With the director of Forrest Gump at the helm and household favourites Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford in the lead roles it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect What Lies Beneath to be an enjoyable, light-hearted affair.

Those who do expect that of the film will be in for a shock. Quite a few shocks, actually. Because Robert Zemeckis' new film is absoultely terrifying - a bland looking package that, once opened, reveals itself to be a nightmarish Pandora's box. Playing like a combination of The Shining and The Sixth Sense, it comes with a cast-iron guarantee that even the most unfazed of individuals will emerge from the auditorium an unhealthy shade of pale.

And it all seems so harmless at first. Ford and Pfeiffer are happily married couple Norman and Claire Spencer, whose only concerns are a daughter who has just left for college and an apparently frisky new pair of neighbours.

Events take a strange turn when Pfeiffer begins to hear voices when she is alone in the house.

Doors open and close of their own accord, electronic appliances switch themselves on and Claire begins to see visions of a dead girl.

Is it a ghost? Is Pfeiffer going crazy? Can somebody please turn the lights back on?

What follows is an undeniably tense lesson in the art of suspense that may even have had the great Alfred Hitchcock murmuring his approval. The revelation towards the close of the film of what exactly lies beneath is a bit of a disappointment. But there is a finale which doesn't give the audience a second to gather their breath, let alone their thoughts.

Which is a useful thing, because they don't have time to realise what an outraegeous story they are being spun. But as in all good ghost stories, regardless of how silly it becomes, it manages to keep your attention and send a shiver down your spine.