Lake Placid

"I'm rooting for the crocodile. I hope he swallows your friends whole."

- Mrs. Delores Bickerman

Lake Placid is a 1999 horror-comedy film directed by Steve Miner and based on a script by David E. Kelley. It was produced by Fox 2000 Pictures and released theatrically in the United States on July 16th, 1999. The film features an all-star cast of characters brought together to hunt down and capture a thirty-foot crocodile that has been terrorzing people in the town of Black Lake, Maine. Bill Pullman plays Fish & Game representative Jack Wells who works alongside the cantankerous Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) as well as New York paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda). Rounding out the cast is eccentric crocodile guru, Hector Cyr (played by Oliver Platt) and a local woman named Delores Bickerman, played by Betty White.

Notes & Trivia

 * Lake Placid was released to DVD on January 11th, 2000 by 20th Century Fox.


 * Known in Japan as U.M.A/Lake Placid.


 * Despite its title, the actual location of Lake Placid does not appear in the film. The title is derived from a sarcastic comment that Brendan Gleeson's Sheriff Keough makes when asked about the Black Lake region. He says, "Yeah, we wanted to call it Lake Placid, but we heard that name was already taken."


 * This is the film that re-invented the onscreen persona of actress Betty White. White is best known for playing the sweet and loveable Rose Nylund on the television sit-com The Golden Girls. Following Lake Placid, White's more popular film and television appearances present her as a more acerbic and judgmental woman, with dialogue consisting of crude statements, sarcasm or profanity.


 * In the hospital scene, someone can be heard paging Mister Miner in the background. This unseen character is named after director Steve Miner.


 * Betty White's character, Delores Bickerman, is told that PETA would be interested to learn of her alleged mistreatment of her cows. In reality, Betty White is a major on-air spokesperson for PETA.