Since Lake Placid was a financial success, it only made sense to make a sequel for it. However, none of the studios seemed to want to give the sequel a chance since the sequel to Anaconda did so poorly in the box office. Well, obviously the next choice is to go to the channel that would have no problem making and airing this movie, the SciFi Channel. Yes, 8 years after the original came out, SciFi Channel (back when they were still SciFi) aired this movie as one of their original movies during one of their Saturday movie-thons. So allow me to present today’s movie, Lake Placid 2.
The plot: Two ecologists, Frank and Tillman, are taking water samples on Black Lake in Maine when Tillman is dragged out of the boat and killed, with his arm and a foot the only body parts that Frank is able to save. Aroostook County Sheriff James Riley is called in and at first he thinks Frank is high but when he sees the remains, he realizes that the situation is serious. James goes to call Fish and Wildlife only to find out that they have already sent Emma Warner, someone that James used to have a romantic relationship with, and they decide to check out the lake. As they search the lake, Emma spots something in the water and dives in to retrieve what turns out to be Tillman’s head. James decides to go talk to Sadie Bickerman, who has moved into her sister’s house on the lake after her sister Delores went missing. First Emma, then James try to ask Sadie some questions but she refuses to answer and tells them to get off her property unless they have a warrant. On the other side of the lake, three backpackers (Mike, Edi, and Sharon) arrive at the lake and while Mike sets up the tents, Edi and Sharon go swimming in the lake but are attacked and killed by a crocodile, as is Mike when he goes to look for them. Meanwhile, Scott Riley, who is visiting his dad for the summer, goes walking around the woods near his dad’s house when he meets Kerri and Thad, and Kerri invites him to hang out with them at the lake. Back at Sadie’s house, Sadie is talking with a journalist out on her dock when she leaves and the journalist ends up being killed by a crocodile. Back on the lake, James, Emma, and Frank are still searching the lake when their boat is attacked by a crocodile and they are forced to swim to shore They manage to make it after a plane distracts the crocodile and they greet the pilot, a wanna be big game hunter named Jack Struthers and his assistant, Ahmad. Struthers and Ahmad were tipped off that there might be something to hunt up there but Emma, who has had a run-in with Struthers before, tells him they won’t be killing anything as they are going to try and capture it alive. Meanwhile, Scott, Kerri, and Thad, meet up with Larry and Rachel and finally reach the lake; with Kerri, Thad, and Larry going into the lake, Rachel choosing to lay out on the beach, and Scott deciding to go exploring, where he discovers a large nest. On the other side of the lake, James, Emma, Frank, and Dale (one of James’ deputies) set a trap but Struthers laughs about their using a turtle as bait and captures a wild pig to use instead. Emma and James try to free the pig but it winds up getting eaten by a crocodile. James manages to shoot it with a tranquilizer gun and Dale goes to tie it’s mouth shut but the crocodile recovers, eats Dale, and kills Frank before heading back into the lake. Scott goes back to the group to tell them about the nest and Kerri and Thad decide to go see it. While they are gone, a crocodile kills Rachel but Larry manages to get away. At the nest, they find some eggs and Thad breaks some of them before the mother crocodile shows up and kills him. At the lake, Ahmad attaches a harpoon gun onto the sheriffs boat and James steers it out onto the lake, while Struthers files overhead in his plane and Emma keeps track on sonar from shore. They manage to harpoon the crocodile but it manages to free itself and when Ahmad goes for a second shot, Struthers ends up flying his plane in the way and the harpoon embeds itself into the plane, causing both the boat and plane to be destroyed. The crocodile goes after Struthers but Ahmad manages to kill it with his machete. That night, a second crocodile enters their campsite and attacks Struthers in his tent but Ahmad saves him and ends up falling prey to the crocodile himself. After calling in to the station, James finds out that his son is camping on the lake and heads towards Sadies house to get some answers. After threatening to arrest her, she finally tells them that there are three crocodiles that she has been feeding beef that has been rejected by the FDA. They head back out to the lake and soon find the nest and while James continues to look for Scott and the others, Emma and Struthers begin to remove the eggs from the nest. Meanwhile, Scott and Kerri met up with Larry, and they are forced to climb up a tree to avoid being eaten by a crocodile but Larry falls out of the tree and is killed. Scott and Kerri try to make a run for it and they run into James, who kills another of the crocodiles. James takes the two kids to Sadie’s for safety and then heads back to meet with Emma and Struthers. When Kerri calls the crocodiles monsters, Sadie takes offense and tries to feed her to the crocodiles but Scott saves her and the crocodile eats Sadie instead. It then tries to eat the two kids but the make it back to the house and when they see two crocodiles swimming away, Scott realizes that there are 4 crocodiles instead of 3. Back at the nest, James, Emma, and Struthers set a trap for the crocodiles and when it hears the chirping from the eggs, it shows up and Emma manages to kill it with the machete. Thinking it is safe, James and Emma kiss but when Struthers falls out of the tree he is in, the last crocodile kills him. James tries to kill it but he misses and Scott saves him before the crocodile can kill him. James finally kills the last crocodile and after dropping Scott and Kerri off at his house, he and Emma take the eggs to the lab to be tested.
This could have been a lot worse but for a made for TV movie, it wasn’t bad. John Schneider and Cloris Leachman were probably the two best actors in the movie but nobody else really stood out. The plot was decent, picking up several years after the events of the first movie. One funny running gag throughout the movie was that some dramatic music would begin playing and suddenly, someone hears a noise and looks, only to see a small bunny rabbit made the noise. The last time it happened, John Schneider was the one to see it and says “I hate that wabbit”, even though it was the first time it happened to him. The special effects definitely were not as good as the previous movie, but that is due to the difference between a big budget movie and one that is made for TV. Not a bad movie to watch if you are bored, but don’t expect it to be as good as the original.
Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5
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