"What Lies Beneath" has an excellent premise, and starts off as a rather spooky ghost story that will guarantee the viewer bone chilling scares within the first hour. But the story, the scares, everything seems to fall apart midway through.
A-list celebrity Michelle Pfeiffer (one of my favorite actresses, I might add) plays Claire Spencer, a house wife married to Norman Spencer (the legendary Harrison Ford). Their daughter has just gone away to college, and with Norman gone at work all day long, Claire is pretty much left all alone at her home until night. Claire is a little depressed, but keeps herself busy gardening. One day, however, she encounters a wildly sobbing neighbor. She's hysterical, and Claire, being her nosy, middle-aged self, attempts to comfort her and asks what's wrong. She ignores her, of course, crying hysterically in her own little world. Claire, worried, tells her husband Norman later that night, but he tells her to mind her own business. Claire ignores him, and she and her friends spy on their neighbors house throughout the day. When they see the husband carrying an implied life bag with her body in in, putting it the back seat of his car, she is convinces that her husband murdered his wife.
But the story doesn't end there. Her lights sometimes randomly go out. The door swings open every now and then. And then a frightening message appears on the mirror. Claire is convinced that her house is haunted by the spirit of her murdered neighbor. What will she do? How will she put the spirit to rest? The first hour of the movie is extremely scary, suspenseful, and has a genuinely creep atmosphere. But then there comes a twist about midway through. A bad twist, and the whole hour of the movie goes to waste, and doesn't seem to relate at all to the movie's original plot. The first hour just seemed like a scapegoat. I'm not going to give it away, but it was a disappointing turn in the movie.
The movie runs 130 minutes long, where it could have been cut down to a mere 100 minutes. The twist is where it started going downhill. There are still a few more scares throughout and a few more "Oh get out of there! Wait! Don't do that! Get your butt out of there!!" moments, but the first hour easily swallows the second hour and eats it for supper. After the twist, the movie seems to drag on. Suddenly, we don't seem to care about the story, what happens next, and it becomes somewhat boring.
The first half of the movie is thrilling, while the second half has it's moments, but the movie as a whole fails to live up to expectations thanks to the ending.
However, the movie has gotten some great reviews so maybe it's ll down to taste. The acting is top notch (what else would you expect from Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford?) and it's overall a good, ghost story to watch on a Saturday night. Definitely recommended.
A-list celebrity Michelle Pfeiffer (one of my favorite actresses, I might add) plays Claire Spencer, a house wife married to Norman Spencer (the legendary Harrison Ford). Their daughter has just gone away to college, and with Norman gone at work all day long, Claire is pretty much left all alone at her home until night. Claire is a little depressed, but keeps herself busy gardening. One day, however, she encounters a wildly sobbing neighbor. She's hysterical, and Claire, being her nosy, middle-aged self, attempts to comfort her and asks what's wrong. She ignores her, of course, crying hysterically in her own little world. Claire, worried, tells her husband Norman later that night, but he tells her to mind her own business. Claire ignores him, and she and her friends spy on their neighbors house throughout the day. When they see the husband carrying an implied life bag with her body in in, putting it the back seat of his car, she is convinces that her husband murdered his wife.
But the story doesn't end there. Her lights sometimes randomly go out. The door swings open every now and then. And then a frightening message appears on the mirror. Claire is convinced that her house is haunted by the spirit of her murdered neighbor. What will she do? How will she put the spirit to rest? The first hour of the movie is extremely scary, suspenseful, and has a genuinely creep atmosphere. But then there comes a twist about midway through. A bad twist, and the whole hour of the movie goes to waste, and doesn't seem to relate at all to the movie's original plot. The first hour just seemed like a scapegoat. I'm not going to give it away, but it was a disappointing turn in the movie.
The movie runs 130 minutes long, where it could have been cut down to a mere 100 minutes. The twist is where it started going downhill. There are still a few more scares throughout and a few more "Oh get out of there! Wait! Don't do that! Get your butt out of there!!" moments, but the first hour easily swallows the second hour and eats it for supper. After the twist, the movie seems to drag on. Suddenly, we don't seem to care about the story, what happens next, and it becomes somewhat boring.
The first half of the movie is thrilling, while the second half has it's moments, but the movie as a whole fails to live up to expectations thanks to the ending.
However, the movie has gotten some great reviews so maybe it's ll down to taste. The acting is top notch (what else would you expect from Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford?) and it's overall a good, ghost story to watch on a Saturday night. Definitely recommended.