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Lake Placid follows a group of people trying to find and stop a giant crocodile that's terrorizing a lake in Maine. The mixed group includes Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda), eccentric millionaire Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt), and the town sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson). All of them, and Betty White is still rooting for the crocodile!
This is a film that I really don't know why I missed back in the day, but I finally caught up with it and I had a lot of fun! The film falls in that line between horror, thriller, and comedy, and I think it handles all of them pretty well. It reminded me a bit of 1950s creature features, or even more "modern" stuff like Anaconda in terms of tone and vibe, with the ensemble cast and the focus on the creature.
And although the focus is indeed in the creature, to the point that one of the characters is actually rooting for it, the banter between the main cast is pretty good. It is weird because, even though they're trying to ship Pullman and Fonda, they don't have chemistry together; and yet, the group banter is so good, especially between Platt and Gleeson.
The special effects are decent and there are a good amount of jumpscares, and although there is a certain goofiness to it, the film never tries to be anything else. This is, first and foremost, a film about a giant crocodile terrorizing people in a lake. Your best choice is to just sit back and enjoy the crocodile carnage. I mean, is that a crime? To root for the crocodile?
Grade:
LAKE PLACID
(1999, Miner)
A film about a reptile
(1999, Miner)
A film about a reptile
"I'm rooting for the crocodile. I hope he swallows your friends whole. You might want to arrest me for that too. Is that a crime? To wish the chewing of law enforcement?"
Lake Placid follows a group of people trying to find and stop a giant crocodile that's terrorizing a lake in Maine. The mixed group includes Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda), eccentric millionaire Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt), and the town sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson). All of them, and Betty White is still rooting for the crocodile!
This is a film that I really don't know why I missed back in the day, but I finally caught up with it and I had a lot of fun! The film falls in that line between horror, thriller, and comedy, and I think it handles all of them pretty well. It reminded me a bit of 1950s creature features, or even more "modern" stuff like Anaconda in terms of tone and vibe, with the ensemble cast and the focus on the creature.
And although the focus is indeed in the creature, to the point that one of the characters is actually rooting for it, the banter between the main cast is pretty good. It is weird because, even though they're trying to ship Pullman and Fonda, they don't have chemistry together; and yet, the group banter is so good, especially between Platt and Gleeson.
The special effects are decent and there are a good amount of jumpscares, and although there is a certain goofiness to it, the film never tries to be anything else. This is, first and foremost, a film about a giant crocodile terrorizing people in a lake. Your best choice is to just sit back and enjoy the crocodile carnage. I mean, is that a crime? To root for the crocodile?
Grade: