Lake Placid (film series)

Natural horror comedy film series

Lake Placid

Cover for the Scream Factory Blu-ray re-release of the original film

Created by| David E. Kelley
Original work| Lake Placid (1999)
Owners| 20th Century Studios (The Walt Disney Studios) (1–2)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sony Pictures) (2–6)
Years| 1999–2018
Films and television
Film(s)|

* Lake Placid (1999)
* Lake Placid 2 (2007)
* Lake Placid 3 (2010)
* Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012)
* Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015)
* Lake Placid: Legacy (2018)

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.

## Background

[edit]

During the production of the original film, Stan Winston Studios were hired to produce the 30 foot 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

[edit]

Film  | U.S. release date  | Director(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, 2007  | David Flores  | Todd Hurvitz & Howie Miller  | Phillip 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, 2015  | A.B. Stone  | Berkeley Anderson
Lake Placid: Legacy | May 28, 2018  | Darrell Roodt | Jeremy Smith, Matt Venables & Johnathon Lloyd Walker  | Lance Samuels

### Lake Placid (1999)

[edit]

Main article: Lake Placid (film)

A massive, man-eating crocodile terrorizes the small town of Black Lake in Maine. A group of people, including a paleontologist, a local sheriff, and a wildlife expert, are forced to work together to track down and stop the creature. As they uncover the mystery of the crocodile’s origins, they must confront the deadly predator and its reclusive owner, Delores Bickerman, before it claims more victims.

### Lake Placid 2 (2007)

[edit]

Main article: Lake Placid 2

In Lake Placid 2, the offspring of the previous deadly crocodiles wreak havoc on Black Lake. The crocodiles, now owned by the Sadie Bickerman, terrorize a new group generation, including a game warden, his family, and a group of teenagers.

### Lake Placid 3 (2010)

[edit]

Main article: Lake Placid 3

A game warden moves his family to Black Lake after inheriting the cabin of his aunt, Sadie Bickerman. Locals assure him the crocodiles are gone, but his mischievous young son finds a few juvenile crocs and begins feeding them. They quickly grow into very big adults and start attacking the game warden's family, nearby town, and poacher Reba.

### Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012)

[edit]

Main article: Lake Placid: The Final Chapter

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)

[edit]

Main article: Lake Placid vs. Anaconda

The pharmaceutical company Wexell Hall inadvertently causes a new generation of mutant anacondas to escape into the crocodile-infested Black Lake. As the deadly snakes wreak havoc on the town, Sheriff Reba and her team must face off against the killer reptiles. With both creatures threatening the town's survival, the characters must find a way to stop the carnage and prevent further destruction.

### Lake Placid: Legacy (2018)

[edit]

Main article: Lake Placid: Legacy

A group of young explorers and activists discover a secret area hidden from all maps and GPS devices. When they reach the center of the lake, they discover the abandoned facility where the crocodiles of Black Lake originated from. However, the beast that lurks in the facility is larger and deadlier than any that came before it.

## Cast and crew

[edit]

### Cast

[edit]

> Key

>   * An A indicates an appearance through archival footage.
>   * A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Character  | Films

|

Lake Placid | Lake Placid 2 | Lake Placid 3 | Lake Placid: The Final Chapter | Lake Placid vs. Anaconda | Lake Placid: Legacy
1999 | 2007 | 2010 | 2012 | 2015 | 2018
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 CollinsA |
Kerri  |  | Alicia Ziegler  | Alicia ZieglerA |
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 WhiteP |  | Mentioned |
Sadie Bickerman  |  | Cloris Leachman | Cloris LeachmanA |
Nathan Bickerman  |  | Colin Ferguson |
Susan Bickerman  |  | Kirsty Mitchell |
Connor Bickerman  |  | Jordan Grehs  |
Jim Bickerman  |  | Robert Englund |

### Crew

[edit]

Role  | Film

|

Lake Placid | Lake Placid 2 | Lake Placid 3 | Lake Placid:
The Final Chapter | Lake Placid vs. Anaconda | Lake Placid:
Legacy
1999  | 2007  | 2010  | 2012  | 2015  | 2018
Composer  | John Ottman | Nathan Furst | Frederik Wiedmann | Claude Foisy  | James Matthes
Andries Smit
Editor  | Paul Hirsch
Marshall Harvey  | John Quinn  | Matt Michael  | John Quinn  | Cameron Hallenbeck  | Christopher Minns
Cinematographer  | Daryn Okada | Lorenzo Senatore  | Anton Bakarski  | Martin Chichov  | Ivo Peitchev  | Trevor 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 time  | 82 minutes  | 88 minutes  | 96 minutes  | 90 minutes  | 92 minutes  | 93 minutes

## Reception

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### Critical and public response

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Film  | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore

|
|
|

Lake Placid | 47% (96 reviews)[3] | 34 (25 reviews)[4] | C[5]
Lake Placid 2 | 11% (9 reviews)[6] | —  | —
Lake Placid 3 | —  | —  | —
Lake Placid: The Final Chapter | —  | —  | —
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda | —  | —  | —
Lake Placid: Legacy | —  | —  | —

## Music

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### Soundtracks

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Title  | U.S. release date  | Length  | Composer(s)  | Label

|
|
|
|

Lake Placid: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | July 27, 1999  | 47:00  | John Ottman | Varèse Sarabande
Lake Placid 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | August 12, 2008  | 24:00  | Nathan Furst | Lakeshore Records

## Other media

[edit]

### Video games

[edit]

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]

## References

[edit]

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.
10. ^ "Lake Placid 2 Croc Alley Game - Play Free Bloody games". Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-23.

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Lake Placid

Films|

* Lake Placid (1999)
* Lake Placid 2 (2007)
* Lake Placid 3 (2010)
* Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012)
* Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015)
* Lake Placid: Legacy (2018)

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