"...the house is haunted..."

WHAT LIES BENEATH (PG-13)

Reviewed July 23, 2000 - Check out the What Lies Beneath Website.

Studio Synopsis: It had been a year since Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) betrayed his beautiful wife Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer). But with Claire oblivious to the truth and the affair over, Norman's life and marriage seem perfect-so perfect that when Claire tells him of hearing mysterious voices and seeing a young woman's wraithlike image in their home, he dismisses her mounting terror as delusion.

However, as Claire moves closer to the truth, it becomes clear that this apparition will not be dismissed, and has come back for Dr. Norman Spencer ... and his beautiful wife.

Fuzzydog Review: Director Robert Zemeckis has made a name for himself based on his work on many great films.  Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Contact are just some of the highlights.  Yup, we're dealing with one talented director here, and in What Lies Beneath, this talented director has chosen to take on a beleaguered but ever-popular genre--horror.  Yes, horror.

Okay okay, some people might be inclined to refer to What Lies Beneath as a "psychological thriller" or a "chilling suspense drama."  After all, would Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer really get involved in something as cheesy as a horror flick?  Of course not!  But folks, make no mistake about it, even given that What Lies Beneath is a smarter, more mature and more complex film than your run of the mill horror picture, it is nonetheless a scare-you-out-of-your-wits, jolt-you-out-of-your-seat kind of ride...and it's a fairly good one.  Credit Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford for beautifully carrying what is essentially a two-person show, and Zemeckis for making a film that puts you on the edge of your seat and keeps you there.  What Lies Beneath is far from groundbreaking work, but it is effective filmmaking on a certain visceral level.  There's always a bit of audience manipulation involved when films attempt to give you a good scare...but if you can take that in stride, you might just have some fun with this Ford/Pfeiffer/Zemeckis star vehicle...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

India_donnelly@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "This is a really great film. It is scary to a majoir extent and has a great twist at the end. The acting is great, and so is the script. It is not a scary film that's just not frightening, this really is 'putting a pillow over your face good'. I recomend it to an older audience. " (5/18/01)

David Rogers gives this movie  star: "Boring! This movie went slower than a rock being kicked by a turtle! I can name a whole bunch of sceans than could have been cut and most of them were at the begining! I bet Zemeckis was ashamed of this when he saw the final cut! Who else thinks that they overdid the entire bathroom thing? I mean there was less water sceans in Jaws! I shudder to think of how much water was wasted just so they could make this movie. And talk about predictable! I remember this one scean (if you havn't seen the movie and want to, don't read this next part) where Michelle's character is trying to get this phone from underneath her knocked out, psycotic husband, I mean you just know he's going to try and grab her! But what really made this scean bad was the fact that there was a perfectly good phone right next to her that she ended up taking anyway! This movie was the worst movie of the year 2000, just bearly beating that other loser Scary Movie! I'd only recomend this movie ! to people who have insomnia!" (2/20/01)