LAKE PLACID (1999) ** ½

Okay well, I caught Lake Placid 2 and 3 on SyFy Channel last week, so I figured I’d complete the trilogy by reviewing Numero Uno.  This one’s all about a couple of giant (possibly prehistoric) crocodiles eating people in a lake in Maine.  Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, and Oliver Platt are called in to catch and/or kill the suckers, but not before a handful of people get turned into Croc Chow.

Director Steve (Friday the 13^th Part 3-D) Miner knows a thing or two about delivering shocks (that is before he lost all his credibility with the atrocious Day of the Dead remake) but too much of the film’s goofy intentional humor gets in the way of the monster mashing.  Platt’s constant mugging in particular gets kinda annoying after awhile.  At least this movie was doing the whole Make Betty White Swear Like a Sailor thing before it became chic.  Since it was written by David E. (Ally McBeal) Kelley, all the characters seem like they just walked out of a sitcom.  The film also lacks any sort of danger as you already know that no harm is going to come to the four leads. 

The gore is probably the best thing about the flick.  We get a guy bitten in half, a couple severed heads, and a pretty cool scene where the crocodile attacks a grizzly bear.  The second best thing about the movie is Meredith Salenger looking yummy in a deputy uniform.  Man, I had a crush on her back in her A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon/Dream a Little Dream era, so it was nice to see that she’s aged like fine wine.