Review: Lake Placid (1999)

A few days ago, while review Piranha 3D, I mentioned that it was a trashy film.  While implied, I'll go ahead and directly state that it was well-directed trashy film.  It knew what it was, and played to that expectation and did it very well.  It might be odd to start a review for one movie by talking about another, but I feel the need to contrast the two movies because Lake Placid is also playing to the cheap seats, and is somewhat competently directed, but isn't nearly as effective.

The biggest sin of this movie is the script.  Written by David E. Kelley, it lacks all of the trademarks of his more successful TV works, and I find it unsurprising that he didn't write another movie screenplay after this one.  It's meant to be comedic and is filled with 'funny' lines, but precious few of them are, and any gold spun from this straw script comes from the efforts of the actors.  Really, the fact that the movie is watchable at all is due to their combined labor.

To give a summary, the film follows a group of people as they investigate what could have possibly killed a Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife officer in the waters of Black Lake, Maine.  This is treated as a mystery far longer than it should've been, but they eventually realize it is a crocodile, at which point they work to find it, with the group divided on whether to capture or kill the beast.

(It feels relevant to point out that the fictional lake this takes place in is not named Lake Placid, which is one of those details I wish were better explained than a throwaway line.  The lake is fictional!  You can name it whatever you want!)

Despite the terrible script, I actually do enjoy this movie quite a bit.  It has the same type of charm to it that other creature features have won me over with.  Brendan Gleeson and Betty White are the standout performances, and the practical crocodile by Stan Winston Studios is a marvel - please don't judge the CGI effects too harshly, they were fairly adequate for the time period.

The mayhem is judiciously spread out, even if the movie could stand to have a bit more of it.  For a killer animal feature, the body count is criminally low.  The dialogue is terrible, but thankfully the plot does move along fairly well, outside of the mentioned issue with the investigation.  The worst thing that could happen with a movie like this is for it to feel long, especially with a time of 82 minutes, but it avoids that trap.

I can't really recommend this movie to anyone other than those that love cheesy creature features, or those that love to see old ladies swear like sailors.  My own enjoyment of it probably has a healthy amount of nostalgia attached, even if I can be fair with its score.

5 out of 10

Published Oct 24, 2026