What Lies Beneath [Blu-ray]

Director: Robert Zemeckis Robert Zemeckis

Overview

In this supernatural thriller, a woman believes that a visitor from another dimension is trying to guide her into a sinister mystery. Feeling lonely after her daughter leaves home for college, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) begins to sense that something is wrong in her house, and feels a spirit is trying to contact her. At first her husband Norman (Harrison Ford), a scientist doing research in genetics, attributes her paranormal beliefs to stress or possibly a nervous breakdown, and sends her to a psychiatrist (Joe Morton) who puts no more stock in Claire's stories than does Norman. While Claire's contention that someone or something sinister is afoot leads her down a number of blind alleys, in time she becomes convinced that the mysterious happenings at her home are somehow connected to the disappearance of a woman who was a student at the nearby college -- and bore a striking resemblance to Claire. What Lies Beneath marked the debut of screenwriter Clark Gregg, whose script is based on a story by himself and Sarah Kernochan; the supporting cast includes Diana Scarwid as Claire's best friend Jody, and James Remar and Miranda Otto as a contentious couple living next door.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/05/2021
UPC:	0191329204573
Original Release:	2000
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Paramount
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:09:00
Sales rank:	4,590

Special Features

Director's commentary with Robert Zemeckis; Constructing a thriller; 1080p High Definition; English SDH subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michelle Pfeiffer	Claire Spencer
Harrison Ford	Dr. Norman Spencer
Diana Scarwid	Jody
James Remar	Warren
Miranda Otto	Mary
Joe Morton	Dr. Drayton
Amber Valletta	Madison
Katharine Towne	Caitlin
Victoria Bidewell	Beatrice
Eliott Goretsky	Teddy
Ray Baker	Stan
Wendy Crewson	Elena
Sloane Shelton	Mrs. Templeton
Tom Dahlgren	Dean
Micole Mercurio	Mrs. Frank
Dennison Samaroo	PhD Student No. 1
Jennifer Tung	PhD Student No. 2
Rachel Singer	PhD Student No. 3
Daniel Zelman	PhD Student No. 4
Donald Taylor	Male EMT Worker
Jayson Argento	Cafe Customer
J.C. Brandy	Band Member
Mark Costello	Actor
Fabio May	Lab Tech
Carolyn Weidell	Restaurant Patron
Amber Valetta	Actor
Mitch Carter	Loop Group
Moosie Drier	Loop Group
Bridget Hoffman	Loop Group
Donna Leavy	Loop Group
Edie Mirman	Loop Group
Philece Sampler	Loop Group
Iake Eissinmann	Loop Group
David Cowgill	Loop Group
Alexander Newell	Loop Group
Claudette Wells	Loop Group
Alan Silvestri	Conductor,Composer

Technical Credits

Clark Gregg

Sarah Kernochan

Robert Zemeckis	Director,Producer
Charles Belardinelli	Special Effects
Thomas Bellissimo	Special Effects
Joan Bradshaw	Executive Producer
Tim Davison	Stunts
Marcia DeBonis	Casting
Mark Johnson	Executive Producer
Robert Legato	Special Effects
Ellen Lewis	Casting
Jack Rapke	Producer
Steve Starkey	Producer
Clark Gregg	Screenwriter
Jack Carpenter	Stunts
Eleanor Beaton	Sound Effects
Jessica Bellfort	Sound Effects
Beau Borders	Sound Effects
Tony Eckert	Sound Effects
Andrea Gard	Sound Effects
Amit Agrawal	Special Effects
Randy Vargas	Key Grip
Jerry Donegan Jr.	Special Effects
Thomas Zell	Special Effects
Pat Romano	Stunts
Debbie Evans	Stunts
Jeff Dashnaw	Stunts
Tricia Peters	Stunts
Richard Mall	Key Grip
Steve Smith	Key Grip
Frank Iudica Jr.	Special Effects
Christy Sumner	Special Effects
Mike Runyard	Stunts
Jon Epstein	Stunts
Tracy Dashnow	Stunts
Tara DeBach	Stunts
Sony Pictures Imageworks	Special Effects
Shannon J. Thompson	Special Effects
Cinda-Lin James	Stunts
Troy Robinson	Stunts
Vanessa Rooke	Stunts
Eric Whitehead	Key Grip
Andrew Taylor	Key Grip
Sarah Kernochan	Screenwriter
Andy Miller	Special Effects
Malia K. Thompson	Special Effects
Kris Jeffrey	Stunts
Steve Maderas	Stunts
William Kaplan	Sound/Sound Designer
Randy Thom	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Whereas Alfred Hitchcock defined the shower as the focus of horror in the home, director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) makes the case for avoiding the bath in his suspense thriller What Lies Beneath. Taking a chilling and macabre dive into rustic Vermont, the story follows Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), a lonely, high-strung housewife, whose struggles with inexplicable supernatural occurrences in her home eventually reveal frightening secrets both about her busy husband (Harrison Ford) and herself. In a movie with only occasional glimpses of predictability, thanks in part to Clark Greg's twisty script, Zemeckis provides well-timed shocks amid deft references to Hitchcock classics, ranging from Psycho to Vertigo to Rear Window. Ford and Pfeiffer both deliver taut and credible performances in what is a refreshing return to pure cinematic suspense, proving that the hack-and-slash excesses of horror in the '90s need not be the norm.

Barnes & Noble - Joe Nigro

Much as it did to the freshman efforts of Brian De Palma two decades earlier, the spirit of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock seems to be guiding the path of this thriller from Robert Zemeckis that's overlong and too derivative but which does contain some effective chills. Genuine shocks and effective plot twists are to be found in the second half of What Lies Beneath, but the film suffers greatly from its elaborate red herring of a first act. While clever and reminiscent of Hitchcock's awe-inspiring, brief use of Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960), the film's intentionally misleading side road stretches on interminably, testing viewer patience once the equally complicated "real" ghost story gets underway. There is much to like in What Lies Beneath, however, including an excellent performance from the luminous Michelle Pfeiffer and a risk-taking, against-type role filled ably by Harrison Ford that's unmistakably reminiscent of some similar rolls of the dice performed during the career of another all-American icon, James Stewart. If What Lies Beneath feels rushed at times (a particular establishing shot of the film's main location is repeated endlessly from exactly the same angle and position), perhaps it's because Zemeckis filmed it while on hiatus from another production, Cast Away.

All Movie Guide - Karl Williams