by MARK SLUTSKY

After exercising his experimental side with The Loss of Sexual Innocence, Timecode, and Hotel, Brit director Mike Figgis's latest, Cold Creek Manor, is a more-or-less straightforward Hollywood thriller. Figgis has done this sort of thing before (Internal Affairs), and he's actually not bad at it. Cold Creek Manor (which he also scored) is a decent suspenser, though it doesn't add up to much, with a good setup marred by a so-so payoff.

Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid star as a married-with-kids New York couple. He's a low-budget documentarian, she's a high-powered corporate type. Tired of dealing with the hassle and danger of the big city, they purchase a big, scary mansion - our Cold Creek Manor of the title - out in the country. For some reason that's never totally explained (besides the fact that the bank foreclosed on the manor's previous owners), the place comes with every possession and personal effect of the family who last lived there, which makes it even more creepy. During renovation, one of the house's former residents (Stephen Dorff) shows up, acting very weird and menacing. Stone and Quaid hire him on to the renovation crew anyway, and, unsurprisingly, the dude gets creepier and creepier - angrier and angrier at them for taking his house. Violence (and snake attacks) ensue.

What we have is a normal enough stalker movie, with a bit of the old "sophisticated city folks vs. rural savages" stuff thrown in. The cast is enjoyable enough to watch - Quaid is solid as the angry dad, while Stone is convincing, though she's not really given enough to do. Dorff thankfully reins it in, and he actually comes across with a good deal of menace.

Most of Cold Creek Manor is pleasingly absorbing. Figgis makes good use of the dark, gloomy atmosphere of the house - in some of the scariest scenes you can just see the silhouettes of the characters, which is quite effective. But the movie feels like it's building up towards something bigger, and when the inevitable revelation and confrontation come, they feel pretty straight-to-video. Not a bad effort, but Cold Creek Manor is ultimately somewhat wanting.

Cold Creek Manor opens Friday, Sept. 19

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