Lake Placid
Short description
Lake Placid is a 1999 horror film set in the woods of Maine, where a quiet lake becomes the centre of a search for a giant crocodile that has developed a taste for humans. After a diver is killed, a local game warden named Jack Wells works alongside Kelly Scott, a paleontologist from New York, to work out what is responsible. Their investigation is complicated by Hector Cyr, an eccentric mythology professor with a fascination for crocodiles, and by Sheriff Hank Keough. The film mixes action and comedy with its creature-feature premise.
Steve Miner directed the film, the tenth of thirteen he has directed in chronological order, following Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and preceding Texas Rangers. David E. Kelley wrote the screenplay and produced with Michael Pressman. Bill Pullman plays Jack, Bridget Fonda plays Kelly, Oliver Platt plays Hector, Brendan Gleeson plays Sheriff Keough and Betty White plays Mrs. Delores Bickerman. The production had a budget of 27 million dollars and took about 57 million dollars worldwide, a return that suggests modest commercial success rather than a major hit. On IMDb it holds 5.8 out of 10 from around 70,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6 out of 10 from over 1,300 votes. The film critics' rating is 5.2 out of 10 from 96 reviews, below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The filming location is Vancouver and three lakes located in Canada, in the province of British Columbia.
- The crocodile for the film was created by none other than Stan Winston (1946-2008) himself. This master of visual and technical special effects is also known for his work on films such as "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1986) and "Jurassic Park" (Steven Spielberg, 1993).
- The surname Hector is an anagram of the English word “weep.” This is a reference to the myth that crocodiles shed tears before eating their prey. Recent research shows that some reptiles do indeed produce tears when eating, but this is more likely due to physiological reasons and has nothing to do with emotions (such as pity). Fluid from the tear ducts washes and lubricates the eyeballs, especially when a crocodile has spent some time on land. In the case of gharials and comb-crested crocodiles, tears help the animals get rid of excess salt that they ingest with their food.
- The majority of the animals shown in the film were created using computer graphics; real animals are only shown from a distance and in the background.
- Betty White, who plays Dolores Bickerman feeding a cow to a crocodile in the film, is actually a representative of the organization “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals”.
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