Assembled as though everyone had somewhere more important to be, Beneath is a genuine D-movie: dumb, desperate and devoid of mystery, thrills or suspense.

Even the cockroaches look bored as vision-plagued Christy (Zehetner - picture Christina Ricci's little sister) snoops around her hometown to find out what really happened to her tragically flame-grilled sister.

Her quest benefits from moments of clairvoyance, countless memory-prompting flashbacks, and incredibly easy access to all the files and hidey-holes any right-minded conspirator would have covered up years ago.

Christy's young niece is also troubled by the 'bad things' going on at her creaky old family home. But while the eyes in the portraits don't move, they might as well because Vanessa's husband and mother-in-law couldn't act any more suspiciously if they tried.

The idea of Nancy Drew getting a bump on the head and waking up in Twin Peaks is worth running with.

Sadly, this is merely an underpowered knock-off of What Lies Beneath, undermined by hackneyed plotting and a woeful lack of conviction from its cast.

Let it lie.

Elliott Noble