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"COLD CREEK MANOR" (2003) (Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Heavy Extreme *Moderate Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Minor Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Moderate Moderate Moderate Heavy QUICK TAKE: Suspense/Thriller: A filmmaker tries to uncover the mystery behind an old manor and its past owners after he and his family move into it. PLOT: Cooper (DENNIS QUAID) and Leah Tilson (SHARON STONE) have decided to give up the city life of New York for the countryside of Bellingham. There, they've purchased a dilapidated estate known as Cold Creek Manor and move in with their teenager daughter, Kristen (KRISTEN STEWART), and her younger brother, Jesse (RYAN WILSON). A documentary filmmaker, Cooper is intrigued by the history of the house, particularly since the foreclosure on it left all of its belongings - albeit in disarray - still there and ready for examination. They then meet the former owner, Dale Massie (STEPHEN DORFF), who states he just got out of prison and would like to work for them restoring the house back to its once prominent state. The Tilsons hesitantly agree, but soon find things going downhill from there as Ray slowly start to show his true colors. His girlfriend, Ruby (JULIETTE LEWIS), tells Cooper to watch his back, but her sister, Sheriff Ferguson (DANA ESKELSON), doesn't initially seem able or willing to help. Realizing he needs to figure out what happened at the manor, Cooper goes to interview Dale's father (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER), who's in a nursing home, but all he gets out of him is something about the Devil's Throat. With the locals becoming suspicious of them and Dale becoming increasingly unstable, Cooper and his family try to uncover the mystery regarding him and his former home before it's too late. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into suspense thrillers or are fans of someone in the cast, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For violence, language and some sexuality. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: DENNIS QUAID plays a documentary filmmaker who becomes somewhat obsessed with discovering the secret behind the manor and its former inhabitants. He uses some profanity, drinks and drives, and becomes jealous of his wife. SHARON STONE plays his wife, an executive who wants to get their family out of harm's way when things get too precarious. She uses some profanity and states that she agreed to sleep with her boss to get a promotion (but that never happened). STEPHEN DORFF plays an ex-con who returns to the manor to work on it for the new owners, but then shows his true colors of wanting to get the house back for himself. Accordingly, he turns from friendly and helpful to increasingly volatile and dangerous. He smokes a joint, uses strong profanity, smokes, has sex with Ruby and turns homicidal. JULIETTE LEWIS plays his white trash girlfriend who has sex with him, uses strong profanity, is drunk, and briefly smokes. KRISTEN STEWART plays the Tilsons' moody teenage daughter who doesn't like Dale from the get-go. RYAN WILSON plays her younger brother who somewhat becomes obsessed with a dark poem written by the boy who lived in the house before him. DANA ESKELSON plays Ruby's sister, the local sheriff who drags her feet in taking action against Dale and uses some strong profanity. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER plays Dale's cantankerous and mean father who's institutionalized in a nursing home. He uses some profanity. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated thriller. Profanity consists of at least 19 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are used. Some brief, sexually related dialogue is present, as is a brief and partially obscured sexual encounter (with movement and related sounds). A photo shows a bare-breasted young woman while an older woman is seen in her panties. Violence consists of several deaths (from smothering, a fall and unknown means), while attempts on others' lives also occurs. Those scenes and several others have varying levels of bloodiness, and may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to some viewers, mostly younger ones and those with low tolerance levels for such material (others will have little or no such reaction to them). Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some smoke and/or drink, some to the point of intoxication (two drive while drunk). One character briefly smokes a joint. Some tense family material and imitative behavior is also present. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, some instances of that occur in several scenes in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Miscellaneous people have beer in a restaurant. Dale lights up a joint. Jesse makes a comment about a parental moment being "Miller Time." We later see that saying on a sign in a bar. Miscellaneous people drink in a bar where the owner offers to buy Cooper a drink. He then tells Cooper that he should buy the next round for everyone there as a gesture of good will. Cooper agrees and we then see him and others drinking. Ruby, who appears to be drunk, then joins him and orders several rounds of shots for the two of them. Dale then sits next to Cooper and similarly orders several shots of liquor, resulting in Cooper being a bit inebriated. Miscellaneous people drink beer. BLOOD/GORE Cooper cuts off a poisonous snake's head (with brief and slightly bloody results). We see bloody water in the swimming pool and then see an underwater shot looking up from the bottom to reveal the silhouetted shape of a dead pony floating on the surface. We see the image of a somewhat decomposed and mummified face on a video playback. We see a pool of blood on the floor next to a person. An intruder breaks through a door to get onto the roof. Cooper throws some large roof tiles at the intruder, with one striking him on the head, bloodying him. Cooper has a little bit of a bloody lip. A person has blood on their face. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Dale has a bad attitude toward Cooper and his family and sets out to harass and get them out of his former house. Leah's boss offers to give her a promotion if she spends the night with him while on a business trip. Cooper and his family sneak onto and then into the estate before they put an offer on it (meaning they're trespassing). Cooper secretly tapes Dale's father in a nursing home (to use in a documentary). Dale's father refers to Dale's mother as a "whore." He also calls a nurse, "You little bitch." Leah tells Cooper that her boss asked her to sleep with him. After Cooper asks what she did, she says she said yes, but that an emergency phone call prevented that from happening. Cooper drives home while a bit intoxicated shortly after drinking many shots of liquor. Dale punches Ruby and then punches several people who try to restrain him. He only stops when the sheriff aims her gun at him. Dale's father says that Dale is the "corrupt spawn of your whoring mother" and then says that Dale's kids probably weren't even his, that he couldn't even make babies. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" might also be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to some viewers, mostly younger ones and those with low tolerance levels for such material (others will have little or no such reaction to them). Jesse is nearly struck by a vehicle when he darts out into traffic. Cooper races to look for him and finds him sitting on the street right in front of a stopped vehicle. Cooper and his family slowly make their way through the dilapidated house that still has the belongings of the former residents in it (although everything's in disarray). Kristen finds a piece of wood with the word "evil" on it and is then surprised by her brother. We see several tools on a wall, and Dale says that they're killing hammers with spikes in them, used to kill farm animals (some viewers might not like the thought of that). Leah hears her kids screaming near the pool and races there to discover a snake in it (that Dale has captured and it isn't poisonous). We see various poisonous snakes in various places through the house, including in Leah's bed, in construction plastic along the ceiling, under Jesse's bed and under the fridge where Cooper reaches, unaware what's there. Once they realize that, they have several close calls with those snakes and more, including one that strikes out at Cooper and another that falls on his shoulder. A truck, presumably driven by Dale, chases after Cooper in his truck at night, through the woods and after both have been drinking. Cooper ends up hitting a deer during that. We see bloody water in the swimming pool and then see an underwater shot looking up from the bottom to reveal the silhouetted shape of a dead pony floating on the surface. We see the point of view of someone approaching Cooper. Cooper's phone line suddenly goes dead. Cooper hears someone in his house, thinks he sees someone approaching on the other side of some hanging plastic, and punches that person (but it turns out to be Leah). A person pushes Leah down into a deep hole in the ground (she's okay). Cooper then tries to rescue her (with a rope that she climbs), all while the assailant might be looming nearby. The lights go out in the house and Cooper and Leah hear someone smash a window and then break things in the house (we see that as it occurs). They then try to get away from the intruder through the dark house. GUNS/WEAPONS We see an old drawing/picture of a man holding a knife to a child. We see a photo of a boy holding a rifle. We see Jesse with a paintball rifle. Dale punches Ruby and then punches several people who try to restrain him. He only stops when the sheriff aims her gun at him. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Don't f*ck with him," "He'll rip your f*cking head off," "Shut the f*ck up," "Back the f*ck away," "Get the f*ck out of here," "You f*ck," "Oh sh*t," "You'll sh*t blood," "You little sh*thead," "You piece of sh*t," "You're full of sh*t," "You scared the sh*t out of me," "Corrupt spawn of your whoring mother," "Screwed up," "Where the hell /is he going/are you going to do about it?" "Creep," "Shut up," "You little bastard," "Whore," "Piss for brains," "Bitch," "Go lay an egg," "Pissing me off," "Pissed me off" and "Nuts" (crazy). We see a photo of a teenager giving "the finger." Dale belches after eating. Dale has a tattoo on his shoulder. Cooper drives home while a bit intoxicated shortly after drinking many shots of liquor. Ruby wears a midriff-revealing top. JUMP SCENES A sudden sound might startle some viewers. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 19 "f" words (3 used with "mother," 1 used sexually), 9 "s" words, 2 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck" and "pecker"), 3 asses (all used with "hole"), 2 hells, 1 damn, 1 S.O.B., 10 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "Oh God" and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "G-damn," "God," "Jesus Christ," "My God," "Oh Jesus" and "Swear to God." SEX/NUDITY Leah's boss offers to give her a promotion if she spends the night with him while on a business trip. We see some small photos of a teenager showing her bare breasts. We see video of a teenager in a bikini in a pool. Dale puts his hand between Ruby's thighs as she stands in the doorway of her camper. He then puts his hands on her butt and then under her short skirt, pulling down her panties in the process. We then see a shot of them (through a window with blinds that obscure much of what we're seeing) having sex, with movement and related sounds. We see several shots of Dale, sweaty and shirtless with his jeans riding down to expose the top of his underwear. Leah shows some cleavage in her swimsuit. We see Kristen in a bikini. We briefly see Ruby kissing Dale while both lie on a bed, but he then sits up and nothing else happens. We see a rear view of Leah in her small panties as she gets out of bed. Leah tells Cooper that her boss asked her to sleep with him. After Cooper asks what she did, she says she said yes, but that an emergency phone call prevented that from happening. Dale's father says that Dale is the "corrupt spawn of your whoring mother" and then says that Dale's kids probably weren't even his, that he couldn't even make babies. Dale comments on Leah saying that he could have "f*cked" her anytime he asked. SMOKING Dale smokes a number of times, while Ruby smokes once and various miscellaneous characters smoke in several scenes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Dale says that he hasn't seen his kids since his wife left with them some time ago. Cooper and Leah argue about their situation. Leah tells Cooper that her boss asked her to sleep with him. After Cooper asks what she did, she says she said yes, but that an emergency phone call prevented that from happening. Cooper isn't happy about that and leaves for a while. Kristen is mad at her dad when she thinks he accidentally killed her pony. We learn that a person killed his family sometime in the past and then see him kill his father. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Cooper drives home while a bit intoxicated shortly after drinking many shots of liquor. Dealing with bullies and/or the psychotic. Ruby tells her sister, the sheriff, that she fell (instead of admitting that Dale punched her). Moving into a new home. VIOLENCE Cooper cuts off a poisonous snake's head (with brief and slightly bloody results). Dale punches Ruby and then punches several people who try to restrain him. He only stops when the sheriff aims her gun at him. We see bloody water in the swimming pool and then see an underwater shot looking up from the bottom to reveal the silhouetted shape of a dead pony floating on the surface. During an altercation, Ruby pushes Leah backwards. A man smothers another man in a nursing home. Cooper hears someone in his house, thinks he sees someone approaching on the other side of some hanging plastic, and punches that person (but it turns out to be Leah). A person pushes Leah down into a deep hole in the ground (she's okay). Cooper then tries to rescue her (with a rope that she climbs), all while the assailant might be looming nearby. We see a Jeep that's been set on fire. An intruder breaks through a door to get onto the roof. Cooper throws some large roof tiles at the intruder, with one striking him on the head, bloodying him. The intruder then tries to hit Cooper who blocks those attacks with a ladder. The two then struggle and the intruder strikes Cooper and comments on the sound of a bone breaking. Two people clothesline a third with a rope that they then use to tie him down to a skylight. One then hits the third several times with a pick-like device, eventually causing the skylight to break and the third person to fall through it, another skylight and then hard to the floor below (where he's presumably dead). Reviewed September 17, 2003 / Posted September 19, 2003