Summary: Turn off your brain and Cold Creek Manor just might turn into an entertaining thriller. Taking an uncharacteristic detour into nonsensical plot mechanics, director Mike Figgis expertly pushes buttons with this nerve-jangling but ultimately hackneyed story (by Richard Jeffries) about a documentary filmmaker (Dennis Quaid) who moves his wife (Sharon Stone) and two kids into a run-down rural mansion once owned by the family of a simmering ex-convict (Stephen Dorff), who's got secret reasons for wanting Quaid's family to leave. This rote potboiler wants to be as thrilling as Fatal Attraction, but it's more like Pacific Heights--fun to watch as the tension escalates with Dorff's violent behavior, but seriously flawed as plot holes proliferate. With a few good shocks and slinky support from Juliette Lewis, it's perfectly enjoyable as a popcorn distraction, but maybe they should've called it Cold Creaky Manor instead. --Jeff Shannon
