What Lies Beneath

Dreamworks SKG, VHS, DVD, 2000, PG-13, 2 hr. 9 min. 

Director Robert Zemeckis said that he wanted to create a suspenseful movie with What Lies Beneath and he succeed. Although there are problems with this movie, it is very suspenseful above all else. In a departure from his earlier movies such as Forest Gump, Back to the Future, and Contact, Zemeckis turns to the horror genre as he takes us inside the lives of Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his wife Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer).

The movie, which has been compared in style with works by Hitchcock, opens with Claire's daughter from a previous marriage going off to college, leaving the housewife with a bad case of empty nest syndrome. Claire begins seeing the ghost of a young woman in the house and becomes obsessed with figuring out who she is and what she wants. The road to discovery shows Claire things about her marriage and her husband that she does not want to believe and makes for a very suspenseful story.

This movie features two of my favorite actors, Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford.  Pfeiffer steals the show with her superb acting skills. She moves from fragile vulnerability to cat-like seductiveness in the blink of an eye. Harrison Ford holds his own and gives the impression throughout that there is more to Dr. Norman than meets the eye.

I always like to see Ford play a character that's a departure from his normal good guy roles.  He is able to look sinister with the arch of an eyebrow.

The movie has a few great special effects and a captivating ending well worth your time.

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Reviewed by: Hauntmistress  4/08/2001