Review of What Lies Beneath (2000) by Shawn S — 26 Jul 2013

Robert Zemeckis' superb suspense thriller is a must see. It's a rather splendid supernatural thriller packed to the rafters with suspense and it has some great scares that any horror film would be proud of. Michelle Pfeiffer is Claire. She is witness to some strange goings on in her lakeside house and her Husband, Spencer (Harrison Ford) puts it all down to shock after a serious car accident - or is it?

Ford and Pfeiffer are great in these rolls. Ford with his almost aggressive concern for his wife's mental state, and Pfeiffer who goes through emotional transformations fills the screen her wild eyed fear and really plays a woman on the edge brilliantly.

So why top marks? Well I just can't fault it. This is an instruction manual for making a quality suspense thriller. The final scenes in the bathroom are some of the most effective pieces of suspense in any film I have seen. Overall it's a great story with two excellently casted lead roles with classic Hitchcockian style suspense. Although some say this film is too slow I find the pace is spot on and it accentuates the impact of each scene. It's a superb and very underrated thriller.