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What Lies Beneath Details

2000 DVD Certificate 15.gif
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 9910 members

Robert Zemeckis takes a page right out of Hitchcock and runs with it in the spooky supernatural thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH. Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his wife, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), seem to have the perfect life: a loving marriage, a daughter just entering college, and a beautiful home on the water in Vermont... Read more

Starring Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joe Morton, Miranda Otto
Director Robert Zemeckis
Genres Horror, Thriller

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What Lies Beneath

Robert Zemeckis takes a page right out of Hitchcock and runs with it in the spooky supernatural thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH. Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his wife, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), seem to have the perfect life: a loving marriage, a daughter just entering college, and a beautiful home on the water in Vermont. But what lies beneath this idyllic existence are secrets that will rip everything apart.
Dr. Spencer is an award-winning scientist whose work is threatening to consume his life; meanwhile, his wife is trying to deal with empty-nest syndrome now that her beloved daughter has gone off to college. Strange things start happening around the house, and Claire starts believing that the man next door murdered his wife and that the wife is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. Dr. Spencer is worried that Claire needs psychological help; he refuses to believe that their house is haunted. But as more and more dangerous events unfold, a frightening truth threatens to destroy everything.
Robert Zemeckis's modern-day ghost story trembles with threatening close-ups, a powerful musical score--and lots of terror. And it does for bathtubs what Alfred Hitchcock did for showers.

Starring Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joe Morton, Miranda Otto, James Remar, Diana Scarwid, Ray Baker
Director Robert Zemeckis
Studio 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 5 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 15.gif
Collections 100 Horror Films, 100 Top Thrillers
Genres Horror, Thriller
Language English
Hearing-impaired English
Subtitles Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
Released DVD: 17 Sep 2001
Production year: 2000
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (6) of What Lies Beneath

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer are the principal attractions in this formulaic but enjoyable supernatural thriller from director Robert Zemeckis. Scientist Norman Spencer (Ford in distinctly non-heroic mode) and his wife Claire (Pfeiffer) have renovated their idyllic Vermont lakeside house; their domestic bliss is disturbed when Claire starts seeing and hearing ghostly apparitions. After suspecting their strange neighbour of foul play — a subplot that echoes Rear Window — it soon becomes obvious that an event in the past has returned to haunt them. A creaking cocktail of light suspense and implausible plotting that pushes every tried-and-tested scare button, this mass-market shocker is illuminated by Pfeiffer's wholly believable performance as the traumatised wife. While Zemeckis is no Hitchcock, this is an efficient retread of territory already claimed by Stir of Echoes, The Sixth Sense and even Fatal Attraction. You know what to expect!

    • Radio Times
  • "What lies beneath WHAT LIES BENEATH are the good bones of Alfred Hitchcock....[Pfeiffer is] electrically alive..." -- Rating: B

    • Entertainment Weekly
  • Most helpful member's review of What Lies Beneath

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  • 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Zemeckis does Hitchcock!

    Zemeckis slotted in this one between Castaway shoots (while Tom Hanks was dieting) and as an exercise in borrowing Hitchcock's style it works very well as a slow burn thriller.

    It's good to see Harrison Ford as a baddie for once - and taking the backseat to an excellent Michelle Pfeiffer.

    This is a great movie for a cosy Saturday night in, if you don't mind the odd shock!

      • millie2 from West Midlands
  • Most recent members' review of What Lies Beneath

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Nice movie!

    This is a real nice movie..not very horror...if you watch hindi movies, then 'Raaz' (Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea)is a 70% copy of this movie!

      • Anamika from England!
  • News and features

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    Shopgirl

    De Niro heads for the hills

    • 28 Mar 2006

    De Niro heads for the hills Scottish film fans will be keeping their eyes peeled following the news that filming of Robert De Niro's (Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Meet The Parents) latest film, Stardust, is due to begin in the Scottish Highlands soon. De Niro will be taking on the role of the pirate, Captain Shakespeare, in the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel Stardust. Joining De Niro in the Highlands will be an array of Hollywood stars, including Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath,... Read more

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Rating breakdown

9,910 Member ratings
  • 100
559
  • 90
584
  • 80
1,513
  • 70
1,887
  • 60
2,563
  • 50
1,215
  • 40
807
  • 30
378
  • 20
287
  • 10
117

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    • Robert Zemeckis takes a page right out of Hitchcock and runs with it in the spooky supernatural thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH. Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his wife, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer),...