Lake Placid
Dir: Steve Miner
1999
**
Comedy horror is a mix genre that is often very hard to get right. Many 'Monster' horrors are unintentionally funny and are generally so because they are so bad. Lake Placid has moments of humour but doesn't go all out to be funny so I do wonder if the label 'Comedy-Horror' is somewhat serendipitous. It's not particularly horrific either, suggesting that the main intention was for it to become the next Jaws but more in the style of Arachnophobia. It's clear that Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt and Brendan Gleeson know exactly what it is, none take it seriously and no one really gives the performance they're capable of but only because it's never really called for. Much of the film is lazy, it relies mainly on being dumb and fun, which is exactly what it is. The giant Crocodile was a bit of a let down when it did finally appear, CGI wasn't as great as all that in 1999 but it wasn't terrible. The bit I really hated was when the lovely Betty White was made to deliver a particularly foul-mouthed line for no other reason it seems than because old people swearing is funny. A cheap and nasty idea that I disagree with. Indeed, the script is fairly rubbish, Gleeson's lines are suitably delivered with what I believe is knowing disregard that really works for his character but everything else is cheap and cheerful. It's not a film anyone watches twice but 1999 was a slow year, it was passable at the time.