to be the most conspicuous and easily-guessed villain, whom we met and instantly suspected quite early in the film. Thank you, Captain Obvious Scriptwriter! Cold Creek Manor could be called Gothic "horror" in a sense -- the desolate landscapes, dilapidated old building, hidden secrets, and creepy atmosphere are all staples of Gothic-style horror. However, there is also supposed to be an element of supernatural in Gothic stories, which Cold Creek Manor lacks. It hints and teases us aplenty, but never delivers on phantoms or magical evil; and when there is opportunity for an intense climax of horror, it's as if the director shrinks back from the threshold. The end result is a letdown.I can't fault the actors, for the most part, who do their job well enough. It's just that they're given some horrible dialog, and look at what they have to work with. Dennis Quaid (our main protagonist, unfortunately)is either playing a stupid, wimpy character quite brilliantly, or he's managed to bungle a decently relatable character into something annoying. Sharon stone is alright as the wife who catches on too late to the danger they're all facing. Kristen Stewart interprets the role of the daughter as her usual hostile, sullen, emo persona-- gee, what a surprise.Tweaked a bit, daring a bit more, and perhaps rewritten, this story had so much potential to be good! Oh well, we'll never know...

brighambartol Cold Creek Manor is another example of a group of great actors populating a horrible film. It is an action/thriller that is neither thrilling nor action-filled, with a bland and predictable plot which plods on slowly and steadily to its very obvious and uninspired ending. There are no twists, turns, or interesting developments. This potential-filled cast was doomed to a bad script, made worse by one of the cheesiest and most poorly timed scores I've ever heard (hackneyed suspenseful piano riffs await you at every camera change from the start to the end of the movie, even when there is no reason whatsoever to feel in suspense). Simply put, this movie is not worth your time.