- Actors: Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Katharine Towne, Miranda Otto, James Remar
- Directors: Robert Zemeckis
- Writers: Clark Gregg, Sarah Kernochan
- Producers: Robert Zemeckis, Cherylanne Martin, Jack Rapke, Joan Bradshaw, Mark Johnson
- Language English
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Fox
- VHS Release Date: 17 Sep 2001
- Run Time: 130 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005AMEL
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,014 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
What would Hitchcock have done if he had had modern digital effects? The answer is almost certainly: something very like What Lies Beneath, Robert Zemeckis' technically accomplished supernatural thriller that pays open homage to Suspicion, Rear Window and Psycho, to name but three. Michelle Pfeiffer delivers one of the finest, most nuanced performances of her career as a woman in an ideal relationship whose perfect life begins to unravel with terrifying consequences. Harrison Ford plays sympathetically against type as her husband who may or may not be telling her the truth. Although made in the middle of his filming Cast Away, while the director waited for Tom Hanks to shed some pounds, this is no quickie throwaway picture. Zemeckis loads this character-driven story with genuinely scary suspense, using subtle camera moves, mirrored reflections and red-herrings in a classic Hitchcockian manner--the difference here is that he has access to the most up-to-date digital effects and employs them with characteristic imagination, creating seemingly impossible camera angles that only enhance the tension. The Production Design is equally carefully considered, as even the idyllic household setting with its pristine bathroom is gradually transformed into an object of terror. Composer Alan Silvestri's score winds up the drama several notches further with an appropriate Bernard Herrmann pastiche.
On the DVD: The principal attraction of this disc is the pin-sharp anamorphic picture and 5.1 soundtrack--superb picture and sound quality contribute greatly to the enjoyment here, since Zemeckis is one of the few contemporary directors who remains acutely sensitive to the composition of each and every scene. The brief featurette is a little misleadingly titled, as it's essentially a profile of Zemeckis' career with a few comments about this film thrown in for good measure. The rather dry and uninvolving commentary is by Zemeckis with producers Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke. --Mark Walker
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I have watched this movie several times now and yet it never bores me, even though I know exactly what is going to happen. I still jump too which I find completely amusing. This is also one of the few films out there that has managed to keep my hubby awake AND interested at the same time!!!
It tells the story of Claire, (Pfeiffer), and Norman Spencer, (Ford), who live a very comfortable life in their beautiful country house. They see their only daughter off to college at the start of the film and then everything goes pear-shaped.
Norman is a Professor of science and is working very hard on a project at the university. This means that Claire, who is feeling quite emotional at the sudden loss of her daughter, is left alone quite a bit. She begins to see and hear things that she can't quite believe are real. For instance, she is scooping the dog's ball from the lake and sees something just below the surface of the water. The front door seems to know just when she's going to open it and does it for her, and then of course there is the bath that won't quit running itself!!!
Norman begins to think that all this is some kind of delayed trauma from the daughter's departure and also from a car accident that Claire had a year ago. But Claire sees things about the neighbours behaviour that convince her that the husband has killed his wife.
All in all this film has you on the very edge of your seat from start to finish. There is a great rapport between the two leads and a few twists and turns that keep you guessing right up to the end. This is exactly what a thriller should be made of and I for one will never tire of it.
This is great stuff so do yourself a favour and buy it!!!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This was one film I thought I could watch at night but had to turn off straight away as I was so scared. I finally watched it during the day and I still almost jumped out of my skin! Brilliant acting, brilliant camera angles and brilliant story. A bit predicatable at the end but the shocks make you forgive all its sins... Just as I thought it was all over at the end of the film, the music started and drove me out of the room again. I dare everyone to watch this on their own. Truly one of a kind.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Thank God! Finally a really scary film with not a hint of a slasher movie about it. I watched this in the cinema last year when I shared a house with 5 other girls - not one of us slept alone that night. This is a must-see, late at night but not alone. Without giving any of the story away, let me just say this - you'll never look at your bath the same way again...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Waste of an evening...
I thought this film was dull, predictable, "plodding", and not in the least bit scary. I bought it because of the good reviews on amazon, but I really did think it was a dud...
Published 10 months ago by Jack Richardson
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. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Spike Owen
Here Is What Lies Beneath This Film...
When I first saw this film in the fall of '98 I was half expecting some sort of lavish remake of 'Ben Hur' from what I had been told by fellow film-goers. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Monsieur Slinky
Norman was right!...
It's quite a gripping story. But all considered, The character of Harrison Ford was right, his wife should have left it alone! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. L. Amjadi
What Lies Beneath
`What Lies Beneath' is a pretty good thriller movie starring both Michelle Pfieffer and Harrison Ford. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by Spider Monkey
Wonderful ghost story
Empty nester and retired Cello player Claire (Michelle Pfieffer) is devastated by her daughter's moving away to attend college; the only consolation is being able to begin the... Read more
Published on 18 May 2009 by Dismal Angel
Good if not great
Okay, so I admit to falling in love with Harrison Ford in Star Wars and over the years it must be said he's made way more hits than misses. Read more
Published on 11 April 2009 by Frog
This reminds me of Midnight Lace
"Midnight Lace" was a little known Doris Day thriller where an American woman living in London was menaced by a threatening voice which came out of the London fog. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2008 by P. Ruffle
A spooky treat for Halloween
The `woman in peril' motif has been a staple of film entertainment since forever and What Lies Beneath is a clear addition to the genre. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2008 by Magdabat
Annie, Carmarthenshire - tip top viewing!
I had seen this before on tv, and many films come and go, but this held me with the intrigue, watching the story unfold, working out if Claire (Michelle)had just lost the plot, and... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2007 by Ann Denton
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