Lake Placid

In case you're wondering, this is not about the 1980 Winter Olympics in New York.

It is, instead, about a small gem of a movie I'd never had the least interest in watching.  But when you have guests, you do what they want, otherwise they talk about you behind your back.  So when the 16 year old son of my cousin decided he wanted to watch it, well, I did too, and glad I was.

We spent most of the movie yelling "Get out of the water, fool!" at various characters.  "Don't go into the brush in the dark holding only a pocket knife, idiot!" and "oh, that poor cow!"

The movie features a great monster, a cast of stereotypical characters who do foolish things, and a cast of expendable extras. And Betty White in a role that was made for her.  She is one of those sweet widowed housewives who is a closet whackjob.  Excellent.  Bill Pullman plays Jack Wells, the only "normal" person, and Bridget Fonda is Kelly Scott, New York shrew-cum-paleantologist who runs to Lake Placid, Maine trying to escape her own demons.  Brendan Gleeson is the small-town sheriff in over his head, and Oliver Platt plays the slightly crazy crocodile expert.

The plot itself consists of one alarming event followed by another, just what is needed to make the movie fast paced. And in the middle of a horrible scene, something hilarious happens.  It is a horror film that makes fun of itself. A lot of fun.

It shows up on TV pretty regularly, so you could do worse, one of these times, than to turn down the lights, grab a beer and tune in.

Comments

[rarity]

Looks like "Lake Not-so-Placid" to me - but I'll keep it in mind! Never expected to know any of the actors in such a movie, that alone makes one curious!