In association with

What Lies Beneath [2000]
from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
starring Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Diana Scarwid, Joe Morton, James Remar
directed by Robert Zemeckis

Features:

• Anamorphic
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial 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

DVD Special Features:

Audio commentary by Director Robert Zemeckis
"Constructing the Perfect Thriller" featurette
Theatrical Trailer
Cast/Crew biographies and production notes
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (16:9)
Dolby 5.1
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish

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.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• 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 although husband Norman (Harrison)plays the dedicated husband, you just know there is something 'not quite right'....this is the sort of film that you can watch over and over and each time, you will spot something that you didn't the last time that you watched it..........

• GOOD SCARY FILM
  With Harrison Ford/Michelle Pheifer as the lead cast, you'd expect a great film. And it is.
  Harrison Ford's character, seemingly loving, well respected lecturer/scientist has quite a grim past.
  Gripper !!

• To copy Hitchcock's style
  In this supernatural thriller, a woman believes that a visitor from the past is trying to guide. Feeling lonely after her daughter leaves home for college, Claire played by Michelle Pfeiffe, begins to sense that something is wrong in her house, and feels a spirit is trying to contact her. At first her husband played by Harrison Ford, who is a scientist doing research in genetics, attributes her paranormal beliefs to stress or possibly a nervous breakdown, and sends her to a psychiatrist who puts no more... more info

• AN ENGAGING SUPERNATURAL THRILLER
  Anyone who has read most (or all) of my reviews so far, probably knows that i'm quite a horror/thriller buff. If done right, this genre really knows how to pump up your adrenaline and keep you coming back for more each time around. In this specific case, what's so good about the film (What Lies Beneath) starts out with the mere cast & crew list. When you have Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfieffer as your lead stars on the one hand, and the extremely talented Robert Zemeckis on the other - there are only... more info

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