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Lake Placid 2 is directed by David Flores and stars
John Schneider, Sam McMurray, Sarah Lafleur, Chad Collins,
Joe Holt, Alicia Ziegler, and Cloris Leachman. The film
follows a community in Maine, in which the local sheriff
(Schneider) discovers numerous locals have been vanishing.
Rumors of attacks by giant crocodiles in the lake have been
circulating, so he teams up with a wildlife agent (Lafleur)
and a hunter (McMurray) to investigate these rumors and
disappearances. ***
Hands down this is one of the worst films I have ever
seen Ever. More or less, this is the exact same movie we
saw the first time around - with downgrades in nearly every
department. Special effects, acting, direction, writing
- it's a film that doesn't succeed in a single area. It's
rare a film falls flat in every field of its creation, but
this one certainly does. Even at the short length of 70
minutes, it still feels excessive. ***
In addition to more-or-less rehashing the plot of the
original movie, the writers have created characters who
are stereotypes. The main cast here involves a policeman,
a specialist, and a hunter…. Sound familiar? In addition
to ripping off the cast from Jaws, the film even rehashes
the “from the predator's point-of-view” camera angles revolutionized
by that film. I won't lie - this isn't the only film out
there that has ripped off Jaws. But it's rarely this blatant
and obvious. ---
Image and Sound:
Despite the film being one of the worst ever, the DVD
transfer isn't half bad. The picture looks great, if you
can ignore the horrid special effects. Additionally, it's
presented in anamorphic widescreen. Sound quality doesn't
quite fare as well as the visuals - the audio just seems
to be of inconsistent throughout the movie, often fluctuating
between loud and soft at random, for no apparent reason.
It gets annoying when the scenes intended to be loud are
quiet, and vice versa. In other words, good picture quality,
weak audio.
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| Special
Features: |
Sadly, not much to speak of on here. The “making of”
and “crocodile survival” featurettes are ridiculously short
and lack any real substance. The alternate “gnawed up” version
of the movie is, basically, an option to watch the entire
movie in fast forward mode - but with it playing out at
normal speed during any particular scene that has violence
or nudity - and at times other random points. I'm not sure
what possessed the filmmakers to put this on the DVD, but
at least it's an alternative to sitting through the seventy-minute
feature. Also, the DVD is unrated and features content not
found in the TV airing. But as a whole the extras are minimal
and unfulfilling. ***
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