Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

What Lies Beneath Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 24, 2021

Director Robert Zemeckis is best known for family fare and movie magic type films like the Back to the Future trilogy and The Polar Express and also for pushing technical boundaries (Forrest Gump and Beowulf). With his 2000 film What Lies Beneath, the filmmaker shifts gears into the "creepy thriller" category with quasi-supernatural undertones, a PG-13 picture that doesn't push the envelope for its technical workmanship or within the genre at large, but it is a perfectly serviceable, if not largely forgettable, genre picture that's worth checking out.

Claire Spencer's (Michelle Pfeiffer) life has been in a state of upheaval for some time now. She's more mentally than physically recovering from a serious automobile accident, she's just moved into her father in law's old house which she and her husband, prominent scientist Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford), have recently renovated. Norman is also a workaholic who is perfecting a radical new paralyzing drug. To top things off her beloved daughter Caitlin (Katharine Towne) is fresh off to college. Now an empty nester and her husband often absent from home, Claire finds herself drawn into the lives of her new neighbors. Quickly, she begins to believe something to be amiss and quickly comes to believe there's been a murder next door. Norman attempts to talk her down from madness, but to no avail. Even visits to a psychiatrist (Joe Morton) bear little resolutory fruit. However, as Claire digs deeper into the truth around her, she comes to realize that the true monster lies closer to home.

The film is atmospheric, but generically so, and toned down to a play-it-safe level for a PG-13 and Harrison Ford audience. Zemeckis is not out of his element, but directing a story that lacks the sort of movie magic, in some for or fashion and in one way or another, leaves him with little room to deviate from core genre expectations and movements. He handles it well, if not somewhat straightforwardly, and relies more on the story, which isn’t bad but is not particularly memorable, and his actors, who are fine but who are not stretched by the material, to define the film. Ford is solid enough as the distant husband who seems to have something to hide, while Pfeiffer capably carries the lead character, particularly as the psychological spiral begins to engulf her essence.

Generically structured as it may be, What Lies Beneath does hold interest, leading the audience on to a point that it wants to see if what what Claire is really seeing, hearing, and experiencing are legitimate concerns based in reality or if it’s all some inward manifestation. Has she really nailed her neighbor as someone up to no good, or is there a deeper truth to uncover? The film, in its somewhat twisty-turny psychological motifs, reminds of Hitchcock films like Psycho and Rear Window but lacks the elegance and grace of those pictures. Still, it's a well capable genre picture that is worth the two-hour investment, though replay value is limited.

What Lies Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount's 1080p transfer for What Lies Beneath is clearly sourced from a dated master. It's not that it looks exceedingly poor – it's perfectly passable within modest expectations -- it's that it shows some telltale signs of preparation from the DVD era: it appears to have been artificially sharpened somewhat, grain is clumpier and more processed than it is organic, details don't inspire, and colors are flat and ever-so-faded, lacking vibrancy. Textures are nowhere near so crisp as they might could have been, leaving faces and clothes and environments – particularly the main set pieces in and around the Spencer home – lacking the vitality and ultra-sharp and filmic intensity that has been in evidence in so many of Paramount's other Blu-ray releases of recent vintage. As noted, colors are not all that vibrant or nuanced, favoring something of a blunt force approach. The image lacks the clean-up demonstrated in so many of the studio's releases of a more recent vintage; various pops and speckles appear in practically every scene. Minor traces of edge enhancement are visible at the 90-minute mark most prominently and seen in a few other scattered places throughout. This is hardly an eye-catching winner of a transfer; it's murky and not very inspiring but it's perfectly watchable if one can watch without expecting perfection.

What Lies Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

What Lies Beneath surfaces onto Blu-ray with a capable if not a little dated Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is somewhat front heavy, particularly as the music spreads across the front portion of the stage. Some surround integration is apparent but it is not so forceful as to overwhelm nor so graceful as to offer seamless integration. The same can be said for some of the more prominent action or ambient effects, such as heavy rain, which lack the precision clarity and seamless stage integration found in superior tracks. Dialogue is the primary audio mover and shaker here, and it does hold steady to a front-center position, even if it, like everything else, struggles to shift into that highest gear. In many ways the track is much like the video, then, offering a solid presentation but one that cannot touch the higher end spectrum, never mind reach an audio zenith.

What Lies Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The lackluster presentation continues with just a couple of recycled supplements from years past. What Lies Beneath ships with neither DVD nor digital copies. A slipcover has not been included, either.

• Audio Commentary: Director Robert Zemeckis breaks down the film in detail.
• Constructing a Thriller (480i, 15:01): A look at how the film medium is the perfect home for suspense, characters and plot, Hitchcock influences, visual effects, technical construction, and more. Midway through the piece, the supplement shifts to look at Robert Zemeckis' direction and his history with and in film, before returning to the typical behind the scenes fodder. The piece is constructed by film clips and interview snippets.
• Theatrical Trailer (480i, 2:27).

What Lies Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What Lies Beneath is a capable Chiller elevated by solid performances and complimentary direction from the ever-reliable Robert Zemeckis. The slow-burn and twisty-turny plot offers few surprises but the highlight is the complex psychological performance that Michelle Pfeiffer delivers as the film's lead. This is a decent watch in sum but the genre has far better to offer (but this one's pretty good as PG-13 variants go). As far as the Blu-ray goes, this is a fairly uninspiring package. Everything about it is OK, but there's nothing -- not the movie, not the video, not the audio, not the supplements -- that scream out as a reason to buy. Fans of the film will find a capable presentation but nothing to be excited about, one that is certainly a far cry from the best Paramount has been releasing in the past year or so. Worth a look.