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What Lies Beneath

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For other uses, see What Lies Beneath (disambiguation).
What Lies Beneath
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Screenplay byClark Gregg
Story bySarah Kernochan
Clark Gregg
Produced bySteve Starkey
Robert Zemeckis
Jack Rapke
Starring
CinematographyDon Burgess
Edited byArthur Schmidt
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
companies
Distributed byDreamWorks Pictures (North America)
20th Century Fox (international)
Release date
  • July 21, 2000 (2000-07-21)
Running time
130 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million
Box office$291.4 million

What Lies Beneath is a 2000 American supernatural horror film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Clark Gregg, who co-wrote the story with Sarah Kernochan. It stars Harrison Ford as a university professor and Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife, who is unsure if their home is haunted by a ghost or if she is losing her mind.

The first film by Zemeckis' production company ImageMovers, What Lies Beneath was theatrically released by DreamWorks Pictures in North America and 20th Century Fox internationally on July 21, 2000. While it received generally mixed reviews from critics who praised Pfeiffer's performance and criticized the screenplay, the film was a box office success, grossing $291.4 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million and becoming the 10th highest-grossing film of the year.[1]

What Lies Beneath was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film at the 27th Saturn Awards, in addition to nominations for Zemeckis (Best Director) and Pfeiffer (Best Actress). At the 7th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Ford won Favorite Actor – Suspense, Pfeiffer won Favorite Actress – Suspense, and Scarwid was nominated for Favorite Supporting Actress – Suspense.

Plot

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Claire Spencer and her husband Norman, an accomplished scientist and professor, live a quiet life at their lakeside home in Vermont. The Spencers' relationship is strained, especially after Claire's daughter and Norman's stepdaughter Caitlin leaves for college. Claire notices that their new neighbors, Mary and Warren Feur, have a volatile relationship. After Mary is unseen for several days, Claire suspects Warren may have killed her. Claire believes she sees a woman's body in the lake and senses a presence in the house. A framed article about Norman falls off his desk and shatters, leading Claire to discover an odd key. She finds the bathtub mysteriously filled, and sees another woman's reflection in the water.

Claire and her friend Jody hold a séance. She finds the bathtub filled again, sees a message stating "you know" on the foggy bathroom mirror, and her computer inexplicably types the initials "MEF". Convinced Mary's ghost is haunting her, Claire confronts Warren. She learns that Mary went to her mother's house after the couple had a fight. On the back of Norman's article, Claire finds a story about a missing woman named Madison Elizabeth Frank (MEF). She visits Madison's mother and steals a lock of Madison's hair, as well as noticing a photo of Madison wearing an unusual necklace.

Following a ritual from a book, Claire attempts to conjure Madison. Seemingly possessed by her spirit, Claire aggressively seduces Norman, shocking him by speaking as Madison until she drops the lock of hair, which ends the possession. Claire recalls a repressed memory about Norman's affair with a student named Madison, which happened during a rough patch in their marriage. Claire leaves to spend the night with Jody, who reveals that she saw Norman arguing with a woman at a café in the nearby town of Adamant a year earlier. Returning home, Claire finds Norman unconscious in the bathtub, along with a hairdryer, which he assures her was an accident. He says an unstable Madison confronted him at home when he ended their affair, but denies killing her. Standing on the lakeside dock with Madison's hair, Claire is pulled into the water by an unseen force; while underwater, she sees a jewelry box matching Madison's necklace in the photo. Norman pulls Claire to safety and they burn the lock of hair.

Claire's suspicions return when Norman claims not to know the café in Adamant, where she sees the same necklace and jewelry box at a nearby shop. Recovering the box from the lake and unlocking it with the key from Norman's office, she finds Madison's necklace inside. She confronts Norman, who says that he came home to find Madison had killed herself; in desperation, he pushed her car into the lake with her body inside. Norman agrees to confess and call the police, but instead distracts and paralyzes Claire with halothane.

Norman admits to murdering Madison when she threatened to expose their affair to the dean. He places Claire in the bathtub, filling it with water to stage her suicide. As he removes Madison's necklace from Claire, her face contorts into that of Madison's corpse. A startled Norman hits his head on the sink and knocks himself out. As the drug wears off, Claire barely escapes drowning. She flees in Norman's truck, but he climbs on it and attacks her. The truck crashes into the lake, dislodging Madison's body from the sunken car. As Norman tries to drown Claire, Madison grabs him. Claire escapes as Norman drowns and Madison's ghost drifts away. Later that winter, Claire places a rose on Madison's grave.

Cast

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Production

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Documentary filmmaker Sarah Kernochan had adapted a personal experience with the paranormal as a script treatment featuring a retirement aged couple dealing with restless but compassionate spirits. DreamWorks commissioned a rewrite from actor-writer Clark Gregg. This script was delivered in 1998 by Steven Spielberg to his director friend Robert Zemeckis,[2] who had signed a deal for DreamWorks to distribute the films of newly founded production company ImageMovers, and announced interest in doing a thriller film.[3] Harrison Ford then signed on to star in the film, even agreeing to clear room in his schedule for the project.[4] Michelle Pfeiffer then followed as DreamWorks started to negotiate with 20th Century Fox regarding the film's distribution.[5] Ford and Pfeiffer were Zemeckis' first and only choices for the lead roles.[3] Fox agreed to distribute both What Lies Beneath and Zemeckis' other project Cast Away, with the thriller having DreamWorks doing the domestic distribution and Fox the international one.[6]

What Lies Beneath was filmed while production of Cast Away took a hiatus to allow Tom Hanks to lose weight and grow a beard.[7] As Gregg had to remain with production for rewrites, he had to decline an offer to read for a major role in Sports Night; Aaron Sorkin later created a minor role in the final episodes of the series for Gregg.[8]

Reception

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Box office

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What Lies Beneath opened in 2,813 theaters in North America and grossed $29,702,959 for an average of $10,559 per theater. It reached the number one spot at the box office upon opening, beating X-Men.[9] The film ended up earning $155,464,351 domestically and $135,956,000 internationally for a total of $291,420,351 worldwide, close to triple its production budget of $100 million.[1]

Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on 126 reviews, with an average rating of 5.50/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Robert Zemeckis is unable to salvage an uncompelling and unoriginal film."[10] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[12]

The New York Times wrote that "at the start, [Zemeckis] zaps us with quick, glib scares, just to show he still knows how, but his heart isn't in this kind of material anymore. His reflexes are a little slow."[13] The Los Angeles Times called it "spooky with a polished kind of creepiness added in... What Lies Beneath nevertheless feels more planned than passionate, scary at points but unconvincing overall."[14] Time Out thought that "after a slow build that at times makes every hair stand on end – Zemeckis rolls out every thriller cliché there is. A pity, because until then it's a smart, realistically staged, adult-oriented and extraordinarily effective domestic chiller."[15] Empire wrote "The biggest surprise is, perhaps, that what emerges is no masterpiece, but a semi-sophisticated shocker, playfully homaging Hitchcock like a mechanical masterclass in doing 'genre'. The first hour is great fun... It's an enjoyably giddy ride, certainly, but once you're back from the edge of your seat, you realise most of the creaks and groans are from the decomposing script."[16]

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four. He praised Michelle Pfeiffer's performance, calling her "convincing and sympathetic", but commented, "Lacking a smarter screenplay, it milks the genuine skills of its actors and director for more than it deserves, and then runs off the rails in an ending more laughable than scary. Along the way, yes, there are some good moments."[17] He also stated that he felt the problem with Zemeckis' desire to direct a Hitchcockian film (What Lies Beneath contains several musical, visual and plot references to Psycho and Vertigo, among other Hitchcock films) was Zemeckis' decision to involve the supernatural, a device Ebert felt Alfred Hitchcock never would have done.[17]

Accolades

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Award Category Subject Result
ASCAP Award[18] Top Box Office Films Alan Silvestri Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards[19] Favorite Actor - Suspense Harrison Ford Won
Favorite Actress - Suspense Michelle Pfeiffer Won
Favorite Supporting Actress - Suspense Diana Scarwid Nominated
Golden Trailer Award[20] Best Horror/Thriller Nominated
Nastro d'Argento Silver Ribbon for Best Male Dubbing Michele Gammino Won
Saturn Award[21] Best Horror Film Jack Rapke Nominated
Steve Starkey Nominated
Robert Zemeckis Nominated
Best Director Nominated
Best Actress Michelle Pfeiffer Nominated

Remake

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The film was unofficially remade in India as Raaz and released in 2002.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "What Lies Beneath (2000) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  2. ^ Sloane, Judy. "What Lies Beneath Director". Starburst. No. 268. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2014-09-29 – via www.visimag.com.
  3. ^ a b "What Lies Beneath (2000) – Production Notes" (Press release). 20th Century Fox. 2000. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  4. ^ "'Beneath' pairs Ford, Zemeckis; D'Onofrio nabs 'Abbie'". Variety. June 4, 1998. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  5. ^ Fleming, Michael (October 16, 1998). "Pfeiffer joins Ford in 'What'". Variety. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  6. ^ Petrikin, Chris (October 14, 1998). "Pairing for Zemeckis". Variety. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  7. ^ Kehr, Dave (December 17, 2000). "'Cast Away' Director Defies Categorizing". The New York Times. p. 15.
  8. ^ Adams, Erik (September 13, 2011). "Clark Gregg". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  9. ^ Harrigan, Tom (July 26, 2000). "'What Lies Beneath' opens in top spot; 'X-men' drops to second". The News & Observer. Associated Press. p. 49. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ^ "What Lies Beneath". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  11. ^ "What Lies Beneath reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  12. ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-14. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  13. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (July 21, 2000). "'What Lies Beneath': If Only Her Husband Hadn't Made That Horrible Mistake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  14. ^ Turan, Kenneth (July 21, 2000). "What Lies Beneath – MOVIE REVIEW". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  15. ^ "What Lies Beneath Review – Film". Time Out. Archived from the original on 2024-05-17. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  16. ^ "Review of What Lies Beneath". Empire. Archived from the original on 2024-05-17. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  17. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (July 21, 2000). "What Lies Beneath". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "Jewison And Bernstein Scoop ASCAP Film And TV Awards". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 18. May 5, 2001. p. 9. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Brown, Karen Lancaster. "2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards". Blockbuster.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2002. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "GTA2 Nominees (2001)". goldentrailer.com. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  21. ^ "Nominees for 27th annual Saturn Awards - UPI Archives". UPI. April 4, 2001. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  22. ^ "7 Bollywood Remakes That Are Better Than The Original Movie". Collider. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
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