Can't get enough of movies and TV shows that scare up a good fright? Check out Scary Good, IMDb's Horror Entertainment Guide.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: What Lies Beneath (2000)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Michelle Pfeiffer | ... | Claire Spencer | |
| Katharine Towne | ... | Caitlin Spencer | |
| Miranda Otto | ... | Mary Feur | |
| James Remar | ... | Warren Feur | |
| Harrison Ford | ... | Norman Spencer | |
| Victoria Bidewell | ... | Beatrice | |
| Diana Scarwid | ... | Jody | |
| Dennison Samaroo | ... | PhD Student #1 | |
| Jennifer Tung | ... | PhD Student #2 | |
 |
Eliott Goretsky | ... | Teddy |
| Rachel Singer | ... | PhD Student #3 | |
| Daniel Zelman | ... | PhD Student #4 | |
| Ray Baker | ... | Dr. Stan Powell | |
| Wendy Crewson | ... | Elena | |
| Amber Valletta | ... | Madison Elizabeth Frank | |
Norman Spencer, a university research scientist, is growing more and more concerned about his wife, Claire, a retired concert cellist who a year ago was involved in a serious auto accident, and who has just sent off her daughter Caitlin (Norman's stepdaughter) to college. Now, Claire reports hearing voices and witnessing eerie occurrences in and around their lakeside Vermont home, including seeing the face of a young woman reflected in water. An increasingly frightened Claire thinks the phenomena have something to do with the couple living next door, especially since the wife has disappeared without apparent explanation. At her husband's urging, Claire starts to see a therapist; she tells him she thinks the house is being haunted by a ghost. His advice? Try to make contact. Enlisting the help of her best friend, Jody, and a ouija board, Claire seeks to find out the truth of What Lies Beneath. Written by Eugene Kim <genekim@concentric.net>
Robert Zemeckis' homage to Hitchcock (funny how we always say 'homage' and not 'plagiarism') concerns a married couple, their spooky new house, a suspicious neighbor...and enough red herrings to weigh down any commercially-viable product. Still, I was hooked for about a third of the way (once the wife supernaturally took on the persona of a missing woman and seduced her husband with a little licking and biting, I began losing faith). By the finale, so many gimmicks are being thrown at the screen, it just becomes an upscale B-flick. All the inconsistencies aside, one has to applaud Michelle Pfeiffer for her gratifying performance; even though the entire subplot about Pfeiffer's neighbor leads nowhere, she is very appealing walking up to the man in public and calling him a "murdering son-of-a-b*tch". Harrison Ford is fairly solid as well, until the last act which leaves both he and Michelle completely rudderless. That's when the filmmakers go overboard and sink this suspense-thriller in a sea of slick desperation. **1/2 from ****