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Review #79: Lake Placid
After a local Sheriff witnesses the gruesome death of a diver in a Maine Lake, a hunt for the killer is launched. According to the Sheriff, an underwater creature is responsible for the attack, but what awaits the team of scientists and Animal Rangers is something much more deadly, and definitely bigger, than they imagined.
Seen as a low percentage scorer at the time of release (39% by Rotton Tomatoes), Lake Placid actually has a very clever script and contains many sub-genres, horror, comedy and romance.
It utilises the humour brilliantly with the mildly horrific scenes of mutilation and the dialogue of the characters is also laugh out loud at times, particularly with Oliver Platt and Brendan Gleeson.
The scares aren't exactly scary as such, but many of them are unexpected, giving the viewer the sense of 'comic book' danger.
Many of the gruesome death scenes that appear (after the initial, first death of the movie) are toned down to a point though.
The acting is about 50/50 though, sadly.
Forgettable actor Bill Pullman as Fish and Game officer Jack Wells, is at his usual forgettable best.
As too is Bridget Fonda as Kelly Scott, an archeologist and Pullman's love interest.
Brendan Gleeson as Sheriff Keough is brilliantly grumpy and moody in the series of events, his on screen chemistry with Oliver Platt is also brilliant.
Oliver Platt as Hector Cyr is also on top form. He's funny and eccentric and plays off Gleeson fantastically.
Niether Fonda nor Pullman do much for the comedy, horror or story for that matter, and to be honest, the whole thing would have worked without them. If anything, the film may actually have been better if Platt and Gleeson were left alone to do their thing.
The effects are about standard though. The puppetry work is good but the CGI is a little cartoony and shows that the budget wasn't massively used on the computers. It works though.
All in all, for a comedy horror it works, in the same vein as Eight Legged Freaks with more of a 'roll your eyes' kind of humour, but not quite as sharp with the overall screenplay, still though it's an enjoyable movie.
My rating 65%
After a local Sheriff witnesses the gruesome death of a diver in a Maine Lake, a hunt for the killer is launched. According to the Sheriff, an underwater creature is responsible for the attack, but what awaits the team of scientists and Animal Rangers is something much more deadly, and definitely bigger, than they imagined.
Seen as a low percentage scorer at the time of release (39% by Rotton Tomatoes), Lake Placid actually has a very clever script and contains many sub-genres, horror, comedy and romance.
It utilises the humour brilliantly with the mildly horrific scenes of mutilation and the dialogue of the characters is also laugh out loud at times, particularly with Oliver Platt and Brendan Gleeson.
The scares aren't exactly scary as such, but many of them are unexpected, giving the viewer the sense of 'comic book' danger.
Many of the gruesome death scenes that appear (after the initial, first death of the movie) are toned down to a point though.
The acting is about 50/50 though, sadly.
Forgettable actor Bill Pullman as Fish and Game officer Jack Wells, is at his usual forgettable best.
As too is Bridget Fonda as Kelly Scott, an archeologist and Pullman's love interest.
Brendan Gleeson as Sheriff Keough is brilliantly grumpy and moody in the series of events, his on screen chemistry with Oliver Platt is also brilliant.
Oliver Platt as Hector Cyr is also on top form. He's funny and eccentric and plays off Gleeson fantastically.
Niether Fonda nor Pullman do much for the comedy, horror or story for that matter, and to be honest, the whole thing would have worked without them. If anything, the film may actually have been better if Platt and Gleeson were left alone to do their thing.
The effects are about standard though. The puppetry work is good but the CGI is a little cartoony and shows that the budget wasn't massively used on the computers. It works though.
All in all, for a comedy horror it works, in the same vein as Eight Legged Freaks with more of a 'roll your eyes' kind of humour, but not quite as sharp with the overall screenplay, still though it's an enjoyable movie.
My rating 65%
