Movies - Lake Placid

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	Movies - Lake Placid

Lake Placid is a 1999 comedy/horror film, directed by Steve Miner.

Plot

The movie opens with a Maine sheriff accompanying a scientist who is researching Beaver population levels in a lake. The scientist is subjected to a horrific attack from an unseen menace beneath the water, and literally bitten in half.

A tooth is discovered embedded in the body and a request is sent to a museum for an expert to come and examine it. Palaeontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda) is selected for the mission, largely because her romantic relationship with her boss has just broken up as a result of his infidelity with another worker, and he wants to get rid of her until she calms down.

Scott examines the tooth and suspects it to be from a crocodile. Reluctant to return to the museum, she joins an expedition to investigate the lake. Matters are complicated with the arrival of Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt), a notorious and eccentric crocodile expert who believes that the animals are holy and seeks to swim with them. Together the group attempt to locate the animal and deal with the threat it represents.

Cast

Bill Pullman
as Jack Wells
Bridget Fonda
as Kelly Scott
Oliver Platt
as Hector Cyr
Brendan Gleeson
as Sheriff Hank Keough
Betty White
as Mrs. Delores Bickerman
David Lewis as Walt Lawson
Tim Dixon as Stephen Daniels
Natassia Malthe as Janine
Mariska Hargitay as Myra Okubo
Meredith Salenger as Deputy Sharon Gare
Jed Rees as Deputy Burke
Richard Leacock as Deputy Stevens
Jake T. Roberts as Officer Coulson
Warren Takeuchi as Paramedic
Ty Olsson as State Trooper

Quotations

Kelly Scott : "Uh, there's something I wanted to ask you. What's it like to be a woman in the woods of Maine? I mean, the guys don't turn all horny or anything like they did in Deliverance, right?"
Mrs. Bickerman : "Oh, my husband passed away. It's been almost two years now."
Sheriff Hank Keough : "My department doesn't have any record of that, Mrs. Bickerman."
Mrs. Bickerman : "Well, I'm sorry. Incomplete records haunt me so."
Mrs. Bickerman : "Murders and rapes in the city, people bomb planes, can the police stop them? No! But feed one little cow to a crocodile..."
Kelly Scott : "I will NOT calm down! This is the second time I've been hit with a severed head and I DON'T LIKE IT!"
Mrs. Bickerman : "If I had a dick, this is where I would tell you to suck it!"
Hector Cyr : "Cow disappoints me!"
(After finding a rotting toe)
Hector : "Is this the man that was killed?"
Sheriff Hank Keough : "He seemed taller."

Reception

Lake Placid is a combination of suspense, outright horror and comedy. Most of the humour stems from the "fish out of water" quality of Scott and the bickering between Hector and local Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson). The movie was generally received poorly by audiences and critics - a common complaint was that the horror and comedy elements did not sit well together, making the movie fail on both counts. The website gave the movie a 35% rating, whilst Roger Ebert described it as "completely wrong-headed from beginning to end".

Trivia

It was filmed mainly in the town of Shawnigan Lake, BC, Canada.
The 30-foot long crocodile was created by the famous .
US Tagline: You'll never know what bit you.
UK Tagline: Part Mystery. Part Thriller. Parts Missing.

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