Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16487 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-09-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 125 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
What would Hitchcock have done if he had had modern digital effects? The answer is almost certainly: something very like What Lies Beneath, Robert Zemeckis' technically accomplished supernatural thriller that pays open homage to Suspicion, Rear Window and Psycho, to name but three. Michelle Pfeiffer delivers one of the finest, most nuanced performances of her career as a woman in an ideal relationship whose perfect life begins to unravel with terrifying consequences. Harrison Ford plays sympathetically against type as her husband who may or may not be telling her the truth. Although made in the middle of his filming Cast Away, while the director waited for Tom Hanks to shed some pounds, this is no quickie throwaway picture. Zemeckis loads this character-driven story with genuinely scary suspense, using subtle camera moves, mirrored reflections and red-herrings in a classic Hitchcockian manner--the difference here is that he has access to the most up-to-date digital effects and employs them with characteristic imagination, creating seemingly impossible camera angles that only enhance the tension. The Production Design is equally carefully considered, as even the idyllic household setting with its pristine bathroom is gradually transformed into an object of terror. Composer Alan Silvestri's score winds up the drama several notches further with an appropriate Bernard Herrmann pastiche.

On the DVD: The principal attraction of this disc is the pin-sharp anamorphic picture and 5.1 soundtrack--superb picture and sound quality contribute greatly to the enjoyment here, since Zemeckis is one of the few contemporary directors who remains acutely sensitive to the composition of each and every scene. The brief featurette is a little misleadingly titled, as it's essentially a profile of Zemeckis' career with a few comments about this film thrown in for good measure. The rather dry and uninvolving commentary is by Zemeckis with producers Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Audio commentary by Director Robert Zemeckis
"Constructing the Perfect Thriller" featurette
Theatrical Trailer
Cast/Crew biographies and production notes
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (16:9)
Dolby 5.1
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish

Synopsis
Robert Zemeckis takes a page right out of Hitchcock and runs with it in the spooky supernatural thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH. Dr. Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford) and his wife, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), seem to have the perfect life: a loving marriage, a daughter just entering college, and a beautiful home on the water in Vermont. But what lies beneath this idyllic existence are secrets that will rip everything apart.
Dr. Spencer is an award-winning scientist whose work is threatening to consume his life; meanwhile, his wife is trying to deal with empty-nest syndrome now that her beloved daughter has gone off to college. Strange things start happening around the house, and Claire starts believing that the man next door murdered his wife and that the wife is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. Dr. Spencer is worried that Claire needs psychological help; he refuses to believe that their house is haunted. But as more and more dangerous events unfold, a frightening truth threatens to destroy everything.
Robert Zemeckis's modern-day ghost story trembles with threatening close-ups, a powerful musical score--and lots of terror. And it does for bathtubs what Alfred Hitchcock did for showers.

Customer Reviews

A 'Hide behind a cushion' film
I have watched this at least 6 times and all of them, i watched at night with my friends. This is a thoroughly freaky film and I thought Michelle Pfieffers performance was fab. this is guaranteed to scare your socks off and leaves you wary of your bathroom!

Fantastic Supernatural thriller worth watching
Claire(Michelle Pfeiffer) is married to Dr Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford).They seem to have a perfect life in a perfect house in a perfect location overlooking a beautiful lake.Claire's daughter leaves home for college and Claire feels abit alone and misses her.Strange things start to happen around the house and doors open themselves and she feels something or someone is there.Her strange new neighbours also add mystery to Claires state of mind when the wife goes missing.But things are not what she thinks.Her husband has a highly succesful career and is always working.Claire tells him she is hearing and seeing strange things and he tells her she is basically going crazy.But she is not.She then goes down a dangerous road to discovering what is going on and why.
This film was filmed and directed really well and it worked.I did not know what was going to happen and the story was not predictable in the least.It has a sexy and kind of floaty feel about it and it is very easy watching.When the scary bits come you are in no way expecting most of them.Michelle was great as the confused wife and Ford was ok but Michelle topped his performance.I have watched this dvd about 4 times now as it never gets boring.

The dvd has a good selection of special features including Audio commentary and the making of the perfect thriller,trailer.Sound is in 5.1 surround and picture and sound and soundtrack are spot on.

No teen slashers here
Thank God! Finally a really scary film with not a hint of a slasher movie about it. I watched this in the cinema last year when I shared a house with 5 other girls - not one of us slept alone that night. This is a must-see, late at night but not alone. Without giving any of the story away, let me just say this - you'll never look at your bath the same way again...