Review of What Lies Beneath (2000) by Johnny T — 20 Aug 2011

A few scenes indulge in overstated hokum or thriller clichés, but Pfeiffer is first-rate and several sequences are suspenseful enough to deserve that overused adjective, Hitchcockian. Assume that viewers are too hungry for mindless thrills to care whether dead characters spring back to life or live ones change their personalities according to the needs of the moment. An uncommonly playful fright machine -- a fun house factory of scares. If you're able to check your brain at the popcorn stand, you'll stand a much better chance of enjoying this crowd pleaser. Goes Hitchcock one better by imagining what it would be like if the master had the advantage of digital technology As it unwinds, What Lies becomes both masterful and preposterous. A classy supernatural lady-in-distress thriller.

VERDICT: "Matinée" - (Mixed reaction). These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says to pay matinée prices to see at a theatre or buy an ex rental or a cheap price the DVD to own.