Cold Creek Manor

By EWAN McDONALD

(Herald rating: * *)


Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone star as Cooper and Leah Tilson, who are determined to quit the city after one of their two children (Kristen Stewart and Ryan Wilson) is nearly hit by a car. They move to the country and buy a do-up without going through the basic necessities.

Well, the Tilson family can't say they weren't warned, because the locals could have told them there was always something funny about that place.

Stitched together from just about every haunted house movie you've ever seen, you can sense Quaid and Stone lost interest in the project.

This is all the more surprising because Cold Creek Manor is directed by Mike Figgis, an Oscar-winner for the black Leaving Las Vegas and a man who is practised in atmospheric film-making with Timecode and Stormy Monday.

DVD viewers will enjoy the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack. Figgis' commentary is dull, full of tedious production information, a couple of cheap promotional features, eight deleted scenes and an alternative happy ending.

DVD, video rental June 16