October 9, 2025 • 19 mins
Coming in at number 23, 1999’s “Lake Placid.” Each day in the month of October we will count you down to Halloween with our favorite, not-so-obvious guaranteed horror hits! We’ll tell you why each one made the list, what the critics say, who should watch it and who should NOT and what food/drink/atmosphere to pair it with each night…. And of course, where you can watch it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, there are folks. It is Thursday, October the ninth,
and you have never seen Betty White better than the
role she has in the next movie on our horror
hit list. Yes, Betty White plays a woman who has
a pet crocodile that's eaten everything insight. And with that,
(00:29):
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ's we continue
on our Halloween Horror hit List. We got number twenty
three on the list. This has been a longtime favorite
of mine and my favorite role robes. I have ever
seen Betty White.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
In Yes We're Talking Lake Placid from nineteen ninety nine.
Listen to this runtime an hour and twenty two minutes.
It's rated R and it's a horror comedy. The comedic
writing in this and the acting is an amazing through
line of what is a crocodile horror movie? And you've
(01:05):
loved it for so long? I mean, you own this
on DVD Blu ray.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah it's not even a Blue ray.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Oh, it's just DVD.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, So I'm just only say that, I say how long?
How old this thing is? We watched it there the
other night. I had to pull out the DVD player.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I can't believe you still have a DVD player.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Keep one handy for emergencies, just like last night. But
this is it possible. I know we're not revealing a
couple others. This is certainly the funniest one so far
that we put on the list. It might be the
funniest one of all thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, I think it's actually almost comedy forward horror in
the back seat.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
That's a good one, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
And so it's just it's an entertaining movie. So if
you don't want to be scared to all hell basically,
and you just want to have fun and have a
few thrills, I would say this is the movie for you.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
It's an adventure, it's fun. It's almost a camping movie
to a certain degree. With these you got this band
of misfits coming together trying to figure things out in Maine.
It is a fantastic ride from startivinsh Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Here is the actual official synopsis. When a mysterious creature
violently kills a man in a main lake, Jack Wells,
the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case along
with Sheriff Hank how do I say his last name?
Cuff Keo. Sheriff Hank Keo and visiting palaeontologist Kelly Scott,
(02:26):
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?
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's so you read it, you know you read it
in a more dreadful way than you actually feel. Throughout
the movie. The movie sets a tone of fun and
adventure and some playfulness and campy that's a good word
for this one in a lot of ways. But the
performers in here have accolades of the highest. This is
(03:02):
another great cast.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So just to give you a little insight into the
script itself, and then yes we'll tell you who the
amazing cast was. But this was written by David E.
Kelly if that sounds familiar. He was the I think
pretty famous writer of Ally McBeal. So that kind of
quick back and forth comedic timing you see all throughout
this movie.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
And does he have a horror background at all, Not
that I know of.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
So he is known for his comedic writing, and he
is just you can hear it and once if you've
ever watched Alliy mcbeil. I used to love that show
back in the nineties. This is It all clicked when
I read that. I had no idea before we went
into research this movie. So yes, the cast Bill Pullman amazing,
kind of more of a rom com guy. So you
(03:46):
see him in a lot of rom coms. I don't
want to Yeah, yeah, he's he's Oh yeah, Bill Pullman.
He's got that like sheepishly sweet boy necks door good
looks kind of a real day See. I'm thinking of
him as while you were sleeping with Sandra Bullock. So yes,
Bill pull One is amazing movie. All right takes away, Okay,
(04:09):
I'm gonna have you watch that. You're going to rethink everything.
Bridget Fonda, who, of course I love from Single White Female,
that's like my favorite movie she's done. But this is
she's great in this.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
She plays the New Yorker, the New York paleontologists, coming.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
From the one that everyone hates. Betty White. Of course, Yes,
Oliver Platt, who's amazing, just funny and goofy and smart
all in one.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Maybe the funniest character besizes Betty White.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah. Brendan Gleeson now.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's the dude. If you don't know his name, you
have seen him everywhere. This guy has won baptist Emmy's
Golden Globes. He's assisted in some of the He's always
the character on the side, the supporting cast member in
some of the biggest movies. You will see this guy.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And then Mariska Hargate Boom, it's not SPU. Now she's
actually the sexy little understudy in a in a way,
I guess that's the best way to put it.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
This hat ninety nine was this pre SVU.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, oh yes, and she looks so she's so cute.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So cute, and but she delivered one of the lines
that I have used so many times in my life.
She delivers it in a perfect way. The heart wants
what the heart wants when you see it, and she
delivers this line. It's her moment in this movie.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I should actually say, this is one of Lake Placid
is one of your absolute favorite movies. I must admit,
before we started dating, I had never seen it. Somehow
I just passed over this in ninety nine. I guess
I was busy doing other things and you pulled it
out your DVD and like here we go and now
I've probably seen it ten times in the last three
(05:40):
years because you love this movie. Also, it was directed
by Steve Miner, so you look this guy.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I had no idea. This dude was essentially an understudy
back in the day, like the John Carbonda's guys. Yep,
he directed the sequel to Friday the Thirteenth and Halloween.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yes, what it's Yep, he knows what he's doing, so
they had it was great. They really had a good
mix of stellar acting, great writing, more of a comedic screenplay,
so to speak. And then you've got a guy who
knows horror.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
What a movie you haven't seen yet I've been talking
to you about. I had no idea he until this
morning that he was in charge of it. Soul man. Oh,
this movie I've been telling you about a lot of
you all will be offended by it. It's a movie
out there that's hilarious. This white guy is trying to
get into Harvard. He can't pay can't pay for it,
so he's trying to go for a minority scholarship.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
I feel like I shouldn't watch that.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
In Blackface, the Old Hire movie.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Okay, well then I'm gonna go ahead and reiterate I
should not watch that movie.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And Harvard, it's ridiculous you're recommending this movie. I recommend
it to everybody. It is absurd, and it was one
of my favorite movies as a kids.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, okay, all right, okay, So now we've just told
you how much we love this movie, how great this
movie is, why we even kind of explained already why
it made our list.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So here's the Rotten Tomato score forty seven percent, even
worse audience score thirty seven percent.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
The movie was before it's time.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Okay, it's funny you should mention that, because I am
now going to go through some of the critics, and
I actually was surprised because you know, when you look
at some of these its people with streaming services now
are all re reviewing movies, and so recent critiques are
much kinder and recognized, perhaps at sometimes like a fine wine,
things need to age with perspective and then you have
(07:27):
new appreciation. So here's the overall critic 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.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It's not supposed to You're right, this is more it's
more driven by comedy. You might be right, and it is.
It is a hilarious movie that throws in a few
pretty gruesome depths by a big old crocodile, and Betty
White is at the center of it all. That's cool
to hear other people, Yeah recognize, Well that.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Was the critic's consensus. So okay, here's the most recent.
This was actually just a few months ago. There was
a critic review twenty twenty five, and I think this
one sums up what we've been saying. Originally dismissed when
it was released, this Killer croc film has grown into
a strange B movie gem from the legendary year of
nineteen ninety nine. Clocking in at under ninety minutes, Lake
(08:24):
Placid is a quick, often hilarious watch that leaves you
wondering if it's a bad monster movie or a clever
send up of bad monster movies. Written by then he
Goes davidy Kelly, the film feels like an offbeat cousin
to his work on Ally McBeal, with sharp jokes about men, women,
and human nature. Buried inside the chaos. The cast is
wildly overqualified, adding to the film's odd charm. Mariska Hargatea
(08:48):
Brenton Glees and Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt, and yes, Betty
White long before her late career renaissance. So this is
before she kind of came back into her own. Lake
Placid is silly fine, ideal for teens and adults who
enjoyed creature features that don't take themselves too seriously.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
What was the line in there you said about the
cast was overqualified?
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yes, you know what.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
That seems like an insult, but that makes acting as everything.
They took this movie and made it special. There performed
Betty White as nobody could do some of the stuff
she did in.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
This moving quirky and fun and snarky, but in this
sweet old lady way, and that's just what she always
was able to deliver like nobody else.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
But this is now some Golden Girls stuff. All the
stuff that comes out of her mouth.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
For this one hilarious. Oh yes. The other thing that
this particular critic noted, which I learned as well, he
talked about the alligator that it was really good if
you consider this was before CGI technology and the same
guy who handled this crocodile, alligator, creature, whatever you want
to call it, is the same dude who was the
(09:54):
mastermind behind Aliens in Jurassic Park. So they actually had
really qualified folks looking on every aspect of this film,
which I did not know.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
I think about it ninety nine. You watch a movie
of space movie alien whatever. The graphics and all that
stuff has done so much better. This is not one
where you We've watched some going back and movies we
love geez, I like this. Listen. Yeah, this is not
one where you ever feel like the crocodile is scary
(10:23):
how it's supposed to be. It's always believable. Yeah, witn't
needs to be believable, And frankly, it's not. It's a
how much I mean, seventy ninety foot crocodile. It's not
sneaking behind trees.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
There was a scene where the creature throws Bridget Fonda's
character in the air. I laughed out loud. I don't
know if I was supposed to laugh, but so I'm
saying it's sometimes it's funny, but in a good way.
Funny because you're laughing with it, almost because you're hoping
and thinking that the director intended it to be funny
as well as a little thrilling at the same time.
So I've got some others. So I loved that one.
(10:55):
That was a recent one. Here, Okay, there were a
couple ones that were met, but I thought they were
still interesting. 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 the crocodile sticking its head in a helicopter.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You have a little bit away there, But okay, sound
a little harsh.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
This other one, that Lake Placid is a goofy time
waster with some serious bite that's entirely more fun than
it should be. So these are some of the negative ones.
They're still acknowledging. Its entertaining.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
They're almost mad to acknowledge.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
You know what.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I had a good time, Yes, yes, And so here's one.
In short, this is a great example of a late
nineties foul mouthed monster movie with all kinds of laughs,
one or two scares, and a firm grasp on the
kind of movie it is. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
For sure. I didn't think it was foun you know,
most of the foulness came from Betty.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Water, which made it hilarious. So yes that I feel
like those were actually despite the bad Rotten Tomato score
and Roger Ebert, I believe, gave it one star. When
I looked at the reviews themselves, they were actually, I think,
pretty fair and honest and acknowledging the entertaining value of
the film.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That is what I think so much of what we
look for in film. We're trying to be entertained. We're
not I understand some people looking for deeper meanings and
looking for Oh, that's sloppy writing. Sometimes it's just okay
to have sloppy writing, not looking for meaning, and that's
just a big oversized crocodile ridiculously in Maine for some
(12:29):
reason with Bridget Fond.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Which makes it even funnier. Yes, yes, okay, when we
come back, we're gonna go over all our who's it for?
Who's it not? Food drink pairing, and where you can
watch it along with the t's for number twenty one
on the list. Welcome back everyone to our You didn't
(12:55):
even give our name out at the beginning of this podcast.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I did, I says our horror hit list.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I said, exactly what the deep cuts our horror list.
We're at number twenty three and we are serving up
some Lake Placid. Who doesn't love a giant crocodile like
creature eating people in the state of Maine. It just
makes perfect sense with a perfect cast, and despite some
of the lower percentages that we think it was unfairly given,
(13:20):
most of the critics made note of just how deliciously
fun this movie is. It is awesome. So look, who
is this for? Anyone who wants to have a good time.
I really think this is a classic horror comedy. Get
everybody who loves to laugh and likes a few big
jump scares, and there are some jump scares in there
that make it extra fun. I just think this is
a entertaining movie. And I don't even think if you're
(13:42):
not a horror movie fan or I still think you
can stomach a few of the gory scenes because it's
it's really not scary.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Say we call it gory, but you watch action movies
that have more killing in it than this one does.
It is this is a This is a comedy that
has a few killings in it. Yes, this is a
comedy that has a monster snapping the head off a
couple of people. I'm trying to think of all the
all the all of the deaths in there. That's not
(14:12):
a lie. No, it doesn't go on some rampage or
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And as long as you don't mind some cursing in
front of your older kids, this one's just a fun one.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And it's not again, it's not overly vulgar. And how again,
Betty White provides so much.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Of that and stuff, somehow it softens the bad word
for her. Yeah, it's like, okay, she's earned the right
to say those things. She's lived enough life she gets
to all right. My opinion, who it's not for? If
you don't like to laugh, if you don't like a
campy horror fleck, or if you really are in the
mood to be scared. This is not that scary. This shouldn't.
(14:47):
This is not for you if you want a horror
movie to go ooh, I really want to be scared tonight.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
You know, this isn't for anybody that takes themselves in
the world too seriously. If you were sitting here looking
at a movie and looking for deeper meaning, and why
couldn't they do that? And this is sometimes there are
movies you just sit down and have a good time.
It's just a ride. This is a ride you get
on from the beginning. I think within two or three
minutes you go Holy hell. And then some drama goes
down immediately with Bridget Fonda and yeah, so that dynamic take,
(15:19):
so it is. It immediately sets a tone. Bridget Fonda
is pretty wonderful in this movie. How she acts like
the New Yorker. She walks into Maine and she's got
the bug spray every time a bug is around her,
that kind of a thing.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
She's uptight.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Yeah, but she plays it up. We've seen these characters
in movies before. She embraced it. She went with it.
This is a compliment I give you sometimes on puns
and whatnot. I said, I can't do that, and you
embrace it like she just embraces what this is supposed
to be. I'm gonna go with it and have a
good time. Nobody take this too.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Seriously exactly, And I think that's the cool thing. And
you just hit the nail on the head. You know,
some people want. This is just a fun fun you know,
you know, I would say, if you've had a tough
day at the office, you've been stressed out over whatever lately,
if you just want to not think and laugh and
kind of have some thrills, this is the film for you,
all right. So food drink atmosphere pairing popcorn one hundred
(16:14):
percent one hundred percent with a fun drink, whatever your
go to party drink is, you should pour one of those.
And it's said in main so if you wanted to
go all in, you could have some chowda and some
beer just to really complete the atmosphere. Because this is
a horror movie, you can watch any time of the
day or night. Because it's said this is one of
our tips pro tips. If you want to watch a
(16:34):
horror movie during the day, pick a creature movie. They
have to have light, like a shark movie, a crocodile movie.
What are some other creature.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Movies mainly for us when you have to be in
the water, Yes, because they can't shoot anything underwater in
the dark, can't see a damn thing, so you have
to you have to have it during the daytime. So
that's yes, that is absolutely a pro tip of ours
if you want to do that. Space sometimes works space
movie because they're up there, they're in ships, and all
(17:02):
the ships have to be lit, so there's like electronic
light everywhere that always, so it just these are little things. Yeah,
we're gonna get you there, folks.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
How many times we wanted to watch movies so badly
but it's set in the dark night and we're trying
to watch and the glare from the sun. You're like, babe,
we have to wait until tonight. We cannot watch this
right now. It doesn't matter. So yes, this one can watch.
You can watch any time of day, anytime of night.
You'll have a blast. So that's fun. Now, where can
you watch it right now? Unless you have a DVD
(17:30):
like TJ does and the accompanying DVD player that you
need to play such.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Dv Yes, you're right, it's ours.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
It's ours now. I'm sorry. Our DVD player comes in
handy when it comes to this one. But also again
we talked about Paramount Plus AMC Plus. If you have
those add ons to any of your services like Hulu,
Amazon Prime, you can watch it there all right, So
we hope you enjoy watching Lake Placid as much as
we did our next episode, our next horror hit list movie.
(18:00):
It would be I said number twenty one earlier. I misspoke.
It would be number twenty two. And let's just say
it is going to be a major departure from Lake Placid.
So if you want to see something that is going
to scare the but Jesus out of you, our next
movie is for you. A major Hollywood actor stars in
(18:22):
this one. And I hope this isn't giving too much away.
It will give you pause next time you move into
a new home.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Oh, are we going to tell that story about our place?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yes, when we in the next episode, we have a
actual personal story because we just moved recently that was
so closely tied to this movie. We're still a little
freaked out, all right, So how's that for a tease.
Thanks for listening though to this episode of Amy and DJ.
I'm Amy Roboch alongside DJ Holmes. We will talk to
(18:52):
you soon.
Hey, there are folks. It is Thursday, October the ninth,
and you have never seen Betty White better than the
role she has in the next movie on our horror
hit list. Yes, Betty White plays a woman who has
a pet crocodile that's eaten everything insight. And with that,
(00:29):
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ's we continue
on our Halloween Horror hit List. We got number twenty
three on the list. This has been a longtime favorite
of mine and my favorite role robes. I have ever
seen Betty White.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
In Yes We're Talking Lake Placid from nineteen ninety nine.
Listen to this runtime an hour and twenty two minutes.
It's rated R and it's a horror comedy. The comedic
writing in this and the acting is an amazing through
line of what is a crocodile horror movie? And you've
(01:05):
loved it for so long? I mean, you own this
on DVD Blu ray.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah it's not even a Blue ray.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Oh, it's just DVD.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, So I'm just only say that, I say how long?
How old this thing is? We watched it there the
other night. I had to pull out the DVD player.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I can't believe you still have a DVD player.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Keep one handy for emergencies, just like last night. But
this is it possible. I know we're not revealing a
couple others. This is certainly the funniest one so far
that we put on the list. It might be the
funniest one of all thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, I think it's actually almost comedy forward horror in
the back seat.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
That's a good one, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
And so it's just it's an entertaining movie. So if
you don't want to be scared to all hell basically,
and you just want to have fun and have a
few thrills, I would say this is the movie for you.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
It's an adventure, it's fun. It's almost a camping movie
to a certain degree. With these you got this band
of misfits coming together trying to figure things out in Maine.
It is a fantastic ride from startivinsh Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Here is the actual official synopsis. When a mysterious creature
violently kills a man in a main lake, Jack Wells,
the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case along
with Sheriff Hank how do I say his last name?
Cuff Keo. Sheriff Hank Keo and visiting palaeontologist Kelly Scott,
(02:26):
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?
Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's so you read it, you know you read it
in a more dreadful way than you actually feel. Throughout
the movie. The movie sets a tone of fun and
adventure and some playfulness and campy that's a good word
for this one in a lot of ways. But the
performers in here have accolades of the highest. This is
(03:02):
another great cast.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So just to give you a little insight into the
script itself, and then yes we'll tell you who the
amazing cast was. But this was written by David E.
Kelly if that sounds familiar. He was the I think
pretty famous writer of Ally McBeal. So that kind of
quick back and forth comedic timing you see all throughout
this movie.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
And does he have a horror background at all, Not
that I know of.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
So he is known for his comedic writing, and he
is just you can hear it and once if you've
ever watched Alliy mcbeil. I used to love that show
back in the nineties. This is It all clicked when
I read that. I had no idea before we went
into research this movie. So yes, the cast Bill Pullman amazing,
kind of more of a rom com guy. So you
(03:46):
see him in a lot of rom coms. I don't
want to Yeah, yeah, he's he's Oh yeah, Bill Pullman.
He's got that like sheepishly sweet boy necks door good
looks kind of a real day See. I'm thinking of
him as while you were sleeping with Sandra Bullock. So yes,
Bill pull One is amazing movie. All right takes away, Okay,
(04:09):
I'm gonna have you watch that. You're going to rethink everything.
Bridget Fonda, who, of course I love from Single White Female,
that's like my favorite movie she's done. But this is
she's great in this.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
She plays the New Yorker, the New York paleontologists, coming.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
From the one that everyone hates. Betty White. Of course, Yes,
Oliver Platt, who's amazing, just funny and goofy and smart
all in one.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Maybe the funniest character besizes Betty White.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah. Brendan Gleeson now.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's the dude. If you don't know his name, you
have seen him everywhere. This guy has won baptist Emmy's
Golden Globes. He's assisted in some of the He's always
the character on the side, the supporting cast member in
some of the biggest movies. You will see this guy.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And then Mariska Hargate Boom, it's not SPU. Now she's
actually the sexy little understudy in a in a way,
I guess that's the best way to put it.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
This hat ninety nine was this pre SVU.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, oh yes, and she looks so she's so cute.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So cute, and but she delivered one of the lines
that I have used so many times in my life.
She delivers it in a perfect way. The heart wants
what the heart wants when you see it, and she
delivers this line. It's her moment in this movie.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I should actually say, this is one of Lake Placid
is one of your absolute favorite movies. I must admit,
before we started dating, I had never seen it. Somehow
I just passed over this in ninety nine. I guess
I was busy doing other things and you pulled it
out your DVD and like here we go and now
I've probably seen it ten times in the last three
(05:40):
years because you love this movie. Also, it was directed
by Steve Miner, so you look this guy.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I had no idea. This dude was essentially an understudy
back in the day, like the John Carbonda's guys. Yep,
he directed the sequel to Friday the Thirteenth and Halloween.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yes, what it's Yep, he knows what he's doing, so
they had it was great. They really had a good
mix of stellar acting, great writing, more of a comedic screenplay,
so to speak. And then you've got a guy who
knows horror.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
What a movie you haven't seen yet I've been talking
to you about. I had no idea he until this
morning that he was in charge of it. Soul man. Oh,
this movie I've been telling you about a lot of
you all will be offended by it. It's a movie
out there that's hilarious. This white guy is trying to
get into Harvard. He can't pay can't pay for it,
so he's trying to go for a minority scholarship.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
I feel like I shouldn't watch that.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
In Blackface, the Old Hire movie.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Okay, well then I'm gonna go ahead and reiterate I
should not watch that movie.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And Harvard, it's ridiculous you're recommending this movie. I recommend
it to everybody. It is absurd, and it was one
of my favorite movies as a kids.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, okay, all right, okay, So now we've just told
you how much we love this movie, how great this
movie is, why we even kind of explained already why
it made our list.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So here's the Rotten Tomato score forty seven percent, even
worse audience score thirty seven percent.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
The movie was before it's time.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Okay, it's funny you should mention that, because I am
now going to go through some of the critics, and
I actually was surprised because you know, when you look
at some of these its people with streaming services now
are all re reviewing movies, and so recent critiques are
much kinder and recognized, perhaps at sometimes like a fine wine,
things need to age with perspective and then you have
(07:27):
new appreciation. So here's the overall critic 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.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It's not supposed to You're right, this is more it's
more driven by comedy. You might be right, and it is.
It is a hilarious movie that throws in a few
pretty gruesome depths by a big old crocodile, and Betty
White is at the center of it all. That's cool
to hear other people, Yeah recognize, Well that.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Was the critic's consensus. So okay, here's the most recent.
This was actually just a few months ago. There was
a critic review twenty twenty five, and I think this
one sums up what we've been saying. Originally dismissed when
it was released, this Killer croc film has grown into
a strange B movie gem from the legendary year of
nineteen ninety nine. Clocking in at under ninety minutes, Lake
(08:24):
Placid is a quick, often hilarious watch that leaves you
wondering if it's a bad monster movie or a clever
send up of bad monster movies. Written by then he
Goes davidy Kelly, the film feels like an offbeat cousin
to his work on Ally McBeal, with sharp jokes about men, women,
and human nature. Buried inside the chaos. The cast is
wildly overqualified, adding to the film's odd charm. Mariska Hargatea
(08:48):
Brenton Glees and Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt, and yes, Betty
White long before her late career renaissance. So this is
before she kind of came back into her own. Lake
Placid is silly fine, ideal for teens and adults who
enjoyed creature features that don't take themselves too seriously.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
What was the line in there you said about the
cast was overqualified?
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yes, you know what.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
That seems like an insult, but that makes acting as everything.
They took this movie and made it special. There performed
Betty White as nobody could do some of the stuff
she did in.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
This moving quirky and fun and snarky, but in this
sweet old lady way, and that's just what she always
was able to deliver like nobody else.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
But this is now some Golden Girls stuff. All the
stuff that comes out of her mouth.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
For this one hilarious. Oh yes. The other thing that
this particular critic noted, which I learned as well, he
talked about the alligator that it was really good if
you consider this was before CGI technology and the same
guy who handled this crocodile, alligator, creature, whatever you want
to call it, is the same dude who was the
(09:54):
mastermind behind Aliens in Jurassic Park. So they actually had
really qualified folks looking on every aspect of this film,
which I did not know.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
I think about it ninety nine. You watch a movie
of space movie alien whatever. The graphics and all that
stuff has done so much better. This is not one
where you We've watched some going back and movies we
love geez, I like this. Listen. Yeah, this is not
one where you ever feel like the crocodile is scary
(10:23):
how it's supposed to be. It's always believable. Yeah, witn't
needs to be believable, And frankly, it's not. It's a
how much I mean, seventy ninety foot crocodile. It's not
sneaking behind trees.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
There was a scene where the creature throws Bridget Fonda's
character in the air. I laughed out loud. I don't
know if I was supposed to laugh, but so I'm
saying it's sometimes it's funny, but in a good way.
Funny because you're laughing with it, almost because you're hoping
and thinking that the director intended it to be funny
as well as a little thrilling at the same time.
So I've got some others. So I loved that one.
(10:55):
That was a recent one. Here, Okay, there were a
couple ones that were met, but I thought they were
still interesting. 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 the crocodile sticking its head in a helicopter.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You have a little bit away there, But okay, sound
a little harsh.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
This other one, that Lake Placid is a goofy time
waster with some serious bite that's entirely more fun than
it should be. So these are some of the negative ones.
They're still acknowledging. Its entertaining.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
They're almost mad to acknowledge.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
You know what.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I had a good time, Yes, yes, And so here's one.
In short, this is a great example of a late
nineties foul mouthed monster movie with all kinds of laughs,
one or two scares, and a firm grasp on the
kind of movie it is. Check it out.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
For sure. I didn't think it was foun you know,
most of the foulness came from Betty.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Water, which made it hilarious. So yes that I feel
like those were actually despite the bad Rotten Tomato score
and Roger Ebert, I believe, gave it one star. When
I looked at the reviews themselves, they were actually, I think,
pretty fair and honest and acknowledging the entertaining value of
the film.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
That is what I think so much of what we
look for in film. We're trying to be entertained. We're
not I understand some people looking for deeper meanings and
looking for Oh, that's sloppy writing. Sometimes it's just okay
to have sloppy writing, not looking for meaning, and that's
just a big oversized crocodile ridiculously in Maine for some
(12:29):
reason with Bridget Fond.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Which makes it even funnier. Yes, yes, okay, when we
come back, we're gonna go over all our who's it for?
Who's it not? Food drink pairing, and where you can
watch it along with the t's for number twenty one
on the list. Welcome back everyone to our You didn't
(12:55):
even give our name out at the beginning of this podcast.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I did, I says our horror hit list.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I said, exactly what the deep cuts our horror list.
We're at number twenty three and we are serving up
some Lake Placid. Who doesn't love a giant crocodile like
creature eating people in the state of Maine. It just
makes perfect sense with a perfect cast, and despite some
of the lower percentages that we think it was unfairly given,
(13:20):
most of the critics made note of just how deliciously
fun this movie is. It is awesome. So look, who
is this for? Anyone who wants to have a good time.
I really think this is a classic horror comedy. Get
everybody who loves to laugh and likes a few big
jump scares, and there are some jump scares in there
that make it extra fun. I just think this is
a entertaining movie. And I don't even think if you're
(13:42):
not a horror movie fan or I still think you
can stomach a few of the gory scenes because it's
it's really not scary.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Say we call it gory, but you watch action movies
that have more killing in it than this one does.
It is this is a This is a comedy that
has a few killings in it. Yes, this is a
comedy that has a monster snapping the head off a
couple of people. I'm trying to think of all the
all the all of the deaths in there. That's not
(14:12):
a lie. No, it doesn't go on some rampage or
anything like that.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And as long as you don't mind some cursing in
front of your older kids, this one's just a fun one.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And it's not again, it's not overly vulgar. And how again,
Betty White provides so much.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Of that and stuff, somehow it softens the bad word
for her. Yeah, it's like, okay, she's earned the right
to say those things. She's lived enough life she gets
to all right. My opinion, who it's not for? If
you don't like to laugh, if you don't like a
campy horror fleck, or if you really are in the
mood to be scared. This is not that scary. This shouldn't.
(14:47):
This is not for you if you want a horror
movie to go ooh, I really want to be scared tonight.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
You know, this isn't for anybody that takes themselves in
the world too seriously. If you were sitting here looking
at a movie and looking for deeper meaning, and why
couldn't they do that? And this is sometimes there are
movies you just sit down and have a good time.
It's just a ride. This is a ride you get
on from the beginning. I think within two or three
minutes you go Holy hell. And then some drama goes
down immediately with Bridget Fonda and yeah, so that dynamic take,
(15:19):
so it is. It immediately sets a tone. Bridget Fonda
is pretty wonderful in this movie. How she acts like
the New Yorker. She walks into Maine and she's got
the bug spray every time a bug is around her,
that kind of a thing.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
She's uptight.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Yeah, but she plays it up. We've seen these characters
in movies before. She embraced it. She went with it.
This is a compliment I give you sometimes on puns
and whatnot. I said, I can't do that, and you
embrace it like she just embraces what this is supposed
to be. I'm gonna go with it and have a
good time. Nobody take this too.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Seriously exactly, And I think that's the cool thing. And
you just hit the nail on the head. You know,
some people want. This is just a fun fun you know,
you know, I would say, if you've had a tough
day at the office, you've been stressed out over whatever lately,
if you just want to not think and laugh and
kind of have some thrills, this is the film for you,
all right. So food drink atmosphere pairing popcorn one hundred
(16:14):
percent one hundred percent with a fun drink, whatever your
go to party drink is, you should pour one of those.
And it's said in main so if you wanted to
go all in, you could have some chowda and some
beer just to really complete the atmosphere. Because this is
a horror movie, you can watch any time of the
day or night. Because it's said this is one of
our tips pro tips. If you want to watch a
(16:34):
horror movie during the day, pick a creature movie. They
have to have light, like a shark movie, a crocodile movie.
What are some other creature.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Movies mainly for us when you have to be in
the water, Yes, because they can't shoot anything underwater in
the dark, can't see a damn thing, so you have
to you have to have it during the daytime. So
that's yes, that is absolutely a pro tip of ours
if you want to do that. Space sometimes works space
movie because they're up there, they're in ships, and all
(17:02):
the ships have to be lit, so there's like electronic
light everywhere that always, so it just these are little things. Yeah,
we're gonna get you there, folks.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
How many times we wanted to watch movies so badly
but it's set in the dark night and we're trying
to watch and the glare from the sun. You're like, babe,
we have to wait until tonight. We cannot watch this
right now. It doesn't matter. So yes, this one can watch.
You can watch any time of day, anytime of night.
You'll have a blast. So that's fun. Now, where can
you watch it right now? Unless you have a DVD
(17:30):
like TJ does and the accompanying DVD player that you
need to play such.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Dv Yes, you're right, it's ours.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
It's ours now. I'm sorry. Our DVD player comes in
handy when it comes to this one. But also again
we talked about Paramount Plus AMC Plus. If you have
those add ons to any of your services like Hulu,
Amazon Prime, you can watch it there all right, So
we hope you enjoy watching Lake Placid as much as
we did our next episode, our next horror hit list movie.
(18:00):
It would be I said number twenty one earlier. I misspoke.
It would be number twenty two. And let's just say
it is going to be a major departure from Lake Placid.
So if you want to see something that is going
to scare the but Jesus out of you, our next
movie is for you. A major Hollywood actor stars in
(18:22):
this one. And I hope this isn't giving too much away.
It will give you pause next time you move into
a new home.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Oh, are we going to tell that story about our place?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yes, when we in the next episode, we have a
actual personal story because we just moved recently that was
so closely tied to this movie. We're still a little
freaked out, all right, So how's that for a tease.
Thanks for listening though to this episode of Amy and DJ.
I'm Amy Roboch alongside DJ Holmes. We will talk to
(18:52):
you soon.
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