What Lies Beneath
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Movie Reviews of What Lies Beneath
Movie Review: A brilliant, complex and masterfully engaging horror.
Summary: 5 Stars
What Lies Beneath, a brilliant, masterfully played out homage to Hitchcock is quite frankly the scariest movie I have ever seen. I came out of the cinema pale and shaking and while I was watching the film I was so scared I even had to shield my eyes at parts. All the scary parts are brought to life by a great score with manages to grab you in the nuts at the most unexpected times. The movie is over 2 hours long but never tires. I have watched this about 5 times now and every time I get the chills and always appreciate the film more. Robert Zemeckis excellent direction reminds us of how many great movies directors can do in 1 year. Cast Away and this film were both brilliant experiences and Zemeckis directs them both brilliantly. The performances excel, with Michelle Pfeiffer excellent as Claire Spencer who, while trying to uncover a masterful mystery, is slowly losing her mind. Harrison Ford brings up many shocks and takes a surprising back seat. His performance is fabulous. What Lies Beneath builds its suspense - especially in one horrifyingly Hitchcockian bathtub sequence - and always uses its ideas. I couldn't find many plot holes but the film can be complex at times. If you watch the film carefully and take note of everything that's happening I'm sure you'll understand the ending and the mystery that is slowly unlocking. What Lies Beneath has many great camera shots too like Michelle's toe peaking above the bath water, her hand clutching the side, her grabbing a sharp piece of glass and it reflecting her terrified face and a freaky close-up on Harrison Ford's eye. I love this movie, and it will always be a heart-stopping and fun experience for me to sit through.Movie Review: A Triumph! One Of The Most Terrorfying Films Ever Made!
Summary: 5 Stars
What Lies Beneath is by far the scariest movie I've ever seen. Movies like the Scream trilogy and The Haunting just don't hold the candle to What Lies Beneath. This movie actually scared me, unlike most scary movies do.In the film, Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford play Claire and Norman Spencer, a typical American couple who are grieving over their daughter who has just left for college. Claire soon discovers that her house is being haunted by the ghost of a young woman. She suspects it is the ghost of the woman who lives next door, and that her husband had murderer her. But she is soon proven wrong, and when she discovers the terrorfying truth, things take a turn for the worst.
Robert Zemeckis is brilliant. When I discovered that he was the same director that did Forest Gump, I was shocked. The sets, the acting, and the story were just great. Everything about this movie was great. Take the house,for instense. In the daylight, it looks like the perfect dreamhouse, but give the right lighting and shoot it from the right angle and you can make it look monsterous, scary even. This was an odd role for Harrison Ford. I always thought of Harrison Ford as the more heroic type, not the bad guy. But he's god at it nonetheless.
All in all, What Lies Beneath is a fantastic film. The balance of the twists and surprises are what make it so great. What Lies Beneath is just one of those classic films that proves that you don't need to over do it with big special effects, blood, and gore to make a good horror film.
Movie Review: Underrated
Summary: 5 Stars
Since it's Halloween season, I thought I would get WLB again. This film is a strong, well made thriller with two great actors, which is a rarity for this day & age.
I find it hard to understand why so many critics had so much trouble with this flick when it came out. Holding it next to so many other "scary movies" I have seen lately, WLB just seems stronger.
The cinematography is simply amazing, and it's great to watch the two actors spar in great continuous extended shots with little or no editing.
In a sense, it is a throwback to the days of Hitchcock, when "classic" actors were paired on the silver screen -- and that is part of the beauty of watching this flick.
It's nice to see some character development in a thriller-- something lacking in current "scary flicks" -- a technique of which Hitchcock was a master.
Pfeiffer nails the role, and Zemeckis knows how to play with that vulnerable edginess that she is known for. It's fun to watch her development from the facade of "happy housewife" to psychological wreck, then shift again to resolution out of necessity.
All of the atmosphere is great & Zemeckis goes the whole nine yards. So many shots in the pic are so well composed and executed.
I think it's a great film to study if you are looking at elements of a horror movie.
I highly reccomend waching the director's commentary, as it gives a better appreciation for the film as a whole.
No, it's not quite "The Shining," but it's still pretty damn good.
Movie Review: EXCELLENT -- may be more of a woman's movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I have seen this movie both in the theater and on DVD at home. First off, my daughter and I went to see the movie together in the theater. Let's just say there are a couple scenes we both screamed at in unison with other theater goers. It's not exactly a horror movie and there are no blood and guts, there are just some tremendously alarming scenes. Don't let kids under 13 see this movie if possible. When the DVD came out my husband and I purchased it as did a couple we know. Both of us couples watched it the same night in different houses -- the women (my friend and I) reacted much the same as my daughter and I had in the theater. Our husbands' reaction was sort of ho hum -- neither of them enjoyed it as much as they anticipated they would. So perhaps it's a woman's movie? Though I have a brother who loved it, so maybe it's not...Other than my assessment that this movie is a great one, based on my experience, I can't say more because it would give away too much of the plot. Let's just say, a friend of mine saw it before me and asked if I'd seen it. When she found out I hadn't seen it yet she refused to discuss any part of it because she thought she would spoil it for me -- and she would have. I don't want to spoil it for you, so I can't say more about it. It's an unusual film.
Given the mixed reactions I've seen with friends and family, perhaps you would be better advised to rent it before you go out and buy it. If you love it, buy it so you can watch it again someday.
Movie Review: Hitchcock-class horror
Summary: 5 Stars
"What Lies Beneath" is one of the best movies ever made - with respect to the technical side of the cinematography. Light, photography and camera work are excellent, especially if viewed on DVD or Home Theater system. Particular snapshots are the work of pure art, as we know it - Michelle Pfeiffer photographed contemplating the mystery of the lake is the best example, I think. Never before a simple snapshot with no special technical effects had affected me this much. Crystal-clear picture indeed is the most remarkable feature of the film. With "What Lies Beneath", Zemeckis paid a tribute to the late Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. This film shares more with the old black-and-white masterpieces than any other film in history. Produced in 2000, the movie can boast of modern surround sound, and even if you do not have a five-piece soundworks system, you will feel the cold sweat running along your spine provided that you watch the film with normal headphones. I practically guarantee you that, scared senseless, you will turn back to see what that creepy noise is...what's whispering in the back of your room.
This is a first-rate horror, and I admit that it's my personal best for all reasons mentioned above, and also because of superior acting. Mrs. Pfeiffer has never been better, more seductive, and more mysterious - a classic, elegant, beautiful, talented actress. Really, there is nothing more I could want.