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The worldwide reviews for Robert Zemeckis's new supernatural thriller, " What Lies Beneath " have been mixed. Some sing it's praises, while others loathe it. I am somewhere in the middle. It isn't an awful film, but it certainly isn't a great one. There are elements in it that are executed superbly but   the movie is let down by a mostly cliché ridden   script and a sluggish ending.

The story of " What Lies Beneath " centres around a happily married couple, Dr . Norman Spencer and his wife Claire, who's house seems to be plagued by a spirit. The ghost makes contact with Claire, and her paranoia and distress leave her husband thinking that she is having a nervous breakdown. In order not to spoil the film, that is all that I am going to reveal about the plot.

The opening hour of the movie is excellently constructed. There are plenty of jump-out-of-your-seat moments, and Zemeckis makes a good attempt at developing the characters, as we see the couple's only daughter leaving home to go to college, a   very emotional experience for all involved. The mysterious goings-on in the neighbours house keep's the viewers mind ticking over, as things in the Spencer house get stranger and stranger, doors opening and pictures falling by themselves. This all makes for quite gripping viewing , and presents itself as a superior thriller, in the mould of " The Sixth Sense ".

Unfortunately though , just as things are getting   very interesting, things unravel completely   and " What Lies Beneath " falls into the same cliché ridden trap that have befouled many a thriller before. Instead of capitalising on it's promising start, the movie rejects subtlety in favour of a predictable , overlong climax. The last scene really is awful, involving two characters slugging it out in a fast-moving car that is headed towards the river. Where the truly excellent films of this genre shock and leave the viewer's heart pounding uncontrollably, " What Lies Beneath " bundles on like a sub-par action movie   until it exhaustedly ends with a riot of flashy stunts and cheap, gory shocks. This really is a shame because in its opening hour, it showed a lot of potential.

The one area in which the movie falters is it's weak, boring narrative. It feels like the screenwriters patched together dialogue from every sub-par thriller/horror   that they could find. The whole " honey, there's something in our house " dialogue gets very tiresome in a short space of time, there isn't a thread of imaginative dialogue in the whole movie.

In spite of the lazy dialogue and faltering script, the main players in " What Lies Beneath " fair relatively well. In the directors chair, Zemeckis is assured and inventive , and his slow-burning direction is nail-biting at times. Michelle Pfeiffer is surprisingly good as the tormented housewife , Claire, she delivers an excellent, fearsome performance. Harrison Ford gives a good, subtle performance as Claire's husband Norman , but really isn't given much to do other than tell his wife to stop imagining things.

As I stated before, the bad scenes in the film are really bad, but there are a number of moments that must be given credit, delivering very effective , clever shocks. The bath in the Spencer household is a recurring object throughout the film, and as you may have guessed , it involves quite a few heart-in-mouth moments. The recurring matter of a door that opens just before the handle is touched is also well conceived, and reminds the viewers that all is not well , just in case they had forgotten.

After viewing the first thrilling   hour of " What Lies Beneath " I thought I was in for a pleasant surprise, it's a pity that during the second half I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

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