Lake Placid (film series)

Last updated
Lake Placid
Lake Placid - Collector's Edition Blu-ray Cover.jpg
Cover for the Blu-ray re-release of the original film
Created by David E. Kelley
Original work Lake Placid (1999)
Owner 20th Century Fox (1–2)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2–6)
Years1999–2018
Films and television
Film(s)

Lake Placid is a series of American natural horror comedy films created by David E. Kelley. Produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, the series began with Lake Placid (1999) directed by Steve Miner, and was followed by five television sequels, Lake Placid 2 (2007) by David Flores, Lake Placid 3 (2010) by Griff Furst, Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012) by Don Michael Paul, Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015) by A.B. Stone, being a crossover with the Anaconda series, and Lake Placid: Legacy (2018) by Darrell Roodt. Each installment revolves around the presence of giant, 30-foot-long man-eating crocodiles in the fictional location of Black Lake, Maine, and the efforts of various groups to capture or destroy the creatures. All of the films (except for Legacy) reference members of the fictitious Bickerman family.

Contents

Background

During the production of the original film, Stan Winston Studios were hired to produce the 30 feet long animatronic crocodile, which was covered in a water-resistant urethane skin and functioned underwater using waterproofed hydraulics. [1] In 2014, following the re-release of the original film on Blu-ray, Daily Dead interviewed director Steve Miner about the production of the film. According to Miner: "The first thing I did when I got on board Lake Placid was send the script over to Stan. Stan went ahead and began building the main 18-20 foot croc out of pocket even before we had locked down our financing or anything like that. He may have spent close to a million dollars on him- it may not have been that much, but it was close. And that’s such a testament to Stan- I kept telling him that I didn’t even know if we were going to be making the darned movie, but he just kept moving ahead. What I didn’t know when I took on Lake Placid was that it had already been turned down by all the studios so when it came time to put the movie together, it was a little more challenging than I originally thought it was going to be. That’s when I brought in Mike Medavoy and he really got this movie done for us. We started making the rounds again and eventually Fox ended up picking up the movie the second time. Mike then brought these French investors over to Stan’s shop to see the crocodile in action and Stan finished that thing up just in the nick of time. It ended up working out so perfectly though because Stan had the croc working perfectly where his jaws would open and close, his eyes and head were able to move around and he could move the other parts and shake him like he was attacking something. That’s what ended up impressing the investors and it’s because of Stan that we were able to finance Lake Placid. Had it not been for him or for Mike, we wouldn’t be talking about it now". [2]

Films

FilmU.S. release dateDirector(s)Screenwriter(s)Producer(s)
Lake Placid July 16, 1999 Steve Miner David E. Kelley Peter Bogart, David E. Kelley & Michael Pressman
Lake Placid 2 April 28, 2007David FloresTodd Hurvitz & Howie MillerPhillip Roth & Jeffery Beach
Lake Placid 3 August 21, 2010 Griff Furst David Reed
Lake Placid: The Final Chapter September 29, 2012 Don Michael Paul
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda April 25, 2015A.B. StoneBerkeley Anderson
Lake Placid: Legacy May 28, 2018 Darrell Roodt Jeremy Smith, Matt Venables & Johnathon Lloyd WalkerLance Samuels

Lake Placid (1999)

A group attempts to destroy a giant, 30-foot-long man-eating crocodile, which terrorizes Black Lake, Maine.

Lake Placid 2 (2007)

In the sequel to the feature film, man-eating crocodiles return to the lake as two males and one aggressive female crocodile, which is protecting her nest, wreak havoc on the locals.

Lake Placid 3 (2010)

A game warden moves his family to Lake Placid, once the site of deadly crocodile attacks. Locals assure him the crocs are gone, but his mischievous young son finds a few baby crocs and begins feeding them. They quickly grow into very big adults and start attacking the game warden's family and nearby town.

Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012)

Reba the poacher is back, now an EPA agent. Black Lake is turned into a crocodile sanctuary surrounded by an electric fence. When the fence gets left open one night, a high-school field trip bus unknowingly enters the park. It's up to Reba and the sheriff to save the kids from becoming crocodile chow.

Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015)

In Black Lake, Maine, an accident allows the two giant species, crocodiles and anacondas, to be regenerated and they escape towards Clear Lake. Now, Reba teams up with Tully to find his daughter Bethany and a group of sorority girls in a deadly match between the two creatures.

Lake Placid: Legacy (2018)

A group of young explorers discover a secret area hidden from all maps and GPS devices. When they reach the center of the lake, they discover an abandoned facility that houses one of the largest and deadliest apex-predators known to man.

Cast and crew

Cast

Key
  • An A indicates an appearance through archival footage.
  • A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.
CharacterFilms
Lake Placid Lake Placid 2 Lake Placid 3 Lake Placid:
The Final Chapter
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda Lake Placid:
Legacy
199920072010201220152018
Jack Wells Bill Pullman  
Kelly Scott Bridget Fonda  
Hector Cyr Oliver Platt  
Sheriff Hank Keough Brendan Gleeson  
Deputy Sharon Gare Meredith Salenger  
Sheriff James Riley  John Schneider  
Emily "Emma" Warner  Sarah Lafleur  
Jack Struthers  Sam McMurray  
Scott Riley  Chad Michael Collins Chad Michael Collins A  
Kerri Alicia ZieglerAlicia Ziegler A  
Ahmad Andrews Joe Holt 
Thad Hyland Ian Reed Kesler 
Larry Willis Justin Urich 
Reba  Yancy Butler  
Ellie  Kacey Clarke  
Brett Willies  Mark Evans  
Aaron Fitzgerald Nils Hognestad 
Tara Kendrick Angelica Penn 
Charlie Berman Brian Landon 
Sheriff Tony Willinger  Michael Ironside  
Sheriff Theresa Giove  Elisabeth Röhm  
Ryan Loflin  Paul Nicholls  
Chloe Giove  Poppy Lee Friar  
Max Loflin  Benedict Smith  
Elaine Ford Caroline Ford 
Brittany Fanning  Scarlett Byrne  
Drew Daniel Black 
Deputy Nermal  Jeff Stewart  
Will "Tully" Tull  Corin Nemec  
Bethany Tull  Skye Lourie  
Sarah Murdoch Annabel Wright 
Beach  Stephen Billington  
Tiffani Jones Laura Dale 
Margo Ali Eagle 
Deputy Ferguson Oliver Walker 
Jade  Katherine Barrell
Sam  Tim Rozon
Alice  Sai Bennett
Henderson  Joe Pantoliano
The Bickermans
Delores Bickerman Betty White Betty White P  Mentioned 
Sadie Bickerman  Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman A  
Nathan Bickerman  Colin Ferguson  
Susan Bickerman  Kirsty Mitchell  
Connor Bickerman Jordan Grehs 
Jim Bickerman  Robert Englund  

Crew

RoleFilm
Lake Placid Lake Placid 2 Lake Placid 3 Lake Placid:
The Final Chapter
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda Lake Placid:
Legacy
199920072010201220152018
Composer John Ottman Nathan Furst Frederik Wiedmann Claude FoisyJames Matthes
Andries Smit
Editor Paul Hirsch
Marshall Harvey
John QuinnMatt MichaelJohn QuinnCameron HallenbeckChristopher Minns
Cinematographer Daryn Okada Lorenzo SenatoreAnton BakarskiMartin ChichovIvo PeitchevTrevor Calverley
Production companies Phoenix Pictures Sci-Fi Pictures Stage 6 Films
UFO International
UFO International Destination Films
UFO International
Destination Films
Blue Ice Pictures
Out of Africa Entertainment
Distributor 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Running time82 minutes88 minutes96 minutes90 minutes92 minutes93 minutes

Reception

Critical and public response

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Lake Placid47% (96 reviews) [3] 34 (25 reviews) [4] C [5]
Lake Placid 211% (9 reviews) [6]
Lake Placid 3
Lake Placid: The Final Chapter
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda
Lake Placid: Legacy

Music

Soundtracks

TitleU.S. release dateLengthComposer(s)Label
Lake Placid: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack July 27, 199947:00 John Ottman Varèse Sarabande
Lake Placid 2: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackAugust 12, 200824:00 Nathan Furst Lakeshore Records

Other media

Video games

Lake Placid: Croc Drop is an interactive game produced in 1999 to promote the film Lake Placid from the same year. [7]

Lake Placid 2: Croc Alley is an interactive game produced in 2007 to promote the film Lake Placid 2 from the same year. [8] [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Lake Placid</i> (film) 1999 film by Steve Miner

Lake Placid is a 1999 American comedy horror film written by David E. Kelley and directed by Steve Miner. It is the first installment in the Lake Placid film series and stars Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Platt, Betty White, Meredith Salenger, and Mariska Hargitay. In the film, a giant crocodile terrorizes the fictional location of Black Lake, Maine, while a dysfunctional group of police and scientists attempt to capture or kill the beast.

<i>Anaconda</i> (film) 1997 American horror film by Luis Llosa

Anaconda is a 1997 American adventure horror film directed by Luis Llosa and starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde and Owen Wilson. It focuses on a documentary film crew in the Amazon rainforest that is led by a snake hunter who is hunting down a giant, legendary green anaconda. The film received generally negative reviews, but was a box office success, grossing $136.8 million worldwide against a $45 million budget, and also became a cult classic. It was followed by a series of films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killer Croc</span> DC Comics character

Killer Croc is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Gerry Conway, Don Newton and Gene Colan, the character was introduced in Batman #357. He has become one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Winston</span> American television and film special make-up effects artist

Stanley Winston was an American television and film special make-up effects artist, best known for his work in the Terminator series, the first three Jurassic Park films, Aliens, The Thing, the first two Predator films, Inspector Gadget, Iron Man, and Edward Scissorhands. He won four Academy Awards for his work.

<i>Amazon Adventure</i> Novel by Willard Price

Amazon Adventure is a 1949 children's novel by the Canadian-American author Willard Price featuring his "Adventure" series characters, Hal and Roger Hunt. It depicts an expedition to the Amazon River to capture animals for their father's wildlife collection business. Initially published by John Day in the US, the UK edition was published two years later by Jonathan Cape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocodile attack</span> Crocodile attacks on humans

Crocodile attacks on humans are common in places where large crocodilians are native and human populations live. It has been estimated that about 1,000 people are killed by crocodilians each year.

<i>Crocodile</i> (2000 film) 2000 film

Crocodile is a 2000 American direct-to-video horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. The film involves a group of college students on a houseboat for spring break who stumble across a nest of eggs, and unknowingly enrage a large female Nile crocodile that stalks and kills them one by one. It was followed by Crocodile 2: Death Swamp, a film with no relation to the plot of the original beyond featuring a giant crocodile.

<i>Rogue</i> (2007 film) Australian horror film by Greg McLean

Rogue is a 2007 Australian independent horror film written, produced and directed by Greg McLean, about a group of tourists in Australia who fall prey to a giant, 25 ft (7.6 m) man-eating saltwater crocodile. It stars Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington and Radha Mitchell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustave (crocodile)</span> Large man-eating Nile crocodile in Burundi

Gustave is a Burundian large male Nile crocodile in Burundi who is notorious for being a man-eater, rumored to have killed as many as 200–300 people on the banks of the Ruzizi River and the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika, between which he roams. Though the actual number of victims is difficult to verify, he has obtained near-mythical status and is greatly feared by people in the region.

<i>Croc</i> (film) 2007 made-for-television natural horror film directed by Stewart Raffill

Croc is a 2007 American made-for-television natural horror film produced by RHI Entertainment that premiered in Canada on the video-on-demand channel Movie Central On Demand in July 2007. It aired in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel on November 4, 2007. It is the 6th film in the Maneater Series produced under an agreement with Sci Fi. Filmed in Thailand, the film revolves around the efforts of the owner of a crocodile-farm, an animal welfare agent, and a hunter trying to kill a large saltwater crocodile that has begun killing people in the area.

<i>Lake Placid 2</i> 2007 film by David Flores

Lake Placid 2 is a 2007 American made-for-television comedy horror film directed by David Flores. It is a sequel to Lake Placid (1999) and the second installment in the Lake Placid film series, telling the story of man-eating crocodiles who terrorize the local community. The film premiered on April 28, 2007 on the Sci-Fi Channel and was released direct to video on January 29, 2008.

<i>Lake Placid 3</i> 2010 film by Griff Furst

Lake Placid 3 is a 2010 American made-for-television horror comedy film directed by Griff Furst. It is a sequel to Lake Placid 2 (2007) and the third installment in the Lake Placid film series. The film premiered on August 21, 2010, on Syfy, and was released to DVD later that year.

<i>Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus</i> 2010 American film

Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus is a 2010 disaster horror film by The Asylum, released on December 21, 2010, in the United States. The film stars Jaleel White, Gary Stretch, Robert Picardo, Dylan Vox, Hannah Cowley and Sarah Lieving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lolong</span> Famous giant saltwater crocodile (died 2013)

Lolong was the largest crocodile in captivity. He was a saltwater crocodile measured at 6.17 m, and weighed 1,075 kg (2,370 lb), making him one of the largest crocodiles ever measured from snout-to-tail.

<i>Lake Placid: The Final Chapter</i> 2012 film by Don Michael Paul

Lake Placid: The Final Chapter is a 2012 American made-for-television action horror comedy film directed by Don Michael Paul, written by David Reed and stars Elisabeth Röhm, Yancy Butler, Paul Nicholls and Robert Englund. It is a sequel to Lake Placid 3 (2010) and the fourth installment in the Lake Placid film series, telling the story of killer crocodiles who terrorize the local community. The film premiered on September 29, 2012, by Syfy and was released on DVD on February 19, 2013. As the title suggests, it was originally intended to be the final installment in the series, but was followed by Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, a crossover with Anaconda film series in 2015.

<i>Lake Placid vs. Anaconda</i> 2015 film by A.B. Stone

Lake Placid vs. Anaconda is a 2015 American comedy horror television film directed by A.B. Stone, written by Berkeley Anderson and starring Corin Nemec, Yancy Butler and Robert Englund. The film premiered on April 25, 2015, on Syfy. It is a crossover between the Anaconda film series and Lake Placid film series, and the fifth installment in both their respective series. It is followed by Lake Placid: Legacy (2018) and Anaconda (2024).

<i>Anaconda</i> (film series) Series of American horror films

Anaconda is an American horror film series created by Hans Bauer, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. Produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, the series began with Anaconda (1997) directed by Luis Llosa, and was followed by one theatrical stand-alone sequel, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) directed by Dwight Little, and three television sequels, Anaconda 3: Offspring (2008), Anacondas: Trail of Blood (2009), both directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy, and Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015) directed by A.B. Stone and being a crossover with the Lake Placid film series. Along with a 2024 Chinese remake of the same name, Anaconda (2024) directed by Xiang Qui Liang and Xiang He Sheng. Each installment revolves around giant man-eating anacondas and the efforts of various groups of people to capture or destroy the creatures. The fictional plant known as the Blood Orchid and the company Wexel Hall Pharmaceuticals as well as the fictitious Murdoch family are repeatedly referenced in the films.

<i>Lake Placid: Legacy</i> 2018 American-South African made-for-television horror film by Darrell Roodt

Lake Placid: Legacy is a 2018 American-South African made-for-television horror film directed by Darrell Roodt and stars Katherine Barrell, Tim Rozon, Sai Bennett and Joe Pantoliano, the film premiered on Syfy on May 28, 2018. It is the sixth installment in the Lake Placid film series. The film has its own story that tells the origin of how the crocodiles got to be in Lake Placid.

References

  1. "Stan Winston School of Character Arts".
  2. "Stan Winston Week: Celebrating Lake Placid with Director Steve Miner & Exclusive Photo Gallery". 7 July 2014.
  3. "Lake Placid (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  4. "Lake Placid Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  5. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  6. "Lake Placid 2 (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  7. "Deadsites #1: Lake Placid Movie Site!". 5 July 2013.
  8. "Gungames.net".
  9. Lake Placid 2. Croc Alley. [ dead link ]
  10. "Lake Placid 2 Croc Alley Game - Play Free Bloody games". Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-23.