10 Critically Reviled Horror Movies (That Weren't Actually That Bad)

Okay, so this movie at least did as well as it deserved to when it debuted at the box office in 1999, earning back double its sizeable $30 million budget. But critics as prominent as Roger Ebert dismissed the killer croc thriller as “completely wrong-headed from beginning to end”, an opinion which has aged about as well as the beloved critic’s take on fellow nineties hit The Usual Suspects.

Starring an ensemble cast including Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, and Betty White as the croc’s kindly but foul-mouthed caretaker(!), the flick benefits from a snappy screenplay by Ally McBeal scribe David E Kelly. Lake Placid combines a surprisingly sweet romance, thoughtful discussions of environmentalism and animal rights, and great culture clash comedy with intense, gory monster action and plenty of impressive effects courtesy of Stan Winston.

Lake Placid sees Fonda’s high-maintenance palaeontologist clash with Pullman’s gruff Fish and Game officer, only for the pair to warm to one another over a background of prehistoric crocodile attacks whilst Gleeson’s stern deputy feuds with Platt’s eccentric conservationist. It’s a fun, silly good time, though the SyFy Channel sequels which bear no real relation to the original definitely deserve the ire heaped on them.