What Lies Beneath

Rating:
Summary: Do You Already Know Qhat Lies Beneath?
Review: Here's another textbook example of a film's preview giving away too much of its plot. What Lies Beneath is a full three-quarters over before you get to the content revealed in the trailer. Fortunately, it doesn't much matter - Beneath is a taut psychological thriller that would make Hitchcock proud. In fact, it could do for bathtubs what Hitch's Psycho did for showers.

Beneath features Harrison Ford (Random Hearts) and Michelle Pfeiffer (The Story of Us), two stars with box office clout fading faster than the Baltimore Orioles' chance at a playoff berth. They play Dr. Norman and Claire Spencer, a genetic biologist and an ex-concert cellist, respectively. They live in a picturesque waterfront Vermont home that was formerly owned by Norman's recently deceased father.

While Norman is completely consumed by his work, Claire stays at home and begins to experience strange and spooky stuff in their new house. It's your typical poltergeist fare - doors opening on their own, pictures crashing to the floor - but nobody's sure if it's just Claire suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome (her only daughter just left for college) or if she's really experiencing some type of otherworldly force. And if Claire is being haunted by an apparition, whose ghost is it? Norman's dead father or perhaps the Spencers' new neighbor, who Claire believes was murdered? In an homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, Claire thinks she sees her body being removed from the house one night in the pouring rain. Like I said, if you've seen the trailer, you already know the answer.

Claire also seems to be suffering from selective amnesia, forgetting important events that happened in her life, especially those surrounding a social event where Norman was awarded a Chair at a prestigious University. The whole role kind of reminded me of Emma Thompson in Kenneth Branagh's wonderful Dead Again. Claire has to piece her own life back together with virtually no help from her unsympathetic husband, who seems to only care that her kookiness is inconveniencing his career.

There are about a dozen jump-out-of-your-skin moments in Beneath. You can see most of them coming, but they're so well done that it doesn't matter. The ending is very maddening and takes so long to develop (about thirty minutes) that people at my screening nearly became physically ill. I can't ever recall being at a film before and hearing a group of men shouting out loud in fear or a woman shrieking at the top of her lungs. Beneath is a terrific popcorn thriller that plays better than The Sixth Sense and its sucker-punch ending. Just don't eat too much popcorn.

Pfeiffer gives one of her best performances ever, but Ford has just turned into a really bad actor. He's becoming more and more like Frankenstein with each film he makes. I'm not sure if he's actually wooden or just grumpy. Even Beneath's tagline could be interpreted as a poke at the fifty-eight-year-old actor - "He was the perfect husband until his one mistake followed them home." What was it? Sabrina? Six Days, Seven Nights? Random Hearts? It doesn't matter - when Ford takes off his shirt, studio executives roll around in money like Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal.

Director Robert Zemeckis (Contact) fills Beneath with a bunch of technically dazzling long shots, some of which left me scratching my head and wanting to see the film again. He's one of the better mainstream directors out there, and the fact that Zemeckis and crew are able to sustain such a level of sheer terror for the last thirty minutes is a real testament to the director and the script, which was written by Clark Gregg. Beneath is Gregg's debut screenplay, but he's appeared in a myriad of films with amazing scripts (Magnolia, The Usual Suspects, The Spanish Prisoner) and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award last year for his performance in The Adventures of Sebastian Cole.

Zemeckis, who won an Oscar for Forrest Gump, reassembled his top-notch crew for Beneath (namely, editor Arthur Schmidt, cinematographer Don Burgess, score-meister Alan Silvestri and production designer Rick Carter - all Oscar nominees for Gump). They do a fantastic job of making a beautiful lakefront home seem warm, cozy and inviting, as well as creepy, ominous and terrifying. Beneath is the first of two potential blockbusters helmed by Zemeckis this year - Cast Away, which re-teams the director with Gump star Tom Hanks, is set to be released this Christmas.

Rating:
Summary: !!! Alfred Hitchcock 2000 !!!
Review: For someone like me who is a big fan of thrillers, I find this movie's level of suspense and chilling thrill is ULTRA-HIGH. The story drives you in different directions but with high Adrenalin rushing through your body right from the begining of the movie. After passing one hour of the movie, things get a bit cold that I feared it's going to be a stupid ending. BUT I WAS WRONG! The events drive your blood to accelerate, your breath is taken... all until a SURPRISING POWERFUL ending! Then you'll be able to take a deep breath. If Alfred Hitchcock is still alive, this movie would have been his cup of coffee!

The two main great elements that has made this movie so successful:

1. Usually thriller movies are played by young actors. It is very rare to find a thriller played by a GIANT ACTOR such as Harrison Ford and actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

2. Robert Zemeckis (director and producer) is well known for his great successful movies with a variety of good taste; "Back To The Future (1,2 & 3)", "Cast Away", "Forrest Gump" and "Death Becomes Her". Zemeckis history also includes acting and writing!

Rating:
Summary: What TRULY lies beneath
Review: Good movie. A 90's hitchcock-type movie. I never found myself more scared after watching a movie than I did when I saw this movie. One thing about this movie that makes it scary is the sound and distinct noises. So if you didn't see it in theaters or if you don't have a great sound system, then I feel you are getting cheated out of a cheap thrill. Like most other suspense/horror/thriller movies, most of the scares come from sounds thrown at you. And this holds VERY true for this movie. Without hearing all the sounds, you'll only come out thinking this being a mediocre movie. When you can hear the simple whisperings that seem to come through the air, that's when I feel you would get your money's worth. All in all the movie was great, but I recommend before owning this dvd, invest in a better sound system. Look into something with Dolby Digital 5.1 AND DTS encoders. When you have all that, buy this movie and crank this sucker up. You won't be sorry. (actually maybe you will :)!)

Rating:
Summary: Heart Stopping Suspense
Review: I am not a big fan of Horror movies but I decided to watch it anyway. The action starts right away so that you don't get bored. The story is about a couple who's daughter went away to college and now they are living alone. When the wife is certain that the wife next door was killed by her husband, she starts finding strange things happening. You will keep jumping out of your seat. Then she finds out what has been lying beneath.....

Rating:
Summary: BAD MOVIE - BAD!
Review: Ok, for anyone that has seen really good suspense films that reach out grab you and pull you in to the movie in such a way that you would rather pee in your pants instead of hitting pause.

THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!!!!!

This movie was bad for the first half, then kinda kewl - then totally predictable!! - Rent B4 U buy

Rating:
Summary: Is that all there is??
Review: I'd heard a lot of good reports about this, from friends, so was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I was left feeling a little disappointed. I don't think it was all it was cracked up to be. I was expecting a good old scare-fest, but ended up feeling cheated.

The film starts slow, and doesn't really come to life until the last 45 minutes. Character development and an all too obvious neighbours from hell sub-plot, took up the first hour or so. Once things start to happen in the second half of the film, it began to look up. The sequence in the bath, was excellent, and with Surround Sound a real feeling of claustrophobia was there.

When all's said and done though, I was a bit disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: a mega cast, my favourite company... what went wrong?
Review: To say this film is terrible, is neither fair or correct. When you have this cast and this director and this company you cant make a bad film. Its not possible. But being a fan of huge movies life, 'rear window' and 'the burbs' I just kind of felt let down by the plot. It didn't have the edge that hitchcock injected into the James Stewart classic and it didn't have the intrigue and suspense of hanks in the burbs. It was almost to manufactured. All the old horror moments are in there, the weak lady frightened is left alone in the house with whatever it is that is frightening her etc. But what does save this movie is the perfect mix of the 'thriller' type moments, the jumps that you know are coming, as she backs up to an open door, are brilliantly mixed with the ones that you have no idea about! All in all it makes for a great ride but there is a but.

Ford, if ford, and he will always be Han solo/ Indiana Jones. But his performance is worthy of his title. His mix of moods blends in with the up and down structure of the movie. Pfeiffer is great, although she usually is. She's cool, sexy and smart as has no trouble dealing with the demands of her particular role.

Although most of the entire film is set in the house Dreamworks have gone out of their way to make this house special. The multi-door bathroom sets the atmosphere for the crucial scenes that occur in the tub, the mirrors are just fantastic, all the way through the mirrors remind us of the parallels that make the story interesting, the links between the victim and Pfeiffer etc.

A great disc all in all, the sound is amazing and the jumps are even worse when you can see every detail. Watch out for very subtle moments, the PC patients, the mirrors and the face in the cemetery, all elements that make this film watchable a second time.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie, lots of suspense
Review: This movie was really good and it had alot of suspense. I don't think it should have been rated an PG-13. It should have been rated R instead.

I this movie, Harrison Ford, is the Dr. Norman Spencer who is a genetic researcher. He is always working at home on the computer. He has a lot of experience at the local college. His wife is played by Pheiffer, her name is Claire. Claire is a former musician.

Claire has strange visions and weird things start happening to her.Claire started to meet the new neighbors who always seem to be having martial problems. They stand out side and scream at one another till one of them gets angry and heads inside. Then the next minute they are very intimate. Claire begins to suspect her husband of hurting her. She begins to watch out of her bedroom windows with binoculars. She thinks that he has hurt Mary. Mary disappears for awhile and Claire presumes her as dead.

The strange things that are happening to Claire she just thinks that they are Mary trying to contact her. Claire felt horrible for not helping her out and now she is paying her back. The strange things that were happening were the front door would open before Claire even touched it, a picture of Doc Spencer and some of his colleagues would fall over and shatter the glass, the bath tub would fill up with water, strange sayings would appear on the mirror and computer screen that said MEF.

After all the strange things occurring Claire became very determined on finding out what was behind all these ghostly appearances. She begin to see a girl with green eyes and blond hair in several places throughout the house and water reflections. She didn't know this woman but thought it was Mary. She hadn't really ever seem Mary except through the fence the day she was having trouble.

The saga continues with the Ghost throughout the whole movie. During the rest of the movie you will find out who this "ghost" actually is. Ford plays a really strange character in this movie. You will be amazed at the ending.

I thought the movie was wonderful and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. You never really know what is going to happen. The movie is suspenseful, full of terror, violence, and excitement all tied into one.

Rating:
Summary: I love that box!!!
Review: I need help! I love the keepsake box that belonged to Madison, and I am needing information as to where I can purchase one. Is the store in the movie (where the box was bought) a "REAL" store?? Any info is appreciated. THANKS...

Rating:
Summary: A must see
Review: I had not seen any trailers for this movie before I saw it so I had no idea what to expect.What a refreshing change to see a movie that kept me on edge the whole time through old fashioned camera work and direction rather than a ghastly group of screaming teenagers and a million special effects.That is not to rubbish the effects on show here,they are very impressive indeed,especially the lighting.There is many a scene that will make your hair stand on end.

It is not a perfect film,but what is? The pace of the film is steady if not spectacular throughout and Ford and Pfeiffer have had tougher roles for sure,although they were adequate enough here.Ford can be really scary when he's angry.But then the star of this film is really the director.There are some big plot holes and huge lapses in logic,but hey,this is mainstream Hollywood.

What Lies Beneath? Frankly,it doesn't have that much depth.What you see is what you get.And what I got was one of the creepiest films since The Sixth Sense.An understated scarefest.See it.