There seems to be at least one every summer, that oddball little thriller that comes out of nowhere to provide considerably more jolts and laughs than the average $100 million-budgeted blockbuster. In 1997, there was the ultra-spooky "Mimic." Last year, "Disturbing Behavior" offered an amusingly demented take on the teen horror genre. And this summer, we have "Lake Placid," a frequently hilarious gross-out that features A-list stars such as Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda on the trail of a giant crocodile which has invaded the waters of Maine.
Yes, even the title is a joke. The mysterious serene body of water where most of the action takes place is actually named Black Lake. "They wanted to call it Lake Placid," sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) explains. "But somebody said that name was already taken." The screenplay by TV's David E. Kelley ("Ally McBeal," "Chicago Hope") delights in such goofiness. "Never been to Maine before?" Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Pullman) asks paleontologist Kelly (Fonda). "I have good hygiene," she answers. "I'm not welcome."
Kelly has been summoned from her job at a New York museum to help hunt for clues as to why a diver was decapitated while probing the depths of Black Lake, although her intense dislike of timber and ticks -- and her talent for falling out of trucks and tumbling into the water at inopportune moments -- hardly makes her a natural candidate for the job. She also has a very low tolerance for gore and accuses Keough of playing upon that. "Don't throw heads at me!" she shrieks when he leaves the remains of one of the creature's victims at her feet.
The tensions at the lake are further heightened by the arrival of Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt), a nutty millionaire who believes crocodiles are "divine conduits" and swims with them for some sort of spiritual reinforcement. Cyr is immediately unwelcome and when he insists on going along on an expedition, Keough suggests a perfect accessory for the trip. "I brought a porkchop along for luck -- maybe you could hang it around your neck," the sheriff tells him.
But though the crackling dialogue suggests a screwball comedy, "Placid" stays true to its drive-in movie roots, providing several vicious attacks (the first appearance of the monster is particularly startling) and some genuine suspense along with the humor. As in any creature feature, people regularly go wandering off into the brush when they hear strange sounds or incorrectly assume they've taken care of a problem, only to have it jump up and bite them in the butts. "Placid" was directed by Steve Miner whose "Warlock," with Julian Sands and Lori Singer, was a similarly clever (albeit far less slick) variation on shocker conventions.
Though Pullman can't do much except look squinty-eyed and stoic, Fonda, Platt and Gleeson, the marvelous character actor who played the title role in director John Boorman's "The General" a few months back, appear to be loving every minute of this nonsense. A scene-stealing Betty White pops in and out of the picture as a salty-tongued senior who knows more than she's willing to let on.
Best of all, Kelley and Miner manage to squeeze it all into a lightning-paced 82 minute package. Instead of wearing out its welcome with a dozen false endings like so many thrillers do, "Lake Placid" simply shakes you up, lets you go and leaves you laughing. And how can you not like a movie that explains the appearance of an Asian-Pacific crocodile in the U.S. by having a character remark that "someone in Hong Kong must have flushed him down the toilet"? James Sanford
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