Lake Placid (1999)
Comedy | Horror

Tagline: Part Mystery Part Thriller Parts Missing.

"You'll Spend As Much Time Laughing As You Do Screaming." - David Poland, TNT Roughcut.com

Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Bridget Fonda (A Simple Plan) and Oliver Platt (Bulworth) share an appetite for sheer adventure when a tranquil New England lakefront erupts into an action-packed den of destruction in this "monster of a hit!" (Wireless Magazine)

An investigative team, armed with state-of-the-art equipment, high powered weaponry and a biting sense of sarcasm, must work together to defeat Black Lake's most ferocious resident: a 30-foot prehistoric crocodile! Betty White co-stars as the cantankerous Mrs. Bickerman - a role you've got to hear to believe - in this terrifying tale of survival that "combines humor and thrills with remarkable deftness." (New York Post)

[CSW] - Remarkable dialogue.

Storyline: What happens when a man-eating crocodile begins picking off tourists in beautiful Lake Placid? What if the crocodile wants to make it his home? Written by

User Comment: peter_c Salt Lake City • As evident from most of the other reviews, people who have connected with this movie, as I have, connected quite solidly. It was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I have not been scared by a movie since I was 13 years old, so horror movies that take themselves seriously, like The Blair Witch, are extraordinarily boring and annoying. But a comedy which isn't trying too hard, as a dumb Adam Sandler movie does, to make you laugh but still makes you laugh is an excellent film. Lake Placid is it. The best part was that I couldn't garner a single thing about how good or bad the film was from any of the reviews I had read before I went to see it. Brendan Gleeson as the hic Sheriff really deserves most of the credit for making this film awesome. But, of course, since he is not a big name, you don't ever hear anything about him. Instead you hear about Bill Pullman, who is nothing special in this film.

Summary: Amazing

User Comment: Bob Stout from Houston, Texas, USA, 17 February 2005 • I love genre-bending movies, and especially those that mix horror with comedy. That puts me dead center of the target demographic of this film. The plot is pretty silly and there certainly isn't enough action for anyone looking for scares. What saves it is the script. It's witty and never takes itself too seriously. The characters are all foils for one another, setting up some of the most entertaining dialog of any movie I know.

The plot revolves around a 30 foot Asian crocodile somehow winding up in a lake in Maine - go figure. What makes the movie are the characters assembled to do something about it. Bridget Fonda is an annoying paleontologist who's never before ventured out of her museum. Here, she plays both the archetypal fish out of water as well as potential romantic interest for the local game warden, played by Bill Pullman. The essential characters are rounded out by Brendan Gleeson's dour sheriff, Oliver Platt's rich and eccentric mythology buff, and Betty White as the colorful local little old lady with a secret or two.

As I said, reduced to a plot outline, it's pretty unimpressive, but the verbal barbs that fly back and forth between the characters are what make the show. It's an "action/horror" movie I could watch with my eyes shut and still enjoy.

Summary: One of the best-written movies I've ever seen.

--- JOYA ---

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