Hello everyone! Anders Holmes is here with another solo episode where he reviews the Hitchcockian horror film What Lies Beneath, directed by Robert Zemeckis.

As it is spooky season (October aka Scary Movie Month) and Halloween is on the way, Anders Holmes will be talking about some of his favourite horror films in these solo Anders Reviews episodes. Horrors film that are some of his favourites, films that have made a big impression on him and films that people should check out. Whether they be fans of the genre or not.

On this episode, Anders talks about one of his favourite horror films from the 2000s, a memorable film he watched as a child. He re-discovered it again in his thirties. What Lies Beneath was released in the year 2000. It stars Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer and, like previously mentioned, it was directed by Robert Zemeckis. The screenplay is credited to Sarah Kernochan and Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson). Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford star as Norman and Claire Spencer (not Foster as Anders accidentally states in the episode), two madly in love people in a seemingly perfect and happy marriage. Claire is a stay at home, who was once was part of a popular musical quartet, while Norman is a university professor working a lot on a project and neglects his wife. Prior to the events of the film, Claire was in a car accident the year before and still is troubled by it. After her daughter Caitlin moves off to college, she becomes suspicious of what is going on with their neighbours, The Feurs, when she notices Mrs Feur crying in their garden and then she isn't seen again. It's not long before Claire suspects the husband of wrong doing and begins to experience paranormal occurrences in her home. She feels that she is being haunted by a ghost that wishes to contact her.

What Lies Beneath is a good old fashioned haunted house story that channels and honours Alfred Hitchcock. It blends Rear Window and also George Cukor's film Gaslight. Robert Zemeckis, who is no stranger to the horror genre, made this film during hiatus from filming Castaway with Tom Hanks who needed to lose weight for that project. The film was made for 100 million dollars and made 291 million dollars worldwide, despite mixed reviews. Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford give tremendous performances, with most of the critical praise hailing Michelle Pfeiffer as the MVP. Harrison Ford is cast against type and that particular bit of casting works to the film's advantage. It's best to go into this film blind and not watch any trailers or TV spots, as they do spoil aspects of the plot and ruin a few twists and red herrings. The movie is available to watch on DVD and it's also able to be viewed on streaming services: Disney Plus and The Criterion Channel (but only for October).

We hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned for more solo episodes from Anders during this year's spooky season. Stay tuned for our upcoming Fascism on Film episode on The Marriage of Maria Braun. Also do listen to our Robert Redford Special.

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Anders

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