What Lies Beneath

After I watch the gorefest Hannibal I saw this film, What Lies Beneath, and the difference in the two of them are astounding. First off let me say this: What Lies Beneath is a Must See movie.

Director Robert Zemeckis puts together yet another fantastic film. What Lies Beneath uses subtle ways of scaring the audience. It builds up the terror of each scare and then unleashes it apon the audience – I for one jumped out of my seat many times in this movie. And it doesn’t stop there with the jump-out-of-your-seat type scares either, there are some get-into-your-mind type scares in the film also.

What Lies Beneath follows the life of a seemingly happily married couple Norman (Harrison Ford) and Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) Spencer. Norman is a successful research scientist and Claire is a housewife. They’ve just moved and they’ve also just sent their daughter off to college. Claire begins to hear noises and see strange things. She sees the neighbour’s husband do something unsavory to his wife, or does she? Norman thinks his wife is a little nuts. She thinks that the house is haunted. What is happening?

This is the first time that I’ve seen or remember Harrison Ford playing this type of role – you’ll have to see what I mean by seeing the film. It is quite a nice change for Ford. He does well with his role. Pfeiffer, whom I haven’t see in any new movies lately, is fantastic as Claire. And Robert Zemeckis takes the reign of his first horror film like a true horror film maker. He is able to put together a film that will stay in my head for a long time to come.

Worth mentioning in the film are the fantastic special effects (what do you expect from a Zemeckis film?). The special effects are subtle and if you don’t look carefully they will slip by unnoticed (there’s one where the camera goes through the floor of the house which is quite impressive). Also worth mentioning is the fantastic and very memorable score by Alan Silvestri. Kudos to Silvestri for such a great score.

I’ll tell ya, I’ll not be taking a bath in a bathtub for a long time to come after seeing this movie. Don’t Miss What Lies Beneath. See it with someone so that you can have someone to hold onto because you’ll need it, this is one scary film.