Publication Date: 10-29-2025

Cold Creek Manor (2003) review

Dir. Mike Figgis

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★½

Honest question: who looks at a home in the middle of the country named “Cold Creek Manor” and thinks, for even a second, it would be a homey place to live?

Such is the desire of the Tilson family, namely Cooper (Dennis Quaid), whose final straw with New York City is when his young son, Jesse (Ryan Wilson), is nearly struck and killed in traffic. A documentary filmmaker with a corporate executive wife, Leah (Sharon Stone), he decided to pack up the family, including their daughter, Kristen (a pre-Twilight Kristen Stewart), and move into Cold Creek Manor, a Victorian-style mansion with ample acreage and a history too big for any realtor listing.

Surprisingly enough, this residence isn’t haunted by ghosts. There is no portrait of an old bag, whose spirit has been haunting the estate since Christ lost his sandals. Instead, it’s the Massie family, and generations of them are buried in the backyard. The most recent occupant, Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff), lost the home in foreclosure after separating from his wife and children. He landed in prison for vehicular manslaughter, and the only thing he’s succeeded at in life his proving his ailing father (Christopher Plummer) correct in believing his youngest son wouldn’t amount to a damn thing.

Dale gets out of prison just as the Tilsons are making his previous residence their home. He stalks the family like he’s De Niro’s Sam Bowden in Cape Fear, weaseling his way back to serve as the Tilsons’ pool-boy. The town sheriff (Dana Eskelson) tries to warn Cooper of how dangerous Dale can be, and eventually, things progress down the road of intense stalking and violence.

Mike Figgis’ Cold Creek Manor has faded into irrelevance following its lackluster box office performance, but it has certain merit. I found myself gravitating to Dennis Quaid’s performance the longer the film went on. The more unhinged he gets, the more magnetic he is, similar to Nicolas Cage. His rabid and obsessive attitude towards his family is juxtaposed to Dorff’s controlling nature. Furthermore, it’s something of a relief when a film that focuses on an ominous property commits to making the horror and tension rooted in a realistic situation as opposed to inexplicable woo woo.

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Wilson, Juliette Lewis, Christopher Plummer, and Dana Eskelson. Directed by: Mike Figgis.