A beautiful blond (Michelle Pfeiffer) aims her
hair dryer at the steam-filled bathroom mirror. But
there's something wrong ... no electricity. Still
dripping from the shower she presses that little red
reset button on the outlet with her moist finger.
ZAP! Just a spark! But that's all it takes to set you
on edge and keep you paranoid as you try to see
what's on the other side of every camera pan, every
plot or doorknob twist.
If you liked Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and
Spielberg's "Poltergeist" and uhm, I don't know,
"Terminator 1" ... well I think it's safe to say,
you'll like this mix of the three. Me? Though the genre of suspense-driven
films isn't my fancy, I must admit I was quite
compelled for the first two acts. Director Robert
Zemeckis does an absolutely scrupulous job of keenly
keeping his audience balancing precariously on the
edge of their seats - simulating the sensation we
feel at a roller coaster's peak. Freeze that crested
car and peer hundreds of feet to the ground down two
rickety wooden rails atop the track's largest drop
... what lies beneath? Indeed!
It's the third and final act that lets go of all
that careful teasing and toying and begins (well,
it's hard to say without spoiling for you) ...
suffice ... the climax that's not as smart as the
first two acts.
Pfeiffer and Ford forge fantastically. Pfeiffer
fans fear only the phantasm. Her acting is grand. But
resounding kudos must be song strongly to the audio
engineers, creators and mixers whose huge hits will
enter through your ears shattering your deliberately
crystallized belly then setting the bits to drift
like glistening frost into your legs and arms.
Pfeiffer and Ford should be relaxing now that
only-daughter Katherine Towne has taken off for
college. That might have been the case if it weren't
for a haunting past slowly surfacing. AHHHHHH!
"What Lies Beneath" is scary. If you're looking
for intensely thick drama or rich comedy, you should
know that though both tastes are sampled, this film
is dead set on one thing only - to scare you.
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