Lake Placid

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Lake Placid

R

1999

1h 22m

Horror

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

96 Reviews

37%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and visiting paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda). Looking for clues in a tooth that the beast left behind, Kelly and the others eventually locate the monster, a massive and vicious reptile eager to devour anything in its path. Can the crocodile-like creature be stopped?

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Critics Consensus

Betty White's delightful supporting turn may be worth the price of admission alone, but Lake Placid is swamped by a smarmy script and inability to deliver on the creature feature mayhem.

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Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

This may be no more than a squib of a B movie, and it remains about as frightening as a fish tank, but, if you have any poetry in your soul, you will surely thrill to a film that ends with a crocodile sticking its head in a helicopter.

Nov 30, 2020

Full Review

Stephen Thompson

AV Club

The lazy finale makes Lake Placid seem more marginal and forgettable than it already was, which is actually something of a feat.

Jul 9, 2019

Full Review

Paul Tatara

CNN.com

Miner's thoroughly unimaginative visual style sees to it that "Lake Placid" is not the least bit frightening, and the entire undertaking generates maybe one decent laugh. That is, if you don't count Fonda's chronic inability to act.

Jul 9, 2019

Full Review

Jose Solís

Common Sense Media

Originally dismissed when it was released, this killer croc film has grown into a strange B-movie gem from the legendary year of 1999. Clocking in at

Jul 23, 2025

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It's Jaws, with a croc instead of a shark.

Rated: C+

Apr 6, 2022

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Kelley is an inspired choice for a screenwriter but none of this is actually funny. Also, less than 4 minutes of screen time for the croc in a 78-minute movie? No thank you!

Rated: 2/5

Dec 30, 2020

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Gregory S

People are way to serious with movies sometimes. This is a fun and funny ride. Enjoy it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/20/25

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Robbie L.

One of the best giant animal movies. Right up there with deep blue sea, and tremors

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/26/25

Full Review

Pedro Henrique C

Lake Placid (1999) is a film that has no script, a crazy story and is poorly directed. The characters in this movie are pretty dumb, you'll want to watch it and root for the crocodile to kill them all.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

10/20/25

Full Review

Rafael S

I really liked this movie, the Crocodile animatronic is very well made and realistic, and has very iconic scenes

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/08/25

Full Review

Christine B

Campy and fun. Betty White was awesome. "I'm rooting for the crocodile; I hope it swallows your friends whole." I got tired of Bridget Fonda's fake "girl screams," though. She was TERRIBLE in this film and was the only weak link. All the other characters fit perfectly together.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/27/25

Full Review

Christian K

A by the numbers creature feature that hits all the beats but has enough recognizable actors to not make it a total drag. The kill count is extremely low for some reason? The romantic plot is lacking any sort of chemistry, Platt and Gleeson have more chemistry as enemies in this.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/17/25

Full Review

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Steve Miner

Director

Bill Pullman

Jack Wells

Bridget Fonda

Kelly Scott

Oliver Platt

Hector Cyr

Brendan Gleeson

Sheriff Hank Keough

Betty White

Mrs. Delores Bickerman

Bubba Ho-Tep

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Synopsis

When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and visiting paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda). Looking for clues in a tooth that the beast left behind, Kelly and the others eventually locate the monster, a massive and vicious reptile eager to devour anything in its path. Can the crocodile-like creature be stopped?

Director: Steve Miner
Producer: David E. Kelley, Michael Pressman
Screenwriter: David E. Kelley
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Phoenix Pictures, Rocking Chair Productions, Fox 2000 Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 16, 1999, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $31.8M
Runtime: 1h 22m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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