June 26, 2025 • 37 mins
In 1999, Stan Winston Studios and Digital Domain joined forces to create one of cinema's most convincing monsters - the massive crocodile from "Lake Placid." Winston's team, fresh off "Jurassic Park," built a groundbreaking 30-foot animatronic that could actually function underwater using waterproofed hydraulics and urethane skin - a technical marvel that had previously destroyed lesser movie creatures. With snapping jaws, moving eyes, and a thrashing tail, this mechanical beast terrorized actors in the frigid lakes of British Columbia while creating genuine fear on set.
Digital Domain seamlessly handled what the animatronic couldn't, crafting stunning CGI sequences of the crocodile diving and surfacing with explosive water effects. This hybrid approach - blending Winston's tactile craftsmanship with cutting-edge computer graphics - produced just under four minutes of unforgettable screen time.
Weather delays, waterproofing challenges, and the genius of two legendary effects houses brought Lake Placid to life, but in a crowded summer of 1999, this croc would struggle to dominate the box office, instead becoming a cult classic creature feature.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Lake Placid !
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Episode Transcript
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(01:42):
Hi, everyone. I'm Em, andwelcome to Verbal Diorama, episode
303, Lake Placid. This is thepodcast that's all about the history
and legacy of movies you knowand movies you don't. That was going
to be called Lake Placid, butsomeone said that name was taken.
Huge. Hi, and welcome toVerbal Diorama. To you all, whether
you're a brand new listener,whether you're a returning listener,
(02:04):
thank you very much for beinghere. Thank you for choosing to listen
to this podcast. I am so happyto have you here for the history
and legacy of Lake Placid. Andjust generally, a huge thanks to
everyone who listens to thispodcast who has continued to listen
and support this podcast overthe last six years and 300 plus episodes.
I am so grateful for yoursupport. Thank you so much for being
(02:26):
here. It really does mean somuch, especially coming back after
a short break doing Anacondalast week. This month I'm dubbing
it Baby Kaijune. And if youhaven't listened to last week's episode
on Anaconda, maybe becauseyou're more of a fan of crocodiles
than snakes, Kaijune was aseries that I did a couple of years
(02:47):
ago, mostly because I lovemonster movies, I love creature features,
just anything to do with hugemonsters, really. And that series
included episodes on Bong JoonHo's the Host, which is a great movie
if you've not seen it.Godzilla 1998, which is a lot better
than a lot of people give itcredit for. And it's got a great
(03:08):
story behind the scenes aswell. Shin Godzilla, which is also
a great movie, full ofbureaucracy and red tape and politics.
And Pacific Rim, which is myboy, Guillermo del Toro. Love that
movie. Smashy, smashy.Perfect. No notes. So that was the
main Kaijune season. I didthat a couple of years ago and it
was really well received onthe podcast, actually. And then I
(03:30):
didn't do it last year, andthen this year I thought, I want
to bring Kaijune back. But Irealized I only had two weeks in
the month of June. So Idevised this thing called Baby Kaijune.
And that's because this seriesis smaller than usual. The monsters
are a bit smaller than theprevious ones, but they're still
really scary. As I mentioned,last episode was on Anaconda and
(03:54):
this is a movie that I thinkpairs really well with Anaconda because
both of them are basicallyflying the flag. The late 90s Hollywood
creature features and I kindof wanted to go into well, are Anaconda
and Lake Placid Kaiju movies.And I suppose first of all, it depends
on your definition of Kaiju.Technically speaking, yes they are,
because Kaiju means strangebeast and is mostly used to refer
(04:18):
to giant monsters. Andobviously the monsters in Anaconda
and Lake Placid, yes, they arereal monsters. These aren't formed
from nuclear incidents or anykind of event or anything like that,
but they are bigger than thecreatures that you would normally
see in real life. Now, broadlyspeaking, Kaiju are generally monsters
(04:38):
of Japanese origin, but theterm is applied to animals of unnaturally
giant size that attack humansand cause widespread destruction.
So sort of Kaiju, not Kaijuenough. The Diet Coke of Kaiju. Kaiju,
as in normal sized Kaiju, willreturn talking full sized and fully
(04:59):
powered next year. It'ssomething that I really want to do
because I feel like I've kindof got the bug now. I really love
to do it. I don't want tocommit to too much, but let's just
say, yes, I want to do KingKong from 1933. Yes, I want to do
Godzilla from 1954 and yes, Iabsolutely want to also do Godzilla
(05:21):
minus one. As for anythingelse, I'm really kind of open to
suggestion as to what it couldpossibly be. Please get in touch
and let me know what you wouldlike to see in this hypothetical
future Kaijune season that I'mthinking of doing. But I feel like
absolutely you would have todo King Kong and Godzilla like the
og I only actually watchedKing Kong very recently. It was only
(05:45):
like last year that I saw the1933 King Kong for the first time
and I was completely blownaway. I thought it was absolutely
magical. Little bit racist,let's be honest. It's a movie from
the 30s, but just totallymagical. Like just wonderful movie.
I adored it. So yeah, get intouch. My email address is in the
show notes. You can contact meon social media. I would love to
(06:06):
hear what sort of Kaiju moviesyou really like and hypothetical
season next year let's talkabout what we could possibly do for
the history and legacy on. Butanyway, let's get back to the main
feature because unfortunatelyI'm really sorry to say that this
episode isn't on Lake Placid.The host of the 1932 and 1980 Winter
(06:29):
Olympics, the 1972 and 2023Winter World University Games, or
the host of the 2000 GoodwillWinter Games, because that's located
in Essex County, New York. Sosorry, sports fans. Nor is it about
the body of water named LakePlacid that's on the northern side
of the village of Lake Placid,New York. So sorry, random New York
(06:52):
lake fans. This one is forfans of crocs. Not the awful plastic
footwear, the real crocs. TheI'm gonna eat you types of crocs.
The ones that gave menightmares as a child. This is for
you guys. Here's the trailerfor Lake Placid.
(08:55):
Shortly after horrifyingunderwater attack in Maine's Black
Lake, New York Citypaleontologist Kelly Scott arrives
to help local fish and gameofficer Jack Wells to investigate.
With only a mangled body astheir starting point, Jack and Kelly
embark on a mission to findthe mysterious creature. As Sheriff
Hank Keough and mythologyprofessor Hector Sear both want to
(09:17):
locate the elusive predatorfirst. But something deadly is lurking
beneath a silent pond. Andit's already taken a liking to the
juicy human flesh. And aneccentric elderly widow seems to
know more than she's lettingon. Let's run through the cast of
this movie. We have stackedcast, actually, for a late 90s creature
feature, we have Bill Pullmanas Jack Wells, Bridget Fonda as Kelly
(09:42):
Scott, Brendan Gleason asSheriff Hank Keough, Oliver Platt
as Hector Sear, Betty White asDolores Bickerman, and Meredith Salinger
as Deputy Sharon Gare. LakePlacid was written by David E. Kelly
and was directed by SteveMiner. Now, creature features are
(10:03):
nothing new, having originatedin the 1910s with the lost German
silent film The Golem in 1915and its sequel the How He Came into
the World in 1920. And ofcourse the work of Willis H. O' Brien
in the Lost World in 1925through to the legendary King Kong
in 1933, which would inspireRay Harryhausen to work with O' Brien
(10:24):
on Mighty Joe Young in 1949.It kick started the 1950s wave of
creature features likeCreature from the Black Lagoon in
1954. Them in 1954. It camefrom beneath the sea in 1955, Tarantula
in 1955, the deadly Mantis in1957 and 20 million miles to earth
(10:45):
in 1957. It was in the 1950sthat Toho produced Godzilla, arguably
the most famous Kaiju of alltime, which adapted the nuclear concept
from the beast from 20,000fathoms from a Japanese perspective
rooted in real life Japanesehistorical events such as the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima andNagasaki in 1945 and the Daigo Fukury
(11:08):
Maru incident in 1954. StevenSpielberg then pioneered the genre
with Jaws in 1975, which isone of the few monster movies based
on a real incident. The NewJersey shark attacks of 1916. Imagine
that real creatures are outthere that could kill you. I guess
we're coming back to that.Other animal based horror features
(11:29):
followed Jaws's inspiration,like Orca, the killer whale in 1977,
Piranha in 1978 and Alligatorin 1980, which was itself inspired
by the urban legend ofalligators living in sewers, in particular
an account of alligators beingfound in New York City. These were
followed by more horrorcomedies in the early 90s like tremors
(11:50):
and Arachnophobia. Spielbergperfected the formula further with
Jurassic park in 1993, whichset a new benchmark in the genre
with innovative use of CGI andtried and tested animatronics to
recreate dinosaurs. ButJurassic park also dawned the new
era of monster movies. Theydidn't need rubber suits or cardboard
(12:11):
sets. They had big enoughbudgets for big names and big enough
budgets for big effects.Unlike the often mindless beasts
of earlier B movies, JurassicPark's dinosaurs displayed cunning
intelligence, particularly theVelociraptors. This shift towards
smart, strategic predatorsbecame a hallmark of 90s creature
features, which made the veryreal creatures of the likes of Anaconda
(12:34):
Lake, Placid and Deep Blue Seasomewhat more terrifying when you
realize that they could killyou and they were more intelligent
than you. The 90s was a richvista of creature features and disaster
movies. And I do want to dosome disaster movies real soon on
the podcast, because there area couple I really love. But Even
in the 90s, the creaturefeature landscape was continually
(12:55):
evolving. And if you'rewondering if I copied that verbatim
from the last episode onAnaconda, well, you'd be right. Reduce,
reuse, recycle. Keeps ourwaterways and lakes clear of rubbish.
It's very important for thelocal wildlife, including crocodiles,
even if they're not native tothis particular part of the world.
Anaconda and Lake Placidobviously share a little bit of DNA.
(13:16):
They're both 90s creaturefeatures. They're both set in and
around water. They both havevery sharp teeth. But while one creature
is unknown for eating humans,the other most definitely is. The
saltwater crocodile is thelargest living reptile. Both crocodiles
and dinosaurs evolved from acommon archosaur ancestor. During
the Triassic period, theevolutionary tree split early, with
(13:40):
one branch leading tocrocodilians and and the other leading
to dinosaurs and eventuallybirds. They survived the mass extinction
event that killed the nonavian dinosaurs 66 million years
ago. Modern crocodiles, likethe saltwater crocodile, are the
largest living reptiles andapex predators, continuing the archosaur
legacy. I have always had avery intense fear of crocodiles,
(14:03):
and people should be afraid.Males, the larger of the species,
can grow up to a weight of1,000 to 1,500 kg and a length of
20ft. They are large and theyare deadly. They ambush most of their
prey and drown or swallow itwhole. They will prey on almost any
animal that enters theirterritory, including other predators
(14:25):
like sharks, fish,crustaceans, amphibians, other reptiles,
birds and mammals. They willeat whatever is in their territory.
They're partially resistant totoxins from toads, unlike alligators,
and they have the strongestbite of any living animal. Unlike
Anaconda, which don't tend tokill humans, saltwater crocodiles
(14:47):
have a long history ofattacking humans, often killing them.
One or two fatal attacks arereported per year in Australia, which
doesn't sound like a lot, butthat's just the fatal attacks. Most
attacks are successfullyprevented due to better warning systems.
But in other countries, mostattacks go unreported. Do not think
(15:08):
that you can successfullywrestle a crocodile down. Do not
think you can outswim them.Heck, don't even think you can outrun
them. Just stay out of theirterritory. In this movie, the character
of Hector Seer, played byOliver Platt, is fascinated by crocodiles
and believes he has aspiritual connection with them, seeing
them as ancient and sacred.Crocodiles have been revered as gods
(15:31):
or sacred beings in severalcultures throughout history and in
some cases continue to betoday. The most famous example is
ancient Egypt, where thecrocodile God Sobek was worshipped
as a deity of the Nilefertility and protection. Sobek was
depicted as either a crocodileor a man with a crocodile head, and
live crocodiles were kept intemples and mummified after death.
(15:53):
The city of Crocodilopidis wasa major center of Sobek worship.
The citizens worshipped a tamesacred crocodile called Pets, the
son of Sucos, that was adornedwith gold and gem pendants. Petsukos
lived in a special temple pondand was fed by the priests with food
provided by visitors. WhenPetsukos died, it was replaced by
(16:15):
another. In Hindu tradition,crocodiles are associated with various
deities. The Ganges rivercrocodile is considered sacred and
crocodiles appear in storiesabout Vishnu's incarnations. The
Makara, a crocodile likecreature, serves as the vehicle of
the river goddess Ganja andthe sea God Varuna. And once again,
apologies for any incorrectpronunciations of anything in this
(16:38):
episode. Several Africancultures have traditionally revered
crocodiles. In parts ofBurkina Faso, Mali and other West
African regions, crocodilesare considered sacred ancestors or
spirits. Some communities havesacred pools where crocodiles are
protected and fed, believingthey bring good fortune and protection.
So the idea that Hector Seermight revere the crocodile as a God
(17:02):
or a spiritual being is notactually that far fetched. While
Lake Placid may be seen assomething of a spiritual successor
to the 1980 film Alligator,both films share the basic premise
of a giant reptilian predatorterrorizing people, but they approach
the concept differently. LakePlacid seems to be more directly
inspired by Jaws thanAlligator. From the film's point
(17:24):
of view shots, the localpolice sheriff as a lead character
and the eccentric characterbrought in to hunt an aquatic monster,
Lake Placid is clearlyinspired by Jaws. Technically, Alligator
did have its own actualsuccessor in Alligator 2. But just
like that movie, and like Jawsand like Anaconda, an animatronic
crocodile would be the star ofthis show. Lake Placid, despite having
(17:48):
all the Creature Featurepedigree and being shopped around
in the very creature feature90s kept getting turned down by all
the major studios. By the timethe script appeared on director Steve
Miner's desk, it had alreadybeen turned down by every other studio.
Miner was already associatedwith the horror genre, being the
associate producer, assistantdirector and unit production manager.
(18:10):
For Friday the 13th in 1980,directing Friday the 13th Part 2
in 1981, Friday the 13th Part3 in 1982, House in 1985, and Warlock
in 1989. Technically, this wasthe man who birthed Jason Voorhees
as a horror icon. He wouldeven step into the Halloween franchise,
(18:30):
helming Halloween H20 in 1998.He did that during pre production
of Lake Placid, just becausethings here were taking a while and
work is work. But Miner knewas soon as he got on board this little
boat in Maine that there wasone man he wanted to work with. The
legendary Stan Winston.Winston and Minor sort of worked
(18:51):
together in 1981 briefly onFriday the 13th Part 2. Originally,
special effects artist TomSavini was asked to work on the film,
but declined because he wasalready working on another project.
Savini was replaced by StanWinston, but he had a scheduling
conflict and had to back out.The makeup effects for that film
would be done by CarlFullerton. Winston would contribute
(19:14):
a small amount of visualeffects to Friday the 13th Part 3,
also directed by Minor, buthis effects were in an unused ending.
And just in case you're unsureof who Stan Winston was, he's been
mentioned countless times onthis podcast for his effects work
on the likes of EdwardScissorhands, Batman Returns, the
terminator, terminator 2,aliens, the thing, Jurassic park,
(19:37):
the Lost World, Jurassic park,literally. Some of the greatest movies
in existence exist because ofStan Winston's incredible skill at
visual effects, makeup,animatronics, puppets, design and
sculpture. The first thingSteve Miner did when he joined Lake
Placid was send the script byAlly McBeal writer David E. Kelly
(19:58):
to Stan Winston. The projectdidn't even have financing at this
point, but Winston was so onboard that he started building an
18 to 20 foot crocodileimmediately out of his own pocket,
despite not even knowing ifthe movie was going ahead. This decision
by Stan Winston to spend amillion dollars of his own money
turned out to be a blessingbecause when the project was put
(20:19):
in turnaround by Fox 2000,Steve Miner went to Mike Medavoy
of Phoenix Pictures, whocontacted French investors. Those
investors got to see Winston'scrocodile up close and in the flesh.
They saw it opening andclosing its jaws and eyes. It impressed
the investor so much. That'show this film got its financing.
(20:41):
The crocodile in this movie isa massive 30 foot long animatronic
puppet, making it one of thelargest practical creature effects
ever created for a film atthat time. Firstly, they built a
maquette which served as theguideline for the full sized crocodile.
A full sized foam head andbody were built and served as a reference
for the main crocodile mold,which was painted with water resistant
(21:02):
urethane on the inside tocreate the skins. From this, a fiberglass
body was made which housed theanimatronics, hydraulics and internal
metal armature. The waterresistant skin was applied by hand
to the fiberglass underbody.The crew had to wear full body clean
air suits to protectthemselves from the toxic chemicals.
The crocodile's hydraulicsworked fairly well in a water environment
(21:25):
as long as they were protectedin waterproof housings and was surrounded
by water resistant urethaneskin. The animatronic could perform
various lifelike movements,including jaw snapping, head turning,
eye movement and full bodythrashing motions to simulate attack
sequences. To test thecrocodile puppet efficacy in water,
the crew took it up to KestaicLake in the Los Angeles National
(21:48):
Forest prior to painting itand dropped it in. They had to adjust
the buoyancy, but remarkably,the puppet could swim on its own
movement. But in the movie,the crocodile was attached to wire
and propelled by boat.Remarkably, this crocodile only has
3 minutes and 43 seconds ofscreen time total, and that includes
(22:08):
its digital counterpart. Theteam here took maybe a little too
much inspiration from Jaws inthat regard. We don't even see the
crocodile till 43 minutes intothe movie, which is only 82 minutes
long. But in many ways theruntime is a blessing because it
never outstays its welcome andand you're desperate to see the croc
by the time you see it. And tobe honest, it still looks great.
(22:31):
The CG is in a patch on theanimatronic, just like Anaconda.
But the movie also wouldn'twork without the digital crocodile.
Also just like Anaconda, here,its digital domain. Doing the CG
effects for Lake Placid, justlike Anaconda, was used sparingly.
The CG crocodile was used forsequences showing it diving in and
(22:51):
out of the water. Full bodyshots of the creature, swimming,
water displacement and splasheffects around the creature, and
some of the more dynamicaction sequences where the animatronics
limitations would be apparent.There ain't no way Stan Winston's
animatronic, as impressive asit is, could wrestle a brown bear.
The production chose to filmin Canada rather than Maine, or indeed
(23:14):
the actual Lake Placid in NewYork, which the movie wasn't actually
about. The fictional settingwas Black Lake, Maine. British Columbia
offered better productioninfrastructure and support, as well
as weather conditions thatcould double for Maine. Although
filming of the movie did haveto be postponed due to poor weather
conditions. To get around theon location shooting issues, production
(23:34):
designer John Willett designedand built a set near Vancouver for
the main lake. They would onlygo onto the real lake in the area
for some of the bigger shotsof the characters boating on the
lake. But as production wenton, the budget started to get squeezed.
Stan Winston was originallysupposed to build the tiny baby crocodiles
we see Betty White feeding atthe end. However, the babies were
(23:56):
going to be incredibly costly.Steve Miner instead suggested they
get some actual baby caimans.But Stan Winston didn't like the
idea and wanted theopportunity to build the babies himself
because just like in Anaconda,there are indeed two crocodiles here
and they got busy. Winstondidn't get the opportunity though,
(24:16):
because Minor hired somehobbyists who brought baby caimans
who were released into thewater and they got the perfect shot
they needed on the very firsttake. Which is funny because I genuinely
always thought that those wereanimatronic baby crocodiles. But
no, they are actually genuinebaby caimans. Let's hope those baby
caimans weren't fed too muchby Betty White and didn't go off
(24:39):
and start killing a load ofpeople when they became adults. And
this is the perfect place tosegue into the obligature Keanu reference
of this episode. And if youdon't know what that is, it's where
I try and link the movie thatI'm featuring, pretty much every
movie that I feature actuallywith Keanu Reeves for no reason other
than he is the best of men.Now, Keanu may not have been to Lake
(25:00):
Placid, at least not that I'maware of, but he reunited with Sandra
Bullock in 2006 for the lakehouse where he's living in 2004,
and she in 2006 in a lakehouse. And they mail each other letters
for two years. Now, that moviedoesn't explicitly say there were
saltwater crocodiles in thatlake, but it also doesn't not say
(25:22):
that. And presumably there arelake houses on Lake Placid. So Keanu
could easily be linked to LakePlacid with the lake house. It's
not the best one I've everdone, but it's literally the only
one I could think of. So LakePlacid was released on 16 July 1999.
1999 being generallyconsidered one of the greatest years
(25:45):
for movies ever. The boxoffice was pretty stuffed. It came
out the same week as StanleyKubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, which Hit
number one, American Pie wassitting delicious at number two.
Big Daddy was third. LakePlacid had to deal with debuting
at fourth, just ahead of WildWild west and Tarzan. Star Wars Episode
(26:05):
1, the Phantom Menace wasstill in the top 10 despite being
out for 10 weeks. The Mummywas at 18th in its 11th week. Interestingly,
Lake Placid also came out thesame week as the Blair Witch Project,
which was on a limitedrelease, and that movie would obviously
go on to become absolutelyhuge. But with the saturated market
(26:27):
the following week, Lakeplacid dropped to sixth, and then
the third week it had left thetop 10 completely. It's a real shame
that Lake Placid came out whenit did, because it just seemed to
come out at a particular timein the summer when literally everything
was dominating the box officeother than Lake placid. On its $35
(26:48):
million budget, Lake Placidwould gross $31.8 million domestically
and $25.1 millioninternationally, for a total worldwide
gross of $56.9 million.Critically, I mean, it's kind of
okay. Critically, I guess it'smiddling 47% on rotten tomatoes.
(27:08):
With the site's criticalconsensus reading, Betty White's
delightful supporting turn maybe worth the price of admission alone,
but Lake Placid is swamped bya smarmy script and inability to
deliver on the creaturefeature mayhem. Unlike Anaconda,
Roger Ebert hated this one somuch he put it on his 10 worst films
(27:29):
of the year list, giving itone out of four stars, describing
it as completely wrong headedfrom beginning to end. Despite its
lukewarm box office andcritical reception, Lake Placid spawned
three made for TV sequels.Lake Placid 2 in 2007, Lake Placid
3 in 2010, and Lake Placid theFinal Chapter in 2012, as well as
(27:50):
the crossover that I'vementioned previously, Lake Placid
versus Anaconda. I have seennone of these movies and honestly,
I have no intention. Creaturefeatures of the 90s were a mixed
bag. Generally. Anaconda didreally well, Deep Rising didn't.
And then in 1999 we got thecreature feature double of Deep Blue
Sea and Lake placid releasedwithin 12 days of each other, one
(28:14):
of which did really well, theother not so well. Arguably a giant
croc movie penned by thewriter of one of the biggest shows
on TV, Ally McBeal, and shouldhave been a smash hit. But the script
is not the star of the showhere and nor are the big name actors.
But while Jaws needed andwarranted the shark not appearing
till over halfway through themovie. Lake Placid doesn't. And honestly,
(28:37):
if Stan Winston makes you a 30foot crocodile, you show that creature
as often as you can because itis glorious. I do understand not
wanting to blow your moneyshot too early, but Lake Placid needs
to be less placid. Thecrocodile is incredible. The scene
with the crocodile and HectorSeer in the water in a standoff is
remarkably tense and genuinelyone of the best scenes in the entire
(29:01):
movie. But back to the script.It's just a very typical 90s sexist
remarks and comedy zingers. Orshould I say attempted comedy zingers.
I like Bridget Fonda in lot ofother movies, but her character is
just so poorly written. Eventhe usually charismatic and charming
Bill Pullman isn't as charmingand charismatic as usual. And together
(29:23):
they have zero chemistry, soyou don't even believe them getting
together at the end at all.The character development is there
because Kelly stops fallingout of cars at some point. That's
basically the level ofcompetency that we're talking about
on this movie. The savior, orshould I say human savior of this
movie is the late Betty White.God bless Betty White. I can't say
(29:48):
her line completely becausethis is a family show, but it's along
the lines of if I had asausage, this is where I would tell
you to suck it. Mrs. Bickermangives zero hoots and knows that if
the authorities find out aboutthis animal, they will kill it. And
she is all about protectingthe local wildlife. Not her cows,
though she doesn't subscribeto bovine protection. I really like
(30:11):
this movie, but I wish it hadgone harder on the crocodile because
watching giant beasts attackstupid people is always going to
be fun. That's why we lovethese movies. But we needed more
kills, more gore, and lessplaying it safe with the boring human
characters. Hector Seer isfun, but also comes across a bit
of a misogynist. I have noidea If Lake Placid 2 carries on
(30:34):
with the babies from this, butI do love that this movie ends so
memorably and kind of sweetly.And the idea that this movie actually
cares to think about thewelfare of an animal, even one that
might be killing humans, hasto be considered. Why would you kill
something unnecessarily if youcan humanely capture it? Of course,
like Anaconda. This is a moviethat gives you two beasts, and in
(30:56):
this one, one is killed andthe other captured. Anaconda and
Lake Placid are in many ways aperfect double pairing. They both
have way better creatures thancast members. They're both filmed
on location to a degree, andthey both led to substandard sequels.
Anaconda was the biggestfinancial success. Lake Placid had
better critical reception.Anaconda's cast went on to big careers
(31:19):
like JLO and Owen Wilson. LakePlacid had Betty White. Anaconda
had Walt Conti's snakes. LakePlacid has Stan Winston's crocodiles.
It's a bit like that scene inHot Fuzz, Point break or bad boys
2. Not which one do youprefer, but which one do you want
to watch first? Thank you forlistening. As always, I would love
(31:41):
to hear your thoughts on LakePlacid. And as always, thank you
for your continued support ofthis podcast. If you want to get
involved and you want to helpthis podcast grow and reach more
people, you could tell yourfriends and family about this podcast
or about this episode. You canfind me and follow me. I am verbaldiorama
across social media. You canshare posts like posts, comment on
(32:03):
posts. It all helps withvisibility and you can leave a rating
or review on Apple Podcasts orPodchaser or Spotify or wherever
you found this podcastepisode. If you like this episode
on Lake Placid, you might alsolike and I'm literally just going
to give you the samerecommendations that I did for Anaconda
because they're all incrediblemovies with incredible creatures.
(32:26):
Episode 41, Tremors Episode106, Jaws Episode 146 Deep Blue Sea,
which is a very emotionalepisode for me. So yeah, it's a bit
weird, but it was a time in myLife. And episode 224 Jaws 2, Jaws
3D and Jaws the Revenge. Andalso please don't forget the last
(32:47):
episode that I did onAnaconda. Have recycled some stuff
for this episode. But Anacondais such a fun movie and a great double
pairing. I would highlyrecommend if you've got them, just
sit down and watch Anacondaand Lake Placid back to back, though
the creatures are worth theprice of admission alone. As always,
(33:09):
give me feedback on myrecommendations next episode. So
we're moving on from BabyKaiju. Baby Kaijun has grown up and
left the nest. We've had thelittle babies fed by Betty White.
Baby Kaijun is over, but willit still be on the water? More water
but less monsters. Becauseremember the days before Pirates
of the Caribbean told us thatpirate movies made money? Well before
(33:33):
Disney adapted their piratetheme park ride 1995 gave us a notoriously
troubled and chaotic piratemovie starring Geena Davis, directed
by her then husband RennieHarlin, which was going to be the
next big thing until it becameone of the biggest box office bombs
of all time. Oh, and ittechnically bankrupted its studio
(33:55):
too. But as always, there's somuch more to the story than a movie
that bankrupted its studio. Sojoin me next week for the History
and Legacy of CutthroatIsland. This is a movie that has
been such a long time comingto this podcast. I am so excited
to finally be talking aboutCutthroat Island. I even bought it
(34:16):
on Blu ray just so I couldcontribute to the financial coffers
of a movie that is deemed asone of the biggest box office bombs
of all time. Because we needto support movies like Cutthroat
Island. There are so manyreasons why. Please join me next
episode as we go into thehistory and legacy of Cutthroat Island.
And if you enjoy what I do forthis podcast or you simply just want
(34:37):
to support an indie podcasterwho does everything on her own, and
if you have some spare penniesyou can financially contribute to
the upkeep of this podcast,you're under no obligation. This
podcast is free and it alwayswill be free. But if you do get value
out of what I do, and you doenjoy what I do, there are a couple
of ways that you can help. Ifyou have the means to, and only if
(34:59):
you have the means to, you canmake a one off donation@verbaldiorama.com
tips or you can go toverbaldiorama.com patreon and you
can subscribe and become aPatreon supporter and all money made
goes back into this podcastand pays for software subscriptions,
website hosting or newequipment. I'm hugely grateful to
(35:20):
the patrons of this podcast.They are Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat,
Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael,Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack,
Dave, Stuart, Nicholas, so,Kev, Heather, Danny, Stu, Brett,
Philip M, Xenos, Sean, Rhino,Philip K, Adam, Elaine, Kyle and
Aaron. If you want to get intouch, you can email verbaldioramail.com
(35:45):
you can send me hellos,feedback or suggestions. You can
just email me if you've likedan episode in particular and you
want to talk about it. You canalso fill out the little contact
form@verbaldiorama.com aswell. But please feel free to get
in touch, especially if you'reinterested in a potential grown up
version of Kaiju next year. Ifthat interests you, please let me
(36:06):
know if there's anything inparticular you would like to see.
Most importantly, it has to besomething that there is a history
and legacy of available on theInternet. So some really random,
obscure foreign monster moviethat's not a big kind of Japanese
Godzilla movie. It's probablygoing to be quite difficult to get
(36:27):
the information on. But ifthere's something that is very big
and is very accessible, pleaselet me know and I will investigate
it. And chances are it couldpop up next year sometime. Who knows?
And finally, Bye.
Hi, everyone. I'm Em, andwelcome to Verbal Diorama, episode
303, Lake Placid. This is thepodcast that's all about the history
and legacy of movies you knowand movies you don't. That was going
to be called Lake Placid, butsomeone said that name was taken.
Huge. Hi, and welcome toVerbal Diorama. To you all, whether
you're a brand new listener,whether you're a returning listener,
(02:04):
thank you very much for beinghere. Thank you for choosing to listen
to this podcast. I am so happyto have you here for the history
and legacy of Lake Placid. Andjust generally, a huge thanks to
everyone who listens to thispodcast who has continued to listen
and support this podcast overthe last six years and 300 plus episodes.
I am so grateful for yoursupport. Thank you so much for being
(02:26):
here. It really does mean somuch, especially coming back after
a short break doing Anacondalast week. This month I'm dubbing
it Baby Kaijune. And if youhaven't listened to last week's episode
on Anaconda, maybe becauseyou're more of a fan of crocodiles
than snakes, Kaijune was aseries that I did a couple of years
(02:47):
ago, mostly because I lovemonster movies, I love creature features,
just anything to do with hugemonsters, really. And that series
included episodes on Bong JoonHo's the Host, which is a great movie
if you've not seen it.Godzilla 1998, which is a lot better
than a lot of people give itcredit for. And it's got a great
(03:08):
story behind the scenes aswell. Shin Godzilla, which is also
a great movie, full ofbureaucracy and red tape and politics.
And Pacific Rim, which is myboy, Guillermo del Toro. Love that
movie. Smashy, smashy.Perfect. No notes. So that was the
main Kaijune season. I didthat a couple of years ago and it
was really well received onthe podcast, actually. And then I
(03:30):
didn't do it last year, andthen this year I thought, I want
to bring Kaijune back. But Irealized I only had two weeks in
the month of June. So Idevised this thing called Baby Kaijune.
And that's because this seriesis smaller than usual. The monsters
are a bit smaller than theprevious ones, but they're still
really scary. As I mentioned,last episode was on Anaconda and
(03:54):
this is a movie that I thinkpairs really well with Anaconda because
both of them are basicallyflying the flag. The late 90s Hollywood
creature features and I kindof wanted to go into well, are Anaconda
and Lake Placid Kaiju movies.And I suppose first of all, it depends
on your definition of Kaiju.Technically speaking, yes they are,
because Kaiju means strangebeast and is mostly used to refer
(04:18):
to giant monsters. Andobviously the monsters in Anaconda
and Lake Placid, yes, they arereal monsters. These aren't formed
from nuclear incidents or anykind of event or anything like that,
but they are bigger than thecreatures that you would normally
see in real life. Now, broadlyspeaking, Kaiju are generally monsters
(04:38):
of Japanese origin, but theterm is applied to animals of unnaturally
giant size that attack humansand cause widespread destruction.
So sort of Kaiju, not Kaijuenough. The Diet Coke of Kaiju. Kaiju,
as in normal sized Kaiju, willreturn talking full sized and fully
(04:59):
powered next year. It'ssomething that I really want to do
because I feel like I've kindof got the bug now. I really love
to do it. I don't want tocommit to too much, but let's just
say, yes, I want to do KingKong from 1933. Yes, I want to do
Godzilla from 1954 and yes, Iabsolutely want to also do Godzilla
(05:21):
minus one. As for anythingelse, I'm really kind of open to
suggestion as to what it couldpossibly be. Please get in touch
and let me know what you wouldlike to see in this hypothetical
future Kaijune season that I'mthinking of doing. But I feel like
absolutely you would have todo King Kong and Godzilla like the
og I only actually watchedKing Kong very recently. It was only
(05:45):
like last year that I saw the1933 King Kong for the first time
and I was completely blownaway. I thought it was absolutely
magical. Little bit racist,let's be honest. It's a movie from
the 30s, but just totallymagical. Like just wonderful movie.
I adored it. So yeah, get intouch. My email address is in the
show notes. You can contact meon social media. I would love to
(06:06):
hear what sort of Kaiju moviesyou really like and hypothetical
season next year let's talkabout what we could possibly do for
the history and legacy on. Butanyway, let's get back to the main
feature because unfortunatelyI'm really sorry to say that this
episode isn't on Lake Placid.The host of the 1932 and 1980 Winter
(06:29):
Olympics, the 1972 and 2023Winter World University Games, or
the host of the 2000 GoodwillWinter Games, because that's located
in Essex County, New York. Sosorry, sports fans. Nor is it about
the body of water named LakePlacid that's on the northern side
of the village of Lake Placid,New York. So sorry, random New York
(06:52):
lake fans. This one is forfans of crocs. Not the awful plastic
footwear, the real crocs. TheI'm gonna eat you types of crocs.
The ones that gave menightmares as a child. This is for
you guys. Here's the trailerfor Lake Placid.
(08:55):
Shortly after horrifyingunderwater attack in Maine's Black
Lake, New York Citypaleontologist Kelly Scott arrives
to help local fish and gameofficer Jack Wells to investigate.
With only a mangled body astheir starting point, Jack and Kelly
embark on a mission to findthe mysterious creature. As Sheriff
Hank Keough and mythologyprofessor Hector Sear both want to
(09:17):
locate the elusive predatorfirst. But something deadly is lurking
beneath a silent pond. Andit's already taken a liking to the
juicy human flesh. And aneccentric elderly widow seems to
know more than she's lettingon. Let's run through the cast of
this movie. We have stackedcast, actually, for a late 90s creature
feature, we have Bill Pullmanas Jack Wells, Bridget Fonda as Kelly
(09:42):
Scott, Brendan Gleason asSheriff Hank Keough, Oliver Platt
as Hector Sear, Betty White asDolores Bickerman, and Meredith Salinger
as Deputy Sharon Gare. LakePlacid was written by David E. Kelly
and was directed by SteveMiner. Now, creature features are
(10:03):
nothing new, having originatedin the 1910s with the lost German
silent film The Golem in 1915and its sequel the How He Came into
the World in 1920. And ofcourse the work of Willis H. O' Brien
in the Lost World in 1925through to the legendary King Kong
in 1933, which would inspireRay Harryhausen to work with O' Brien
(10:24):
on Mighty Joe Young in 1949.It kick started the 1950s wave of
creature features likeCreature from the Black Lagoon in
1954. Them in 1954. It camefrom beneath the sea in 1955, Tarantula
in 1955, the deadly Mantis in1957 and 20 million miles to earth
(10:45):
in 1957. It was in the 1950sthat Toho produced Godzilla, arguably
the most famous Kaiju of alltime, which adapted the nuclear concept
from the beast from 20,000fathoms from a Japanese perspective
rooted in real life Japanesehistorical events such as the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima andNagasaki in 1945 and the Daigo Fukury
(11:08):
Maru incident in 1954. StevenSpielberg then pioneered the genre
with Jaws in 1975, which isone of the few monster movies based
on a real incident. The NewJersey shark attacks of 1916. Imagine
that real creatures are outthere that could kill you. I guess
we're coming back to that.Other animal based horror features
(11:29):
followed Jaws's inspiration,like Orca, the killer whale in 1977,
Piranha in 1978 and Alligatorin 1980, which was itself inspired
by the urban legend ofalligators living in sewers, in particular
an account of alligators beingfound in New York City. These were
followed by more horrorcomedies in the early 90s like tremors
(11:50):
and Arachnophobia. Spielbergperfected the formula further with
Jurassic park in 1993, whichset a new benchmark in the genre
with innovative use of CGI andtried and tested animatronics to
recreate dinosaurs. ButJurassic park also dawned the new
era of monster movies. Theydidn't need rubber suits or cardboard
(12:11):
sets. They had big enoughbudgets for big names and big enough
budgets for big effects.Unlike the often mindless beasts
of earlier B movies, JurassicPark's dinosaurs displayed cunning
intelligence, particularly theVelociraptors. This shift towards
smart, strategic predatorsbecame a hallmark of 90s creature
features, which made the veryreal creatures of the likes of Anaconda
(12:34):
Lake, Placid and Deep Blue Seasomewhat more terrifying when you
realize that they could killyou and they were more intelligent
than you. The 90s was a richvista of creature features and disaster
movies. And I do want to dosome disaster movies real soon on
the podcast, because there area couple I really love. But Even
in the 90s, the creaturefeature landscape was continually
(12:55):
evolving. And if you'rewondering if I copied that verbatim
from the last episode onAnaconda, well, you'd be right. Reduce,
reuse, recycle. Keeps ourwaterways and lakes clear of rubbish.
It's very important for thelocal wildlife, including crocodiles,
even if they're not native tothis particular part of the world.
Anaconda and Lake Placidobviously share a little bit of DNA.
(13:16):
They're both 90s creaturefeatures. They're both set in and
around water. They both havevery sharp teeth. But while one creature
is unknown for eating humans,the other most definitely is. The
saltwater crocodile is thelargest living reptile. Both crocodiles
and dinosaurs evolved from acommon archosaur ancestor. During
the Triassic period, theevolutionary tree split early, with
(13:40):
one branch leading tocrocodilians and and the other leading
to dinosaurs and eventuallybirds. They survived the mass extinction
event that killed the nonavian dinosaurs 66 million years
ago. Modern crocodiles, likethe saltwater crocodile, are the
largest living reptiles andapex predators, continuing the archosaur
legacy. I have always had avery intense fear of crocodiles,
(14:03):
and people should be afraid.Males, the larger of the species,
can grow up to a weight of1,000 to 1,500 kg and a length of
20ft. They are large and theyare deadly. They ambush most of their
prey and drown or swallow itwhole. They will prey on almost any
animal that enters theirterritory, including other predators
(14:25):
like sharks, fish,crustaceans, amphibians, other reptiles,
birds and mammals. They willeat whatever is in their territory.
They're partially resistant totoxins from toads, unlike alligators,
and they have the strongestbite of any living animal. Unlike
Anaconda, which don't tend tokill humans, saltwater crocodiles
(14:47):
have a long history ofattacking humans, often killing them.
One or two fatal attacks arereported per year in Australia, which
doesn't sound like a lot, butthat's just the fatal attacks. Most
attacks are successfullyprevented due to better warning systems.
But in other countries, mostattacks go unreported. Do not think
(15:08):
that you can successfullywrestle a crocodile down. Do not
think you can outswim them.Heck, don't even think you can outrun
them. Just stay out of theirterritory. In this movie, the character
of Hector Seer, played byOliver Platt, is fascinated by crocodiles
and believes he has aspiritual connection with them, seeing
them as ancient and sacred.Crocodiles have been revered as gods
(15:31):
or sacred beings in severalcultures throughout history and in
some cases continue to betoday. The most famous example is
ancient Egypt, where thecrocodile God Sobek was worshipped
as a deity of the Nilefertility and protection. Sobek was
depicted as either a crocodileor a man with a crocodile head, and
live crocodiles were kept intemples and mummified after death.
(15:53):
The city of Crocodilopidis wasa major center of Sobek worship.
The citizens worshipped a tamesacred crocodile called Pets, the
son of Sucos, that was adornedwith gold and gem pendants. Petsukos
lived in a special temple pondand was fed by the priests with food
provided by visitors. WhenPetsukos died, it was replaced by
(16:15):
another. In Hindu tradition,crocodiles are associated with various
deities. The Ganges rivercrocodile is considered sacred and
crocodiles appear in storiesabout Vishnu's incarnations. The
Makara, a crocodile likecreature, serves as the vehicle of
the river goddess Ganja andthe sea God Varuna. And once again,
apologies for any incorrectpronunciations of anything in this
(16:38):
episode. Several Africancultures have traditionally revered
crocodiles. In parts ofBurkina Faso, Mali and other West
African regions, crocodilesare considered sacred ancestors or
spirits. Some communities havesacred pools where crocodiles are
protected and fed, believingthey bring good fortune and protection.
So the idea that Hector Seermight revere the crocodile as a God
(17:02):
or a spiritual being is notactually that far fetched. While
Lake Placid may be seen assomething of a spiritual successor
to the 1980 film Alligator,both films share the basic premise
of a giant reptilian predatorterrorizing people, but they approach
the concept differently. LakePlacid seems to be more directly
inspired by Jaws thanAlligator. From the film's point
(17:24):
of view shots, the localpolice sheriff as a lead character
and the eccentric characterbrought in to hunt an aquatic monster,
Lake Placid is clearlyinspired by Jaws. Technically, Alligator
did have its own actualsuccessor in Alligator 2. But just
like that movie, and like Jawsand like Anaconda, an animatronic
crocodile would be the star ofthis show. Lake Placid, despite having
(17:48):
all the Creature Featurepedigree and being shopped around
in the very creature feature90s kept getting turned down by all
the major studios. By the timethe script appeared on director Steve
Miner's desk, it had alreadybeen turned down by every other studio.
Miner was already associatedwith the horror genre, being the
associate producer, assistantdirector and unit production manager.
(18:10):
For Friday the 13th in 1980,directing Friday the 13th Part 2
in 1981, Friday the 13th Part3 in 1982, House in 1985, and Warlock
in 1989. Technically, this wasthe man who birthed Jason Voorhees
as a horror icon. He wouldeven step into the Halloween franchise,
(18:30):
helming Halloween H20 in 1998.He did that during pre production
of Lake Placid, just becausethings here were taking a while and
work is work. But Miner knewas soon as he got on board this little
boat in Maine that there wasone man he wanted to work with. The
legendary Stan Winston.Winston and Minor sort of worked
(18:51):
together in 1981 briefly onFriday the 13th Part 2. Originally,
special effects artist TomSavini was asked to work on the film,
but declined because he wasalready working on another project.
Savini was replaced by StanWinston, but he had a scheduling
conflict and had to back out.The makeup effects for that film
would be done by CarlFullerton. Winston would contribute
(19:14):
a small amount of visualeffects to Friday the 13th Part 3,
also directed by Minor, buthis effects were in an unused ending.
And just in case you're unsureof who Stan Winston was, he's been
mentioned countless times onthis podcast for his effects work
on the likes of EdwardScissorhands, Batman Returns, the
terminator, terminator 2,aliens, the thing, Jurassic park,
(19:37):
the Lost World, Jurassic park,literally. Some of the greatest movies
in existence exist because ofStan Winston's incredible skill at
visual effects, makeup,animatronics, puppets, design and
sculpture. The first thingSteve Miner did when he joined Lake
Placid was send the script byAlly McBeal writer David E. Kelly
(19:58):
to Stan Winston. The projectdidn't even have financing at this
point, but Winston was so onboard that he started building an
18 to 20 foot crocodileimmediately out of his own pocket,
despite not even knowing ifthe movie was going ahead. This decision
by Stan Winston to spend amillion dollars of his own money
turned out to be a blessingbecause when the project was put
(20:19):
in turnaround by Fox 2000,Steve Miner went to Mike Medavoy
of Phoenix Pictures, whocontacted French investors. Those
investors got to see Winston'scrocodile up close and in the flesh.
They saw it opening andclosing its jaws and eyes. It impressed
the investor so much. That'show this film got its financing.
(20:41):
The crocodile in this movie isa massive 30 foot long animatronic
puppet, making it one of thelargest practical creature effects
ever created for a film atthat time. Firstly, they built a
maquette which served as theguideline for the full sized crocodile.
A full sized foam head andbody were built and served as a reference
for the main crocodile mold,which was painted with water resistant
(21:02):
urethane on the inside tocreate the skins. From this, a fiberglass
body was made which housed theanimatronics, hydraulics and internal
metal armature. The waterresistant skin was applied by hand
to the fiberglass underbody.The crew had to wear full body clean
air suits to protectthemselves from the toxic chemicals.
The crocodile's hydraulicsworked fairly well in a water environment
(21:25):
as long as they were protectedin waterproof housings and was surrounded
by water resistant urethaneskin. The animatronic could perform
various lifelike movements,including jaw snapping, head turning,
eye movement and full bodythrashing motions to simulate attack
sequences. To test thecrocodile puppet efficacy in water,
the crew took it up to KestaicLake in the Los Angeles National
(21:48):
Forest prior to painting itand dropped it in. They had to adjust
the buoyancy, but remarkably,the puppet could swim on its own
movement. But in the movie,the crocodile was attached to wire
and propelled by boat.Remarkably, this crocodile only has
3 minutes and 43 seconds ofscreen time total, and that includes
(22:08):
its digital counterpart. Theteam here took maybe a little too
much inspiration from Jaws inthat regard. We don't even see the
crocodile till 43 minutes intothe movie, which is only 82 minutes
long. But in many ways theruntime is a blessing because it
never outstays its welcome andand you're desperate to see the croc
by the time you see it. And tobe honest, it still looks great.
(22:31):
The CG is in a patch on theanimatronic, just like Anaconda.
But the movie also wouldn'twork without the digital crocodile.
Also just like Anaconda, here,its digital domain. Doing the CG
effects for Lake Placid, justlike Anaconda, was used sparingly.
The CG crocodile was used forsequences showing it diving in and
(22:51):
out of the water. Full bodyshots of the creature, swimming,
water displacement and splasheffects around the creature, and
some of the more dynamicaction sequences where the animatronics
limitations would be apparent.There ain't no way Stan Winston's
animatronic, as impressive asit is, could wrestle a brown bear.
The production chose to filmin Canada rather than Maine, or indeed
(23:14):
the actual Lake Placid in NewYork, which the movie wasn't actually
about. The fictional settingwas Black Lake, Maine. British Columbia
offered better productioninfrastructure and support, as well
as weather conditions thatcould double for Maine. Although
filming of the movie did haveto be postponed due to poor weather
conditions. To get around theon location shooting issues, production
(23:34):
designer John Willett designedand built a set near Vancouver for
the main lake. They would onlygo onto the real lake in the area
for some of the bigger shotsof the characters boating on the
lake. But as production wenton, the budget started to get squeezed.
Stan Winston was originallysupposed to build the tiny baby crocodiles
we see Betty White feeding atthe end. However, the babies were
(23:56):
going to be incredibly costly.Steve Miner instead suggested they
get some actual baby caimans.But Stan Winston didn't like the
idea and wanted theopportunity to build the babies himself
because just like in Anaconda,there are indeed two crocodiles here
and they got busy. Winstondidn't get the opportunity though,
(24:16):
because Minor hired somehobbyists who brought baby caimans
who were released into thewater and they got the perfect shot
they needed on the very firsttake. Which is funny because I genuinely
always thought that those wereanimatronic baby crocodiles. But
no, they are actually genuinebaby caimans. Let's hope those baby
caimans weren't fed too muchby Betty White and didn't go off
(24:39):
and start killing a load ofpeople when they became adults. And
this is the perfect place tosegue into the obligature Keanu reference
of this episode. And if youdon't know what that is, it's where
I try and link the movie thatI'm featuring, pretty much every
movie that I feature actuallywith Keanu Reeves for no reason other
than he is the best of men.Now, Keanu may not have been to Lake
(25:00):
Placid, at least not that I'maware of, but he reunited with Sandra
Bullock in 2006 for the lakehouse where he's living in 2004,
and she in 2006 in a lakehouse. And they mail each other letters
for two years. Now, that moviedoesn't explicitly say there were
saltwater crocodiles in thatlake, but it also doesn't not say
(25:22):
that. And presumably there arelake houses on Lake Placid. So Keanu
could easily be linked to LakePlacid with the lake house. It's
not the best one I've everdone, but it's literally the only
one I could think of. So LakePlacid was released on 16 July 1999.
1999 being generallyconsidered one of the greatest years
(25:45):
for movies ever. The boxoffice was pretty stuffed. It came
out the same week as StanleyKubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, which Hit
number one, American Pie wassitting delicious at number two.
Big Daddy was third. LakePlacid had to deal with debuting
at fourth, just ahead of WildWild west and Tarzan. Star Wars Episode
(26:05):
1, the Phantom Menace wasstill in the top 10 despite being
out for 10 weeks. The Mummywas at 18th in its 11th week. Interestingly,
Lake Placid also came out thesame week as the Blair Witch Project,
which was on a limitedrelease, and that movie would obviously
go on to become absolutelyhuge. But with the saturated market
(26:27):
the following week, Lakeplacid dropped to sixth, and then
the third week it had left thetop 10 completely. It's a real shame
that Lake Placid came out whenit did, because it just seemed to
come out at a particular timein the summer when literally everything
was dominating the box officeother than Lake placid. On its $35
(26:48):
million budget, Lake Placidwould gross $31.8 million domestically
and $25.1 millioninternationally, for a total worldwide
gross of $56.9 million.Critically, I mean, it's kind of
okay. Critically, I guess it'smiddling 47% on rotten tomatoes.
(27:08):
With the site's criticalconsensus reading, Betty White's
delightful supporting turn maybe worth the price of admission alone,
but Lake Placid is swamped bya smarmy script and inability to
deliver on the creaturefeature mayhem. Unlike Anaconda,
Roger Ebert hated this one somuch he put it on his 10 worst films
(27:29):
of the year list, giving itone out of four stars, describing
it as completely wrong headedfrom beginning to end. Despite its
lukewarm box office andcritical reception, Lake Placid spawned
three made for TV sequels.Lake Placid 2 in 2007, Lake Placid
3 in 2010, and Lake Placid theFinal Chapter in 2012, as well as
(27:50):
the crossover that I'vementioned previously, Lake Placid
versus Anaconda. I have seennone of these movies and honestly,
I have no intention. Creaturefeatures of the 90s were a mixed
bag. Generally. Anaconda didreally well, Deep Rising didn't.
And then in 1999 we got thecreature feature double of Deep Blue
Sea and Lake placid releasedwithin 12 days of each other, one
(28:14):
of which did really well, theother not so well. Arguably a giant
croc movie penned by thewriter of one of the biggest shows
on TV, Ally McBeal, and shouldhave been a smash hit. But the script
is not the star of the showhere and nor are the big name actors.
But while Jaws needed andwarranted the shark not appearing
till over halfway through themovie. Lake Placid doesn't. And honestly,
(28:37):
if Stan Winston makes you a 30foot crocodile, you show that creature
as often as you can because itis glorious. I do understand not
wanting to blow your moneyshot too early, but Lake Placid needs
to be less placid. Thecrocodile is incredible. The scene
with the crocodile and HectorSeer in the water in a standoff is
remarkably tense and genuinelyone of the best scenes in the entire
(29:01):
movie. But back to the script.It's just a very typical 90s sexist
remarks and comedy zingers. Orshould I say attempted comedy zingers.
I like Bridget Fonda in lot ofother movies, but her character is
just so poorly written. Eventhe usually charismatic and charming
Bill Pullman isn't as charmingand charismatic as usual. And together
(29:23):
they have zero chemistry, soyou don't even believe them getting
together at the end at all.The character development is there
because Kelly stops fallingout of cars at some point. That's
basically the level ofcompetency that we're talking about
on this movie. The savior, orshould I say human savior of this
movie is the late Betty White.God bless Betty White. I can't say
(29:48):
her line completely becausethis is a family show, but it's along
the lines of if I had asausage, this is where I would tell
you to suck it. Mrs. Bickermangives zero hoots and knows that if
the authorities find out aboutthis animal, they will kill it. And
she is all about protectingthe local wildlife. Not her cows,
though she doesn't subscribeto bovine protection. I really like
(30:11):
this movie, but I wish it hadgone harder on the crocodile because
watching giant beasts attackstupid people is always going to
be fun. That's why we lovethese movies. But we needed more
kills, more gore, and lessplaying it safe with the boring human
characters. Hector Seer isfun, but also comes across a bit
of a misogynist. I have noidea If Lake Placid 2 carries on
(30:34):
with the babies from this, butI do love that this movie ends so
memorably and kind of sweetly.And the idea that this movie actually
cares to think about thewelfare of an animal, even one that
might be killing humans, hasto be considered. Why would you kill
something unnecessarily if youcan humanely capture it? Of course,
like Anaconda. This is a moviethat gives you two beasts, and in
(30:56):
this one, one is killed andthe other captured. Anaconda and
Lake Placid are in many ways aperfect double pairing. They both
have way better creatures thancast members. They're both filmed
on location to a degree, andthey both led to substandard sequels.
Anaconda was the biggestfinancial success. Lake Placid had
better critical reception.Anaconda's cast went on to big careers
(31:19):
like JLO and Owen Wilson. LakePlacid had Betty White. Anaconda
had Walt Conti's snakes. LakePlacid has Stan Winston's crocodiles.
It's a bit like that scene inHot Fuzz, Point break or bad boys
2. Not which one do youprefer, but which one do you want
to watch first? Thank you forlistening. As always, I would love
(31:41):
to hear your thoughts on LakePlacid. And as always, thank you
for your continued support ofthis podcast. If you want to get
involved and you want to helpthis podcast grow and reach more
people, you could tell yourfriends and family about this podcast
or about this episode. You canfind me and follow me. I am verbaldiorama
across social media. You canshare posts like posts, comment on
(32:03):
posts. It all helps withvisibility and you can leave a rating
or review on Apple Podcasts orPodchaser or Spotify or wherever
you found this podcastepisode. If you like this episode
on Lake Placid, you might alsolike and I'm literally just going
to give you the samerecommendations that I did for Anaconda
because they're all incrediblemovies with incredible creatures.
(32:26):
Episode 41, Tremors Episode106, Jaws Episode 146 Deep Blue Sea,
which is a very emotionalepisode for me. So yeah, it's a bit
weird, but it was a time in myLife. And episode 224 Jaws 2, Jaws
3D and Jaws the Revenge. Andalso please don't forget the last
(32:47):
episode that I did onAnaconda. Have recycled some stuff
for this episode. But Anacondais such a fun movie and a great double
pairing. I would highlyrecommend if you've got them, just
sit down and watch Anacondaand Lake Placid back to back, though
the creatures are worth theprice of admission alone. As always,
(33:09):
give me feedback on myrecommendations next episode. So
we're moving on from BabyKaiju. Baby Kaijun has grown up and
left the nest. We've had thelittle babies fed by Betty White.
Baby Kaijun is over, but willit still be on the water? More water
but less monsters. Becauseremember the days before Pirates
of the Caribbean told us thatpirate movies made money? Well before
(33:33):
Disney adapted their piratetheme park ride 1995 gave us a notoriously
troubled and chaotic piratemovie starring Geena Davis, directed
by her then husband RennieHarlin, which was going to be the
next big thing until it becameone of the biggest box office bombs
of all time. Oh, and ittechnically bankrupted its studio
(33:55):
too. But as always, there's somuch more to the story than a movie
that bankrupted its studio. Sojoin me next week for the History
and Legacy of CutthroatIsland. This is a movie that has
been such a long time comingto this podcast. I am so excited
to finally be talking aboutCutthroat Island. I even bought it
(34:16):
on Blu ray just so I couldcontribute to the financial coffers
of a movie that is deemed asone of the biggest box office bombs
of all time. Because we needto support movies like Cutthroat
Island. There are so manyreasons why. Please join me next
episode as we go into thehistory and legacy of Cutthroat Island.
And if you enjoy what I do forthis podcast or you simply just want
(34:37):
to support an indie podcasterwho does everything on her own, and
if you have some spare penniesyou can financially contribute to
the upkeep of this podcast,you're under no obligation. This
podcast is free and it alwayswill be free. But if you do get value
out of what I do, and you doenjoy what I do, there are a couple
of ways that you can help. Ifyou have the means to, and only if
(34:59):
you have the means to, you canmake a one off donation@verbaldiorama.com
tips or you can go toverbaldiorama.com patreon and you
can subscribe and become aPatreon supporter and all money made
goes back into this podcastand pays for software subscriptions,
website hosting or newequipment. I'm hugely grateful to
(35:20):
the patrons of this podcast.They are Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat,
Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael,Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack,
Dave, Stuart, Nicholas, so,Kev, Heather, Danny, Stu, Brett,
Philip M, Xenos, Sean, Rhino,Philip K, Adam, Elaine, Kyle and
Aaron. If you want to get intouch, you can email verbaldioramail.com
(35:45):
you can send me hellos,feedback or suggestions. You can
just email me if you've likedan episode in particular and you
want to talk about it. You canalso fill out the little contact
form@verbaldiorama.com aswell. But please feel free to get
in touch, especially if you'reinterested in a potential grown up
version of Kaiju next year. Ifthat interests you, please let me
(36:06):
know if there's anything inparticular you would like to see.
Most importantly, it has to besomething that there is a history
and legacy of available on theInternet. So some really random,
obscure foreign monster moviethat's not a big kind of Japanese
Godzilla movie. It's probablygoing to be quite difficult to get
(36:27):
the information on. But ifthere's something that is very big
and is very accessible, pleaselet me know and I will investigate
it. And chances are it couldpop up next year sometime. Who knows?
And finally, Bye.
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