Lake Placid is a series of American comedy horror films created by David E. Kelley. 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 film series, and Lake Placid: Legacy (2018) by Darrell Roodt, which acting as direct sequel to the 1999 film, ignoring the other four sequels. Each installment revolves around the presence of giant 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 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. 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".
Films Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s) Lake Placid July 16, 1999 Steve Miner David E. Kelley David E. Kelley & Michael Pressman Lake Placid 2 April 28, 2007 David Flores Todd Hurvitz & Howie Miller Jeffery Beach & Phillip Roth 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 Jonathan Lloyd Walker Jonathan Lloyd Walker, Matt Venables & Jeremy Smith Lance Samuels
Lake Placid story chronology Original continuity Alternate continuity
Lake Placid (1999)
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)
In Lake Placid 2, the offspring of the previous deadly crocodiles wreak havoc on Black Lake. The crocodiles, now owned by Sadie Bickerman, terrorize a new group generation, including a game warden, his family, and a group of teenagers.
Lake Placid 3 (2010)
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)
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)
The pharmaceutical company Wexel 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)
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 Cast An indicates an appearance through archival footage. A indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs. A indicates an uncredited role. A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film. Characters Films Lake Placid Lake Placid 2 Lake Placid 3 Lake Placid: The Final Chapter Lake Placid vs. Anaconda Lake Placid: Legacy Jack Wells Bill Pullman Kelly Scott Bridget Fonda Hector Cyr Oliver Platt Sheriff Hank Keough Brendan Gleeson Deputy Sharon Gare Meredith Salenger Walt Lawson David Lewis Stephen Daniels Tim Dixon Myra Okubo Mariska Hargitay Sheriff James Riley John Schneider Emily "Emma" Warner Sarah Lafleur Jack Struthers Sam McMurray Scott Riley Chad Michael Collins Kerri Alicia Ziegler 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 Jane colspan="4" Heather Gilbert colspan="2" Jennifer colspan="4" Georgina Philipps colspan="2" Melissa colspan="4" Jenny May Darcy colspan="2" Deputy Ferguson Oliver Walker Jade Katherine Barrell Sam Tim Rozon Alice Sai Bennett Billy colspan="5" Luke Newton Spencer colspan="5" Craig Stein Henderson Joe Pantoliano The Bickermans Delores Bickerman Betty White Bernie Bickerman colspan="5" Sadie Bickerman Cloris Leachman rowspan="2" Nathan Bickerman Colin Ferguson Susan Bickerman Kirsty Mitchell Connor Bickerman Jordan Grehs Jim Bickerman Robert Englund
Crew 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 MatthesAndries Smit Editor Paul HirschMarshall 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 Fox 2000 PicturesPhoenix PicturesRocking Chair Productions 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home EntertainmentSci-Fi Pictures Stage 6 FilmsUFO International UFO International Destination FilmsUFO International Destination FilmsBlue Ice PicturesOut of Africa Entertainment Distributor 20th Century Fox Sci Fi Syfy Running time 82 minutes 88 minutes 96 minutes 90 minutes 92 minutes 93 minutes
Reception
Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore Lake Placid 47% (96 reviews) 34 (25 reviews) C Lake Placid 2 11% (9 reviews) Lake Placid 3 Lake Placid: The Final Chapter Lake Placid vs. Anaconda Lake Placid: Legacy
Music
Title U.S. release date Length Composed by 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
Video games Lake Placid: Croc Drop is an interactive game produced in 1999 to promote the film Lake Placid from the same year.
Lake Placid 2: Croc Alley is an interactive game produced in 2007 to promote the film Lake Placid 2 from the same year.Lake Placid 2. Croc Alley.
References