“He was the perfect husband until his one mistake followed them home.”
It’s a line that perfectly sums up this creepy 2000 ghost story starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer – and this week’s “Cult Movie Monday!”
Here’s the plot: the wife of a university research scientist believes that her lakeside Vermont home is haunted by a ghost – or that she is losing her mind.
Here is the trailer:
Both Ford and Pfeiffer seem to be having a blast making a scary movie – and lots of the creepiest stuff falls on Pfeiffer!
She does a great job as the wife who is slowly losing her mind – but is there a ghost – or even something more sinister?
My DVD came with production notes that reinforced how important the house was to the story – it was actually built from scratch on a Vermont lakeshore – and another was built on an LA soundstage!
“The Vermont location house was built as a real two-story house and had to be structurally sound. By contrast, the stage house in Los Angeles was almost completely adaptable, with removable walls and multiples of certain rooms where more action takes place. For instance, there were five versions of the bathroom set alone.”
Again, Pfeiffer spends a LOT of time in that bathroom, and none of it is good!
Director Robert Zemeckis consciously shot “What Lies Beneath” in the style of a Hitchcock thriller. Also, the heroine of the film is a blonde, which was a common trademark of Alfred Hitchcock’s.
As Zemeckis pointed out:
“I think suspense and cinema were really made for each other. I don’t think anything can manipulate time and place and storytelling techniques the way a movie can. I’ve always wanted to try my and at directing something really terrifying and mysterious.”
Director Robert Zemeckis filmed “What Lies Beneath” in the middle of making “Cast Away” – he shut that film down so that Tom Hanks could lose all of the weight to show him after living on the deserted island for years!
“What Lies Beneath” is a great ghost story with terrific “A” list acting…now, if you want something a bit MORE cult for this Monday:
Don’t forget there is a REAL “Banana Splits” horror film!
You can click here to see the trailer:
If you like how important the house is to “What Lies Beneath” then here are three films that use a house as part of the horror very well!
I’ve taken a look at three films that use a house very effectively in the storytelling – click here to see more:
https://johnrieber.com/2019/10/01/31daysofhalloween-begins-with-three-inside-your-house-horrors/
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Leave me a comment with your thoughts on “What Lies Beneath!”
Categories: Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Halloween, Hollywood, Horror films, Movies, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
I think What Lies Beneath is very enjoyable and it contains one of my favourite Michelle Pfeiffer performances. The bathroom scenes you mention are some of Pfeiffer’s finest moments. It’s amazing how Michelle manages to convey bone-chilling desperation using only her eyes and a shivery release of breath. Incredible!
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Exactly! Just her eyes!
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Spooky! I’ve never seen this, but my interest is peaked! I’m terrible with scary movies, but the plot is intriguing.
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This is the kind of “ghost story” that doesn’t get too creepy and scary…you’ll like it!
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I still have What Lies Beneath on DVD, I remember buying it when it first came out and I quite enjoyed it! Maybe it’s time to dust it off and give it a rerun for Halloween…
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Thanks for the comment, and that’s exactly what we did and it was great to re-watch!
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WLB was a seriously creepy movie!! Definitely not used to seeing Harrison Ford in a role like that.
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I think that’s why it worked for me – terrific “A” list acting, and yes, he wasn’t “Indiana Jones” in this one, right?
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I did not know they paused the filming of Castaway for so long to allow Tom Hanks to lose weight. And very cool how he leveraged the same crew for another movie in the meantime. Thanks for sharing!
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Yes, they shot the other material first, then shut down for a year…Hanks did a medically-supervised weight loss and he didn’t shave or cut his hair…that’s why the transition shot in the film from him knocking his own tooth out in the case, to the spear hitting the fish in the water then tilting up to him is so shocking…
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That’s dedication! That scene is etched in my mind since I watched that movie before a visit to the dentist …
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Yes, that is a tough scene but a brilliant transition to be sure!
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I did enjoy that film. It was VERY predictable, (to me anyway) but the way it got there was stylish indeed.
Nice detail about them building the house, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I don’t know how I missed this movie, John, as I love Michelle Pfeiffer. Harrison Ford is also a very good actor. A super recommendation.
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It’s a good movie – I always like seeing “A” list stars do something more “genre” like this!
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