Lake Placid

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Lake Placid

R,

1999,

1h 22m,

Horror/

Comedy

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Watchlist

47%

96 Reviews

Tomatometer

38%

100,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

96 Reviews

38%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and visiting paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda). Looking for clues in a tooth that the beast left behind, Kelly and the others eventually locate the monster, a massive and vicious reptile eager to devour anything in its path. Can the crocodile-like creature be stopped?

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Critics Consensus

Betty White's delightful supporting turn may be worth the price of admission alone, but Lake Placid is swamped by a smarmy script and inability to deliver on the creature feature mayhem.

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Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

Nov 30, 2020

This may be no more than a squib of a B movie, and it remains about as frightening as a fish tank, but, if you have any poetry in your soul, you will surely thrill to a film that ends with a crocodile sticking its head in a helicopter.

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Stephen Thompson

AV Club

Jul 9, 2019

The lazy finale makes Lake Placid seem more marginal and forgettable than it already was, which is actually something of a feat.

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Paul Tatara

CNN.com

Jul 9, 2019

Miner's thoroughly unimaginative visual style sees to it that "Lake Placid" is not the least bit frightening, and the entire undertaking generates maybe one decent laugh. That is, if you don't count Fonda's chronic inability to act.

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Jose Solís

Common Sense Media

Jul 23, 2025

Originally dismissed when it was released, this killer croc film has grown into a strange B-movie gem from the legendary year of 1999. Clocking in at

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Apr 6, 2022

C+

It's Jaws, with a croc instead of a shark.

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Dec 30, 2020

2/5

Kelley is an inspired choice for a screenwriter but none of this is actually funny. Also, less than 4 minutes of screen time for the croc in a 78-minute movie? No thank you!

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Apr 1, 2019

Lake placid was okay. There was still some good moments where you learned a lot about the characters. The crocodile looked sort of CGI but it has Brilliant acting from Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda. It was really bloody and gore.

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Hagrid R

Dec 13, 2018

Lake Placid is arguably the most idiotic monster movie to arrive in multiplexes since the stunningly awful Deep Rising slithered in 18 months ago. If there's one thing to be said about this movie, which features a hapless band of humans tangling with a 30-foot crocodile, it's that the film makers are aware that no one in their right mind could possibly take this premise seriously. So director Steve Miner and writer David E. Kelley have constructed the film with their tongues planted in their cheeks. Unfortunately, adding a strong dose of intentional camp to a film doesn't necessarily make it an enjoyable experience. Lake Placid isn't so bad that it's good; it's so bad that it's really bad. Its strange to see big names at the time appear in such shlock but a good paycheck is a worthy cause. Lake Placid just lacks the frills and thrills these kinds of films need.

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Ron G

Oct 31, 2018

more silly than anything else. Characters were pretty entertaining.

Harry S

Oct 17, 2018

The fact that almost every line is sarcastic does start to wear a little thin after a while, but on the whole this is a great little horror comedy with some cracking dialogue.

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Ron G

Oct 1, 2018

This movie is no where near is bad as the critics say it was. Look Lake Placid was never gonna win any award but it wasn't made to win. This movie was made to entertain and in my opinion it did its job. This movie had a little bit of everything violence,action and laughs plus a giant Croc living in a lake in Maine you can't go to wrong. Storyline was good and simple the acting was decent enough the cgi is a little dated but owell. Best parts is when the croc ate the bear then the cow. Lake placid is a fun movie not the greatest but still very enjoyable to watch.

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George W

Sep 1, 2018

Slightly amusing, tongue-in-cheek monster with a star cast doesn't want be taken seriously, and one shouldn't.

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Steve Miner

Director

Bill Pullman

Jack Wells

Bridget Fonda

Kelly Scott

Oliver Platt

Hector Cyr

Brendan Gleeson

Sheriff Hank Keough

Betty White

Mrs. Delores Bickerman

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Synopsis

When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and visiting paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda). Looking for clues in a tooth that the beast left behind, Kelly and the others eventually locate the monster, a massive and vicious reptile eager to devour anything in its path. Can the crocodile-like creature be stopped?

Director: Steve Miner
Producer: David E. Kelley, Michael Pressman
Screenwriter: David E. Kelley
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Phoenix Pictures, Rocking Chair Productions, Fox 2000 Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 16, 1999, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $31.8M
Runtime: 1h 22m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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