COLD CREEK MANOR

A perfectly ordinary American family decides to leave the city where they live to move to the countryside and finally escape the chaos and daily stress imposed by the rhythms of modern society. It is with this hope that Cooper Tilson and his wife Leah buy, for a few dollars at a judicial auction, an old villa surrounded by greenery, the ideal place to raise their children peacefully. After renovating the house, the previous owner, a young man recently released from prison named Dale Massie, shows up at the Tilsons' door, offering to work for them and help them maintain the old family home, where he lived with his wife and two children before being arrested. Dale's apparent kindness will soon change, giving way to feelings of revenge and retaliation towards the people who have taken over his home: suspicious of the young man's behavior, Cooper will begin to investigate Dale's past, discovering a shocking truth... Complicating matters is the unfortunate translation of the title decided by some clever employee of Miramax, "Darkness Falls on Cold Creek" turns out to be, without any doubt, a sly trap from which it is almost impossible to escape. The first to fall into the deception's net will surely be the most loyal horror movie fans, who, lured by a deceptive title, will think they are facing a delicious horror film set in a house haunted by ghosts, zombies, or who knows what else. But there is absolutely nothing paranormal in the film! Accepting the idea of facing a "simple" thriller, the unpleasant surprises will continue anyway: in fact, even those who expect to witness a chilling and atmospheric story will end up being very, too disappointed. "Darkness Falls on Cold Creek" is essentially a big letdown. The plot and structure of the film leave the viewer with more than one doubt: the situations that follow one another throughout the duration of the film have an insistent taste of "seen before" and predictable, including the most predictable twists. To make this sterile sequence of modern thriller clichés even more static, a slow and heavy pace contributes, often lacking the right bite: the interesting scenes and with the right tension are hidden in a sea of flat and monotonous sequences, built so as to try to sketch the psychology of the protagonists, but in fact too slow and little dynamic to capture the viewer's attention. Just think that after half an hour of the film there is still no element that makes you think you are facing a thriller! And when the plot seems ready to evolve and offer some emotion, the film continues on the path of predictability, the behavior of the characters becomes an open book for anyone, and the always present final twist reveals the most obvious of the obvious, moreover already long predicted even by the least attentive viewer. What then saves this film from the worst of the ratings? First of all, the presence of an exceptional cast, full of Hollywood actors so dear to modern cinema: Dennis Quaid plays his character with decent skill, as does Stephen Dorff, perfectly at ease in the role of the young bad guy. The actresses are not far behind: Juliette Lewis proves perfect for playing the typical ditzy young American (who doesn't remember her in the legendary "From Dusk Till Dawn") and Sharon Stone, the dream of two generations of film buffs, still manages to dazzle with her disarming beauty. Another positive note is the presence behind the camera of the excellent director Mike Figgis, appreciated in Italy for films like "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Mr. Jones", capable of enhancing a banal plot with a brilliant and sure direction, with a winning choice of shots, colors, and settings that allow the viewer to enjoy with surprising tranquility a dish that would otherwise be indigestible. "Darkness Falls on Cold Creek" is a technically good level film but lacking the right atmosphere and tension that a good thriller must know how to offer. Beautiful but soulless.