What Lies Beneath
Reviews
John Chard
You're not yourself today are you? Claire and Norman Spencer's marriage starts to fall apart when she believes there is a ghost in the house. Things gather apace when Claire is convinced that the spirit is trying to tell her something. Something that could be too close to home for comfort. Robert Zemeckis does Hitchcock? Well yes, the influence is obvious, unashamedly so. But the trouble with that, is having the maestro as a benchmark renders all other modern day attempts as folly. However, casting aside that gargantuan issue, What Lies Beneath is an effective creeper come thriller that boasts star credentials. Directed by Zemeckis, formed from an idea by Steven Spielberg (from the story by Sarah Kernochan) and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as the fragmenting Spencer's. That's a pretty tidy bunch from which to launch your movie. What follows is a mixture of genuine unease and mystery, red herrings and standard boo jump moments, all of which almost gets lost on a saggy middle section as Zemeckis plays Hitchcock one too many times and loses sight of the supernatural heart of the piece, not helped by Clark Gregg's meandering script I might add. None the less, the picture gets pulled around for the finale as the spooky combines with thriller to produce some quality edge of the seat stuff. But it's only then that you totally realise that the makers here have tried to cram too much in to one film. In eagerness to manipulate the audience for the fine ending (though you probably will have it worked out at the half way point) the film just ends up as being confused as to what it mostly wanted to be. Pfeiffer is excellent and looks stunning and Ford gives it gusto when the script allows. Support comes from Diana Scarwid, Joe Morton, Miranda Otto and James Remar. The house is suitably eerie with its waterside setting and Alan Silvestri's score is perfectly in tune with the creepy elements of the piece. It's a fine enough film in its own right, regardless of the Hitchcockian homages. It's just that it should have been a far better horror picture than it turned out to be. 7/10
Wuchak
***Ghostly happenings in northern Vermont with Ford & Pfeiffer*** A couple living on Lake Champlain (Harrison Ford & Michelle Pfeiffer) face the empty nest syndrome as the wife experiences increasingly spectral happenings. Diana Scarwid, James Remar and Miranda Otto have peripheral roles. "What Lies Beneath" (2000) is a Hitchcockian drama/mystery with a bit o’ horror. It starts by borrowing from "Rear Window" (1954), but thankfully veers from there. At a little past the hour mark I was starting to get restless. The story was progressing too slowly with too many doors inexplicably opening. I suppose it didn’t help that Pfeiffer doesn’t trip my trigger, although she’s serviceable (I wouldn’t say I DON’T like her); and Harrison’s character seems unjustifiably gruff and impatient. However, the Upstate Vermont/ New York locations are fabulous and a mysterious mood is effectively established. The way things pan out is unexpected, unless you saw the trailer first, which outrageously spoils it. The concluding F/X sequence is beautiful in a ghostly way and satisfyingly brings closure. What didn’t make sense earlier is elucidated. At the end of the day, the movie’s underwhelming, but not altogether unworthy if you’re in the mode for a flick of this sort. The film runs 2 hours, 10 minutes, and was shot in the Lake Champlain region of Vermont/New York (Burlington, D.A.R. State Park, Waterbury & Westport) with other stuff done in Southern Cal (Los Angeles, Playa Vista & Culver City). GRADE: C+/B-
tmdb15435519
Not a great film, but two things that made it bearable: 1) Directed by Robert Zemeckis 2) I watched it in a hotel room
CinemaSerf
"Claire" (Michelle Pfeiffer) and "Norman" (Harrison Ford) are an happily married couple with a lovely lakeside home. It turns out that she has only recently survived a nasty car crash, and so when she starts complaining about some inexplicable things happening in their home, "Norman" suggests that she see a therapist to try to alleviate here ever increasing paranoia. Her friend "Jody" (Diana Scarwid) uses a ouija board and soon "Claire" is convinced that the empty house next door is being haunted - but why? Who is the paranormal woman she hears and sees, and what has is to do with her and her family? Robert Zemekis starts this off quite tensely, the imagery is scary and effective. The lack of gory or silly special effects gives it a chill that for the first hour, or so, works fairly well. Sadly, though, it runs out of steam and the storyline just loses it's way. The last half hour has more endings than you can shake a stick at, and when it does finally conclude I felt the whole thing was pretty far-fetched and unsatisfactory. Ford just isn't really at the races here - he was/is much better with roles that allow him to demonstrate his considerable charisma and personality. With no such opportunity here, his character is just flat - at times too earnest, at others just implausible. The title suggests much more that this mid-range horror thriller delivers.
Movie Recommendation
Six Days Seven Nights1998-06-12In the South Pacific island of Makatea, career-driven magazine editor Robin Monroe is on a week-long vacation getaway with her boyfriend, Frank Martin. An emergency work assignment in neighboring Tahiti requires Robin to hire the cantankerous pilot Quinn Harris who had flown them to Makatea on a small transport plane. While flying, a powerful storm forces Quinn to make an emergency landing on a nearby deserted island. The dissimilar pair avoid each other at first, until they're forced to team up to escape from the island -- and some pirates who want their heads.More...
What Keeps You Alive2018-08-24Majestic mountains, a still lake and venomous betrayals engulf a married couple attempting to celebrate their first anniversary.More...
Stir of Echoes1999-09-10After being hypnotized by his sister-in-law, Tom Witzky begins seeing haunting visions of a girl's ghost and a mystery begins to unfold around her.More...
When a Man Loves a Woman1994-04-29An airline pilot and his wife are forced to face the consequences of her alcoholism when her addictions threaten her life and their daughter's safety. While the woman enters detox, her husband must face the truth of his enabling behavior.More...
Air Force One1997-07-25When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.More...
Bartali: The Iron Man2006-03-26TV Miniseries (2 episodes) about life and rivalry of italian bikers Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi.More...
Ma che colpa abbiamo noi2003-01-10Seven people in a therapy group are forced to find new ways of coping with their problems when their therapist dies in the middle of a session.More...
Amityville 3-D1983-11-18To debunk the Amityville house's infamous reputation and take advantage of a rock-bottom asking price, skeptical journalist John Baxter buys the place and settles in to write his first novel.More...
Incompreso1998-01-29Freely taken from the novel "Misunderstood" by Florence Montgomery, "Incompreso" takes place in the second half of the 1950s in Lucca: Edoardo Quaratesi, an important producer of fine wines, while loving his wife Elisa and his two children, Francesco and Mino, is mainly dedicated to his work. To suffer the most from the absence of Edoardo is the firstborn, Francesco, who pours all his unsatisfied need for love on his mother and little brother. After Elisa's death due to a serious illness, the situation at the Quaratesi home gets complicated, until we reach a dramatic epilogue.More...
Nightworld2017-05-29When former LAPD officer Brett Anderson takes a job as head of security at an old apartment building in Sofia, Bulgaria, he soon begins to experience a series of bizarre and terrifying events. Soon after delving into the building's sinister history and investigate its shadowy owners and past employees, Brett uncovers a malevolent force nestled deep in the bowels of the building that will do anything to be set free into our world.More...
Heat1986-10-16Reynolds plays an ex-soldier-of-fortunish character in Vegas, taking "Chaperone" jobs, fighting with the mob, and trying to get enough money together to move to Venice, Italy.More...
Charly1968-09-23An experiment on a simpleton turns him into a genius. When he discovers what has been done to him he struggles with whether or not what was done to him was right.More...
London River2009-02-09After traveling to London to check on their missing children in the wake of the 2005 terror attacks on the city, two strangers come to discover their respective children had been living together at the time of the attacksMore...
The Traffic Policeman1960-11-16An unemployed man gets a job as traffic policeman but the traffic in the big city creates innumerous problems for the poor guy.More...
Hex2018-10-26A couple's holiday romance is thrown into chaos as they are afflicted by a malicious force.More...
Brampton's Own2018-10-19A struggling minor league baseball player retires and woefully returns to his small hometown, carefully dodging old wounds until confronted with the one that hurts the most - the girl that got away.More...
Tell Me Something1999-11-13Detective Cho, a cop on the edge, is mourning his mother's recent death while under investigation for graft; on top of that he is suddenly put in charge of a seemingly-impenetrable mystery.More...
Jeanny - The Fifth Girl2022-01-30In Mödling, a small town near Vienna, girls between the ages of 18 and 20 have been disappearing without a trace at ever shorter intervals for the past 13 years. Residents are worried and accuse the police of incompetence. In this environment of fear and mistrust, the 19-year-old schoolgirl Jeanny meets the mysterious but charming tax consultant Johannes, which initially has something threatening about it. But Johannes sees more in Jeanny than just an innocent girl. And he gives Jeanny, who lost her father at a young age, support and recognition. He helps her to pass the Matura, he awakens her self-confidence and gives her the appreciation that she misses. An unusual love grows between the two, which is initially kept secret from everyone. As she is drawn deeper and deeper into the whirl of her feelings, the aggressive climate in the town continues to escalate. A militia is formed. Jeanny is becoming increasingly insecure. Can she really trust Johannes?More...
Chaman Bahaar2020-06-19An ambitious young man, in a small town in Central India, sets up a paan shop to a floundering start. His fortunes start to change dramatically when a family shifts in the house across the road. Hordes of boys start following the teenage girl from the family and set up an "adda" at Billu's shop. His business flourishes tremendously but Billu is now more unhappy than ever, as he has fallen for the girl himself!More...
C.I.A. Code Name: Alexa1992-09-24A CIA operative kills a terrorist during a prison break. When a group of terrorists attempts to recover a microchip implanted in the man's body, one of them is captured and convinced by the CIA to work for them as an informer.More...
Similar Movies
The Marrying Man
1991-04-05Charley Pearl, wealthy heir and gadabout, is slated to marry Adele, the daughter of a Hollywood tycoon. But, during a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas, Charley strikes up a flirtation with nightclub crooner Vicki Anderson that soon leads to her bedroom. When the couple are discovered by Vicki's beau, infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel, he makes a surprising pronouncement -- they'd better marry, or Charley is a dead man.Whose Life Is It Anyw...
1981-12-02Ken Harrison is an artist that lives to make sculptures. One day he is involved in a car accident, and is paralyzed from his neck down. All he can do is talk and move his head, and he wants to die. Whilst he is in hospital he makes friends with some of the staff, and they support him when he goes to trial to be allowed to die.Taintlight
2009-11-17The tale of Stella, a young girl who falls in love with an ancient, beautifully-behaired bloodsucker named Edgar. They struggle to stay together in the midst of vampire carnage, but a love triangle bubbles up when a Michael Jackson-loving werewolf named Jack comes forward professing his own love for Stella. Meanwhile, a rival group of "real" vampires led by the evil Razor McBleed are prowling.Bandit
2022-09-23After escaping a Michigan prison, a charming career criminal assumes a new identity in Canada and goes on to rob a record 59 banks and jewellery stores while being hunted by a rogue task force. Based on the true story of The Flying Bandit.Harbinger Down
2015-08-07A group of grad students have booked passage on the fishing trawler Harbinger to study the effects of global warming on a pod of Orcas in the Bering Sea. When the ship's crew dredges up a recently thawed piece of old Soviet space wreckage, things get downright deadly. It seems that the Russians experimented with tardigrades, tiny resilient animals able to withstand the extremes of space radiation. The creatures survived, but not without mutation. Now the crew is exposed to aggressively mutating organisms. And after being locked in ice for 3 decades, the creatures aren't about to give up the warmth of human companionship.The Winter Lake
2020-10-01When Holly’s dark secret is accidentally uncovered by her new emotionally unstable neighbor Tom, they are pulled into a violent confrontation with her father, who will do anything to keep the secret hidden.The Devils
1971-07-16In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by the sexually repressed Sister Jeanne.Rogers Park
2017-10-19Two Chicago couples struggle to keep their love alive when secrets and long-simmering resentments rise to the surface.Sweet Curse
2021-07-01Ha-jun always engross his friends love with his good looks. Min-woo, a close friend who is jealous of Ha-jun, summons a devilish ghost, but the ghost who fell in love with Ha-jun spends a hot night with Ha-jun every day. Looking at Ha-jun who looks happy after all, Min-woo is planning another curse.Star Trek III: The Se...
1984-06-01A surprise visit from Spock's father provides a startling revelation: McCoy is harboring Spock's living essence.Hotel Rwanda
2004-12-22Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.Dead Poets Society
1989-06-02At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.North by Northwest
1959-08-06Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.Rebecca
1940-03-23Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.The Godfather Part II...
1974-12-20In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.Natural Born Killers
1994-08-26Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.The Godfather Part II...
1990-12-25In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.The Killing
1956-06-06Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.Ghost
1990-07-13After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.Nobody Knows
2004-08-07In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.