What Lies Beneath (2000)

Originally Reviewed

Sunday October 30, 2005

Two great actors in possibly one of the worst genres of film one could imagine them together in. Of course the combination of Harrison Ford (one of my all-time favorite actors) and Michelle Pfeiffer would make one wonder how anything could possibly go wrong? Well, the acting was great, it's the story that's simply terrible. Claire Spencer (Pfeiffer) is the wife of Dr. Norman Spencer (Ford), she has the feeling that their next door neighbor killed his wife and she's come back from the dead an is trying to contact her. As Claire begins to dig up information she's about to discover something a whole a lot more shocking.

To go into much depth would risk giving away the multiple twist and turns in the film, and once you know what happens it's quite pointless to put yourself through some of the tortuously long drawn out scenes. My family and I sat down and watched this film recently and commented about how much we did not remember since our last viewing over three years ago. As the film progressed we began to realize why we'd forgotten or maybe the better word is blocked it from their memory. The story tends to constantly drag on and take more time than is humanly necessary to proceed through a scene, going from slightly suspenseful to terribly annoying. The acting in the film is great, at least by Ford and Pfeiffer, but even their talents can't save this one. In fact I think there should be a rule that A-list actors should not be allowed to do horror films, since 99% of the time they're awful.

With that said I have seen it now three times, and maybe in another three to four years I'll watch it again. It's not a horrible film, but it's one you'll probably wish you hadn't wasted your time on or at least you will fast forward through 10% of it to keep it moving. If you’re looking for a good suspense thriller/horror there are plenty of other options better than this, and many better Harrison Ford films, although this is a rather different role for him which at times is entertaining. If you’re completely bored and have nothing to do... weigh the benefits of going to sleep or watching this, I only recommend it if you're a big fan of either of the leading actors, and I mean BIG FAN! 

6/10