a5c7b9f00b Lake Placid - Well it would be, but; "somebody said that name was taken." At least according to the local Sheriff. When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden (Pullman) teams up with a paleontologist (Fonda) from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for "Crocs" (Platt), and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals…and people! 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? I was hesitant to see this movie because of the subject matter and Bridget Fonda being a major cast member. I had seen her performances in "Godfather III" and "Army of Darkness," and frankly I wasn't the least bit impressed by her abilities.<br/><br/>The video store I used when this movie was released offered free viewings of movies which were guaranteed to be in stock, and weren't. So when I received the voucher for a free rental of this movie, I decided what the heck, and got it. I was very pleasantly surprised.<br/><br/>The major players of this movie are Bill Pullman as Jack Wells (Department of Fish and Game), Bridget Fonda is Kelly Scott (Museum of Natural History, New York), Oliver Platt as Hector Cyr (wealthy, eccentric "dragon hunter") and Brendan Gleeson as Sheriff Hank Keough<br/><br/>Something has killed a man in Lake Placid. It bit his body completely in half. This movie isn't for the feint of heart. It is graphic and gritty and has a very dark humor blended in with the breath-stopping encounters and the gruesome details of the murders. Four people are drawn together to solve the mystery of who or what is killing in the Lake.<br/><br/>It's not easy to blend comedy with horror without falling into that dark and career-deadly pit of "camp," but Steve Miner (Warlock 1 and Halloween H20 *among many others*) succeeds with full marks.<br/><br/>The effects of the "creature" are realistically believable. It's hard to do a movie like this without totally going astray with the comedic aspect or the creature effects, but both are right on target in this production.<br/><br/>You will laugh one moment and be screwed up in your chair with your knees to your chest the next. I love movies based on something which can actually happen. Those to me are the scariest. And this one has some VERY tense moments.<br/><br/>"Oh, she's whole sentence sarcastic! You two should get along!" Brendan Gleeson as Sheriff Hank Keough.<br/><br/>This production was a complete surprise. I thoroughly enjoy it, every time I watch it.<br/><br/>It rates an 8.7/10 from…<br/><br/>the Fiend :. When I paid for my ticket I couldnt believe that I was throwing good money away on yet another dodgy looking monster movie. After all the hype of Deep Blue Sea last year and that being quite terrible I was not expecting to enjoy this movie at all.<br/><br/>Having watched the film, which at a little over eighty minutes, I came out quite content. Not because I had seen a great movie. But simply because the movie didnt suck.<br/><br/>The movie has a story that is really paper thin as well as being very very predictable and not tense enough to cause any scares or tension. Yet I found myself enjoying the movie solely on the dialogue exchanged between Oliver Platt and Brendan Gleeson. Two very good comic roles played exceptionally well by the two actors. Their interplay made the short running time seem even shorter.<br/><br/>However, the rest of the cast seemed to be on auto pilot. Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda were exceedingly bland and it seems the movie makers realised this and gave majority of the screentime to Platt and Gleeson.<br/><br/>The monster effects were incredibly well done and effective, which made this a enjoyable movie whilst not being a great film. Smoothly enjoyable, undemanding entertainment and features a couple of knock-out giant croc attacks.
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