Lake Placid (1999)

Directed by Steve Miner [Other horror films: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), House (1985), Warlock (1989), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Day of the Dead (2008)]

What Lake Placid lacks insofar as story is concerned, it makes up for it, in spades, with it’s fantastic sense of fun. Lake Placid is a fun movie, and the cast too makes it a stellar watch.

With Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Oliver Platt (The West Wing), Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, along with The Guard and 28 Days Later…), Bridget Fonda (a woman I don’t even know, to be honest), and some small appearances from Betty White, Lake Placid has a lot of star-power behind it, and they all work really well with each other, particularly the hilarious relationship between Platt and Gleeson. In a way, it was heartwarming, but the humor was certainly top-notch.

The story itself isn’t necessarily special, but the performances mixed with some decent tension and some mounting friendships really add up to a better movie than might be anticipated, and again, I can’t overstate just how much fun I have with this one.

Another thing I rather enjoyed about this one is the setting. It takes place in a Maine forest, and I thought, while simple, it had quite a bit of charm (and led to a few funny scenes involving Gleeson’s character). It’s always nice to see Maine come up outside of a Stephen King movie.

Lake Placid isn’t a movie that is likely to blow anyone away, and it’s one that some people would likely find more generic than anything else, but I’ve always found it a fun movie with a solid cast, and I always enjoy watching it when the opportunity arises.

8/10