Twentieth Century Fox present to you What Lies Beneath. I got my copy free from www.fox.co.uk. I’m not sure if they’re still offering free DVD’s but you can take a look at the previous website to see. (NB#1 - You can choose from What Lies Beneath, Dr. Dolittle or The Full ... Read review
Production Year: 2005 - Horror - Director: Eli Roth - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Shane Daly, Lenka Vlasakova, Eythor Gudjonsson, Jan Vlasak
Advantages: Good acting Disadvantages: Not as scary as I'd hoped
...Century Fox present to you What Lies Beneath. I got my copy free from www.fox.co.uk. I’m not sure if they’re still offering free DVD’s but you can take a look at the previous website to see. (NB#1 - You can choose from What Lies Beneath, Dr. Dolittle or The Full Monty. NB#2 - If you do order a copy you can expect to wait a while (mine took about 7 or 8 weeks to be delivered). NB#3 – I don’t know whether this is on all ... ...a spellbinding supernatural thriller. What Lies Beneath marks the first pairing of superstars Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, teaming them with Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis.
------------------------------
What did Sarah_Louise think?
Well MAXIM said: “Definitely the scariest film you’ll see this year”. (NB. This film was released in 2000).
Twentieth Century Fox present to you What Lies Beneath. I got my copy free from www.fox.co.uk. I’m not sure if they’re still offering free DVD’s but you can take a look at the previous website to see. (NB#1 - You can choose from What Lies Beneath, Dr. Dolittle or The Full Monty. NB#2 - If you do order a copy you can expect to wait a while (mine took about 7 or 8 weeks to be delivered). NB#3 – I don’t know whether this is on all the free DVD’s but my copy has a slight problem. When you play the special features (more on this later) the mouths are slightly out of synch with the sound, no major qualms though because it was free after all!).
-------- Starring
Harrison Ford Michelle Pfeiffer
------- Rating
Rating: 15
--------- Duration
Approx. 124 minutes
------- Genres
Horror, thriller, suspense
--------- Synopsis
Taken from the back of the box: It had been a year since Dr. Normal Spencer (aka Harrison Ford) betrayed his wife, Claire (aka Michelle Pfeiffer). But with Clair oblivious to the truth and the affair over, Norman’s life and marriage seem perfect – so perfect that when Claire tells him of hearing mysterious voices and seeing a young woman’s ghostly image in their home, he dismisses her mounting terror as delusion. However, as Claire moves closer to the truth, it becomes clear that this apparition will not be dismissed, and has come back for Dr. Norman Spencer….and his wife.
In general it is supposed to be a spellbinding supernatural thriller. What Lies Beneath marks the first pairing of superstars Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, teaming them with Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis.
------------------------------ What did Sarah_Louise think?
Well MAXIM said: “Definitely the scariest film you’ll see this year”. (NB. This film was released in 2000).
I wouldn’t go that far myself but it is definitely worth a watch. The trailers made it look a lot scarier than it actually was (as you’d expect I guess). There were scary moments but it wasn’t a film that had me on the edge of my seat all the way through (or at all come to think of it!). I’m a big horror/thriller movie fan but I must confess to being a big wuss when it comes to watching them. I sat through this film without the aid of the nearest cushion (or any other object to obstruct my view) and managed to not jump 2 foot into the sky at any point during this film. If I can sit through this and not jump then anyone can. Its not gory (there’s only 1 bit of blood really and that isn’t very gory, its less than what you’d expect to see on your average episode of Casualty or Holby City. There are no knives, guns or any other form of weapon in this film either so you don’t have to worry about watching someone have their guts torn out, their heads ripped off, or any other non-too pleasant things occurring in this film. It is for these reasons combined that I really don’t see how MAXIM can say “Definitely the scariest film you’ll see this year”. All I can say is that all the other horror/thriller films last year must have been cr*p! I really can’t see why this film gets a 15 rating, it obviously isn’t a PG because of its nature but it could easily have been a 12 (or a 12A for that matter!). At times, Harry Potter is scarier!
My personal ratings would be:
For horror/thriller aspects: Goreability: 1/5 Jumpability: 2/5 Edge-of-seat ability: 2.5/5 (the 0.5 comes from the ending, the beginning and end gets a 2)
Sub total: 5.5/15 = 37%
For general film aspects: Story line: 4/5 Acting/characters: 4/5
Sub total: 8/10 = 80%
So, as you can see, as a film in itself it is good but as a so-called thriller/horror it doesn’t score too highly in my books.
Total rating: 13.5/25 = 54%
-------------------------------- What do you get for your money?
1 box 1 DVD
Sound’s exciting doesn’t it!
The special DVD features are all on the actual movie DVD. You get the Chapter Selections on the inside cover of the box. I found these pretty confusing to be honest. Some of them don’t sound familiar at all, even when you look at them whilst watching! For example, “Chapter 16: Exorcism By Fire”. Now I’m sorry but did I miss something? Did I fall asleep for 10 minutes or something? I swear I never saw anything about exorcism by fire in the film! I know which scene they’re on about but I wouldn’t call it an exorcism myself (basically it involved throwing a few strands of hair into the fire, there was no spirit entity present, no screams, no cries, nothing, caput. Real exorcisms aren’t like that, that’s for sure!).
---------------------- Special DVD features
· Feature audio commentary by director Robert Zemeckis. · Featurette: “Constructing the perfect thriller” – lasting about 15 minutes this explains the motivation for making the film and has some comments from Robert Zemeckis, Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as well as others who were involved in the making of the film. · Cast/crew biographies and production notes - 14 pages of text explaining how the film came about and some information on the characters. · Original theatrical thriller
------------ Conclusion
This film is worth watching but don’t expect to be on the edge of your seat throughout. It’s one of those films that would be a lot better if seen at the cinema. I think a good way to sum this film up would be one of those in which, if you needed the toilet mid-way through or you wanted to go and put the kettle on you wouldn’t necessarily press pause or stop on your remote control. Throughout the majority of the film you could easily miss a few minutes and not actually miss anything. There are of course essential bits which would make the remainder of the film a bit difficult to understand if you missed them but actual horror/thriller moments could be missed easily. Definitely worth a watch but I wouldn’t necessarily go out and actually buy the DVD.
Advantages: Great actors, good director Disadvantages: Wasted talent, wasted opportunity
...film that just cannot decide what genre it belongs to. Is it a murder/crime/abduction thriller? Is it a domestic relationship plot? Is it a witchcraft/ghost/haunting horror?
Even on first viewing there are so many nuances, hints and plot faults about the characters, their friends and history are never followed up.
- Why did Clare give up her music career?
- Was it significant that Caitlin was not Norman’s daughter?
- Why is the unbelieving friend ... ...in the plot?
- Just what was Norman’s father’s problem? Or is this a problem Norman had with his father?
- How did the newspaper cutting get inside the photograph? Why? - What is the nature and the origin of the apparitions? Are they natural? Or figments of Carol’s mind? And does Carol /Norman really believe in them
- Where does the smoke keep coming from?
- Surely a carpenter could fix the creaking door.
None of these are really made clear. ...
Newfloridian 05.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of What Lies Beneath (DVD)
Advantages: thrilling, plenty of suspense, tense and ominous Disadvantages: cliched ending, previews tell it all
...showing us the breakup of what is obviously a very close relationship. Alone all day every day for the first time, Claire gets bored, and begins to spy on the neighbours. Things progress, after a chance encounter with a very afraid neighbour, and she comes to the conclusion that her neighbour killed his wife. Shortly after, strange things begin to happen around the house - her door opens for no reason, her computer switches itself on, she hears noises ... ...be wanting to find out what lies beneath.
Unfortunately, one bad thing to be said about the plot is that a lot of it is given away in previews and trailers, so I wasn't really surprised at all.
The Cast and Directing:
I think Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer were very well cast. I think they worked well together, and as a husband and wife thrown through emotional turmoil, as suspicion and doubt are everywhere, and eventually, as the horrific ...
Athravan 04.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of What Lies Beneath (DVD)
Advantages: Creepy, engrossing storyline Disadvantages: Running time, gets a bit silly towards the end
...months’ earlier haunts the house. What is the connection between the house and the girl? What has happened to the woman next door? Things are not quite what they seem – and soon Claire will discover that her darkest fears may in fact be reality…..
This is one of those films that I struggle to review without giving away big chunks of the plot. Such is my praise, and criticism, that in many ways it is difficult to make sense, without ... ...What Lies Beneath is a very enjoyable film. Press reaction to the movie was mixed, and indeed the feedback that I received from friends who had seen it was generally quite negative. Despite the film’s two hour running time, I was completely hooked from start to finish – heightened by the fact that I watched the film all on my own on a dark, stormy night! What Lies Beneath is definitely very creepy – I thought that the film bore ...
LostWitness 07.05.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of What Lies Beneath (DVD)
Advantages: Storyline is interesting, even if you know where it's going, Ford and Pfeiffer gel well and performances are good all round, Disc is OK, but nothing special in terms of extras Disadvantages: No shocks, no scares, lack of tension throughout, twists signposted far in advance, necessary because we're all dummies apparently ;o)
...the house and if so, what does it want with them? Yes it's a lot more complex than that, but frankly, the interesting plot is one of the few things which keeps this movie's head above water so I'm not going to say any more, suffice to say, it does twist and turn and is interesting, if a little on the damn obvious side if you follow the pointers. The acting performances from those involved are all great, Pfeiffer and Ford can always be relied upon ... ...and tips throughout as to what was to come which are delivered with an almost sledgehammer obviousness...it's one of those movies which offer you elements early on to piece together the plot...unfortunately, it gives too much away and leaves you drumming your fingers waiting for it to get to the point, worse if you've seen the trailer which says far too much! Neither was I impressed by some deus ex machina plot twists which have been implemented ...
wampyrii 23.01.2003 (27.01.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of What Lies Beneath (DVD)
Advantages: Great acting, great tension Disadvantages: None
...the DVD and find out what the hype is about.
I shall warn you now that 'What Lies Beneath' is one of those films that definitely benefits from not knowing anything about the plot before watching - it certainly wouldn't pack the same impact a second time around. Therefore you should be warned that I shall be giving a lot of the plot away, in order to discuss it. If this bothers you, then all I can say is, stop reading, go watch it, and you won't ... ...drop in this film.
What makes the film one of the scariest films I've seen then? Well, certainly not blood and gore - this is a 15 certificate film, which means no axe-wielding maniac, and no heaving teenagers having violent sex in an abandoned house while the chain-saw kicks into motion.
Nope this film, a la Hitchcock and The Sixth Sense combined, plays on our fears by very slowly building up the tension in our minds as to what is happening - ...
peppermint 22.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of What Lies Beneath (DVD)
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Advantages: Good special effects, avoids cliches, excellent DVD extras Disadvantages: could have benefited with some one-liners
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Claire and Norman Spencer seem to be a relatively 'normal' couple until Claire starts to hear voices and sees the reflection of a woman in water. After visiting a therapist she tries to make contact with whatever or whoever is out there...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
Hearing Impaired Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Feature Audio Commentary By The Director Robert Zemeckis, Featurette Constructing The Perfect Thriller, Cast And Crew Biographies, Production Notes, Original Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
Ranked #7 in Entertainment Weekly's "Owen Gleiberman's BEST MOVIES OF 2000" (Entertainment Weekly, pp.106-17, 22/12/2000)
"What lies beneath WHAT LIES BENEATH are the good bones of Alfred Hitchcock....[Pfeiffer is] electrically alive..." -- Rating: B (Entertainment Weekly, pp.151-2, 28/07/2000)
"...Chilling..." (New York Times, p.E10, 21/07/2000)
"...Zemeckis is having a grand time making his audiences jump..." (Sight and Sound, p.64-5, 01/11/2000)
DVD Description
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.
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