Lake Placid (1999)


I know that the reason there aren't more giant monster movies these days is that most of them aren't that good.  In fact, Lake Placid itself had a series of made-for-television sequels that just got worse and worse, to the point that the crocodile was starting to get "versus" movies.  That's Asylum territory, and that's never a good thing.  

Still, the original movie, despite being panned by critics, managed to become a hit.  Although it doesn't show up much until the end the crocodile, an animatronic occasionally enhanced by CGI when needed, was designed by Stan Winston and is pretty good looking.  The movie also features a number of name actors as well as Steve Miner, a veteran horror director, behind the camera.  It's not a serious film, but there is no reason it has to be. 

When a diver with the Maine Game and Fish is bitten in half by something in a lake, Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) teams up with game warden Jack Wells (Bill Pullman) to figure out what is going on.  Into the mix is thrown paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda), who is sent to investigate both because of a tooth pulled out of the victim and because her boss wants her out of the way so he can date her best friend. 

She arrives in Maine, and so does Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt), a millionaire who has an obsession with crocodiles.  He is interested to find out what one is doing in a lake in Maine, while Sheriff Keough is skeptical until they all have a close encounter with the beast.  While it is a mystery on how it got there it's not a mystery on why it has stayed.  The lake's only resident, Delores Bickerman (Betty White), has been feeding it and keeping its existence a secret.  

There is a fair amount of gore in places, but not to the level of making it comical.  That, instead, comes from David E. Kelley's script, with Scott constantly falling out of every vehicle she is in and a lot of the interaction between Keogh and Cyr.  Everyone knows it's supposed to be a comedy but for the most part play their roles straight, although Fonda tends to go a bit overboard.  White gives a foul-mouthed, feisty performance that hints at the persona and roles she would pursue in the last part of her life. 

Lake Placid is nothing special but it is a lot of fun, which is more than I can say for a lot of horror movies around the same time.  It doesn't push the self-awareness to the point that it becomes unbearable like many of the slasher retreads of the time, and it still gives us a good creature.  

Lake Placid (1999)
Time: 82 minutes
Starring: Brendal Gleeson, Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Betty White
Director: Steven Miner

 

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