Lake Placid 2 (2007): A Movie Review

Lake Placid 2 is a sequel to Lake Placid (1999). The movie stars John Schneider as Sheriff Riley and Sam McMurray as Struthers. The killer crocodiles are back terrorizing the small lake town with Sheriff Riley doing his best to make sure him or his son aren't the next croc snacks. Warning: my movie review contains plot spoilers.

I love the first Lake Placid. Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda were excellent in it and it is one movie I can watch over and over again so I really had high hopes for the sequel. Lake Placid 2 is an utter disappointment. I don't even know why it is called a sequel. It is more like a remake with very bad actors. The same concept is used over again: small town sheriff likes female expert who wants to capture croc instead of killing it but of course a big shot hunter comes to town to kill the croc for his own sport. Only difference in the sequel is the sheriff has a son. Oh and the fact that all the A-list actors from the first movie have been replaced by really bad B-List actors.

Not only is the movie full of bad acting but also very bad lines. The one that stands out the most is when Sheriff Riley is arguing with his female deputy on the phone on why she didn't close the lake like he asked. The female deputy said she wasn't for sure what he meant by closing the lake and he responds "I am going to throw a dart at you when I get back." Throw a dart? Is that some country expression because I didn't get it.

The sequel is some time after the first one because apparently everyone from the first movie was smart enough to move away and now the killer crocs are just an urban legend. Delores Bickerman has disappeared (in the tummies of the crocs) and so her crazy sister has now taken over the job of feeding the crocodiles and treating them like her own man-eating children. Cloris Leachman plays Sadie Beckerman and I think she was the scariest thing in the movie. The make-up artist really caked the makeup on Cloris and she looked quite garish throughout the movie, which is a shame because she really has aged very well. I guess crazy people are supposed to look like circus clowns.

The best actors in the movie were the ostrich eggs. They did a great job portraying crocodile eggs. But unfortunately they couldn't even save this movie. Skip Lake Placid 2 and just watch the original Lake Placid again. I give the movie 0 out of 5 stars.