LAKE PLACID (1999)
This story takes us to Maine’s Black Lake, where a vicious animal attack killed a local man. Kelly Scott (played by Bridget Fonda who had some great roles in the 90’s but fizzled out after that) knows just a ton about carnivores as a paleontologist, so she is getting on that plane to Maine if she likes it or not. Fish and Game officer, Jack Wells (played by Bill Pullman from SPACEBALLS and INDEPENDENCE DAY) pretty much hates her when she gets there, because she is just super annoying. Along with an eccentric rich dude named Hector (played by Oliver Platt) and Sheriff Hank (played by Brendan Gleeson, whose probably most famous for his role as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody in the Harry Potter series), they decide to investigate what could have killed this person, is it a giant shark, is it a kaiju raccoon, is it Julia Roberts on crack? What is going on?
Okay, so when you start researching this stuff out, there are just a TON of alligator/crocodile movies out there. LAKE PLACID is essentially the measuring stick for any new movie coming into the genre. If you can’t at least match it, then make it obvious your movie is not taking things seriously and just go straight into b-movie territory. This movie to date has spawned 4 sequels. This might be the best of the bunch.
Acting wise I am not sure there are many giant animal movies that are better than this. Everyone in this movie brings their A game and even Betty White is more than up to the task, as Mrs. Delores Bickerman. Pullman and Fonda play off on another perfectly as their characters develop and it’s awesome to see. One thing that really elevates this movie is the great script and the strong relationships between the characters, while balancing both care and distain.
While the movie does contain some good cinematography, it will not blow you away. The pace is sometimes too slow for my taste, but this isn’t a straight forward action or blood and guts galore flick. LAKE PLACID falls more into the category of comedy horror than even horror, but it is not without its grizzly moments and suspense. I say moments, because one thing we don’t get a lot of in this movie is the actual crocodile. It ends up being on screen for a total of “under” 4 minutes via a combination of CGI and animatronics. The crocodile itself looks pretty great.
Overall I have to give this movie a 4 out of 7. I was a lot more fond of it when it came out than I am now, but that doesn’t make it a terrible movie by any means. If you are going on a crocodile or alligator movie binge, make sure this one is on that list.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF FOX 2000 PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless. Until next time.
Comments
Post a Comment