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What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath

List Price: $12.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Scary as hell, yet suprisingly boring
Review: Scream was so famous because of it's use of comedy and horror. This movie has decided to mix drama with horror and it doesn't work....at all. Its soooooooo drug out and boring that when something truly scary happens, it scares the crap out of you! The drama in The Sixth Sense was so enjoyable because of the great script and the terrific cast. The cast in this is nothing short of terrific too, but its the script that makes the movie so slow. The characters aren't interesting at all. They are extremely ordinary and and just lifeless. They are only likable because you know going into the film that they are your main characters and you have to like them. They do nothing or say nothing to make you like them. Michelle Pfeiffer's character is scared through out the whole movie - even at the beginning - for no reason. First the neighbor scares her, then the ghost scares her, then she's scaring herself! It seems like she walks around this movie trying to be scared. She seems to have no hobby or no life. The reason I gave this movie four stars is because it is well acted, there is a great mystery (even though it passes by sooooo slowly) and the ending is nothing but a shocking twist that leaves your mouth hanging open for about a half an hour (being the horror movie lover that I am, I did guess what was going on before it was revealed). There are some really good scares, probably because it is slow then the scares come fast, but at least it does it's job. And the setting is quite eerie. What Lies Beneath is good and is definitely worth watching....just know that its slow and does drag for sometime.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Horrifyingly Horrific
Review: Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of horror flicks (I get easily scared) but "What Lies Beneath" definitely tempted me into watching. I'm sure glad I did! Not only was it one of the best movies I've seen (one of my favorites now), it was horrifyingly horrific and totally unpredictible. Just when you think that things have calmed down and your palms will finally stop sweating, you'll start sweating even more. There are a variety of climaxes that should keep you glued to your seat. Michelle Pfeiffer (did I spell that right?) and Harisson Ford shine in this movie with some great acting. With their convincing acting and the great directing and story line, this movie should keep you tossing and turning throughout the night, thinking about what could have happened...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Totally awesome suspense filled film
Review: I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys suspense and sitting on the edge of their seats. In addition to that, it also has an excellent plot that keeps you guessing all the way to the end. Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford are awesome in this movie. Awesome movie that will send chills down your back!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great Homage from One Great Director to Another.
Review: "What Lies Beneath" might not be the most Original film ever made, but it achieves its purpose by scaring the wits out of its audience. Even when I could tell a shock is right around the corner, I still jumped out of my seat when it came.

An Old Fashioned Story is given Old Fashioned Craftsmanship as the Director, Robert Zemeckis tips his hat to Hitchcock time and time again. There are nods to such Hitchcock classics as "Rope", "Rear Window", "Psycho" and "Suspicion". Picking them out just adds to the fun.

Even though the films Trailer gives away far too much of the plot, there are still plenty of twists and turns along the way. Michelle Pfeiffer is Perfectly cast as the mother whose "Empty Nest" feelings prove to be far worse than she expected. Harrison Ford is also wonderful as her Caring Husband, but Michelle is the real star. She is Believable, Likeable, Intelligent, Sexy; she has it all, and she uses it.

The fact that so much of the story is given away by the films trailer is the reason the film gets 4 stars instead of 5. It really does affect the film, it cannot be put out of your mind.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sheer horror
Review: What Lies Beneath

Score: 78/100

Beware of the trailer for What Lies Beneath! If you want to see the film and not know what's going to happen, you must stay away from all adverts of this classy, hip thriller. I, fortunately, knew nothing about the movie when I went to see it, so I was lucky. But, if you see the trailer, you'll be able to guess the end twist within the first second. However, once you keep yourself darned away from that advertisement, your on the right track, and are sure to like this chilling and thought-provoking film.

Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford), a university research scientist, is growing more and more concerned about his wife, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), a retired concert cellist who a year ago was involved in a serious auto accident, and who has just sent off her daughter Caitlin (Norman's stepdaughter) to college. Now, Claire reports hearing voices and witnessing eerie occurrences in and around their lakeside Vermont home, including seeing the face of a young woman reflected in water. An increasingly frightened Claire thinks the phenomena have something to do with the couple living next door, especially since the wife has disappeared without apparent explanation. At her husband's urging, Claire starts to see a therapist; she tells him she thinks the house is being haunted by a ghost. His advice? Try to make contact. Enlisting the help of her best friend, Jody (Diana Scarwid), and a ouija board, Claire seeks to find out the truth of What Lies Beneath.

At the very, very end the film kinds of drains away and leaves us with something a little more lifeless than the first hour and a half, but, flaws aside, What Lies Beneath is an excellent film. However, to call it a film or a movie is underestimating this thriller - it's more of an experience. What Lies Beneath's spooks and scares will practically traumatise you for the coming days. It's a truly horrifying piece of cinema, behind The Exorcist as the scariest film of all time. I couldn't stop jumping out of my seat and my face was pale when I came out of the cinema. It may not have the brilliance of The Exorcist, but it certainly has the style, the high performance level and the true smell of sheer horror that The Exorcist had included in 1973.

Not for everyone, but for people who want a lot of fun as well as a lot of seriously sweaty scares, What Lies Beneath is the perfect night out.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Alfred Hitchcock would be proud.
Review: After hearing mixed reactions of What Lies Beneath-from long and boring to scary and suspenseful, I decided to give it a watch and I am definitely glad I did. I don't want to talk about the plot since alot of the other reviewers aleady have, but all you should expect is alot of twist and turns. Sure the movie is long, but if you take a chance and actually watch it, you get intrigued and completely forget about it's length. Director Robert Zemeckis does an excellent job of an Alfred Hitchcock worthy movie with a modern touch. It is Alfred Hitchcock worthy because of all the interesting camera angles and the dramatic score. I was disappointed in some of the DVD features such as a 20-minute behind-the-scenes, which was bascially more about the director than the movie and the director's commentory, which wasn't very indepth and their speech/voices were very muffled. Other than that I would recommend What Lies Beneath to any horror/thriller fan-you will be completely satisfied.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Thriller
Review: Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer are a great film ensemble. They seem to have a perfect life and healthy marriage but the past will show otherwise... There's a lot of "jumping" moments and lots of suspense. Michelle Pfeiffer is an amazing actress who conveys her character's feelings and emotions through her acting. This movie kinda' entices the fact that no one can bear a secret long enough to get away with it. Very good thriller...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: alright
Review: This movie started out good and had me going until the middle of the movie. The rest of the move was dissapointing. I did not buy harrison ford being an evil character and he did not pull it off very well. Over all I think it was worth watching, but not worth buying. It had all the attraction of a made for tv movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: good in parts but too damn long!
Review: ok this movie is about what?2hours and 30 min. long???through the first 2 hours,you have to be really energetic to not fall asleep like i do every single time cept for in the theaters.the last half hour was great,though because something was actually happening unlike the first two hours!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What An Exceptional Thriller
Review: When I first saw What Lies Beneath in mid-July I didn't think too much of it. It was fairly entertaining but the "twist ending" that all the actors were so tight-lipped about when making the late night talk show rounds wound up being a disappointment to me. But now I've seen the movie four times in the last month alone (since it's release on DVD) and I've come to appreciate that knowing the outcome is half the fun. It's really more of a distraction when you know a twist is on the horizon and are constantly looking for it. Instead I suggest you allow the suspense to build at it's slow, deliberate pace without losing patience or concerning yourself with the outcome because the payoff makes it well worthwhile.

Michelle Pfeiffer (who only seems to become more beautiful with age) stars as Claire Spencer, a former musician and wife to a renowned scientist. His name is Norman (the first of many Hitchcock references), and after being offered a very prestigious position at his late father's school he uproots the family and moves them all to Vermont. Claire in turn dedicates herself to being the perfect trophy wife, and mother to her daughter from a previous marriage, Catlin. But when Caitlin moves away to college she's left with nothing but free time on her hands, triggering an empty nest episode of sorts. She begins watching her neighbor, suspecting that he may have killed his wife after overhearing them argue. The next night she sees him putting what looks like a body bag into his trunk amidst a thunderstorm.

While Claire's playing Jimmy Stewart, odd happenings begin to occur around the house. She starts hearing whispers, doors blow open, a picture frame falls. On their own they may seem coincidential, but in the context of all the other goings-on suggests the unimaginable, that their seemingly picturesque Victorian home is possessed. Norman jokingly speculates that it's his father, in a particularly passive agressive move on his part, letting them know that he doesn't like the renovations they're making on his home. Claire on the other hand, comes to believe it's their neighbors dead wife trying to goat her on to investigating her disappearance.

Beyond that I don't want to give away too much of the plot except to say that the most foreshadowing moment in the movie occurs less than five minutes into it. So for the very observant the twist shouldn't be too difficult to spot, though it doesn't seem to play in anywhere near as obvious or unsettling a way as it did on the big screen.

What's so remarkable about this film is just how much fun Robert Zemeckis has with the material. He squeezed this one in between making Cast Away and seems to be reveling in the lack of anticipation that comes with a supernatural thriller, as opposed to a Tom Hanks drama which has the weight of expected awards and a hundred million box office take to bare. Here he just lets loose, allowing himself a vanity project to show off with, using new and unique camera angles which distract from the performances but sure are fun to watch.

Both Harrison Ford (who plays Norman) and Michelle Pfeiffer give their careers much needed jumps with a couple of superb performances sure to strength their box office appeal, if nothing else. Pfeiffer's asked to carry most of the movie as for much of the film Ford is limited to the role of the unsupportive husband, or at least until the last half hour when things really pick up. Then he leaves quite an impression.

This is a movie that, though it's only a popcorn flick, is truly revolutionary in the way it utilizes technology to further it's plot. It's smart, scary and only to get better upon repeat viewing, a sure-fire sign of a potential classic in the making.


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