‘This trip may tear them apart’
Lake Placid: Legacy is a 2018 American made-for-television horror film directed by Darrell Roodt (The Lullaby; Prey [2007]; Dracula 3000) from a screenplay by Johnathon Lloyd Walker based on a storyline by Jeremy Smith and Matt Venables.
The movie stars Katherine Barrell (Definition of Fear; The Scarehouse; Poe), Tim Rozon, Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix; The Final Terror) and Luke Newton.
Plot:
Taking place several years after the events of the original Lake Placid, a team of young ecological campaigners set out to reveal the secrets of an area removed from modern-day maps and hidden behind electric fences.
However, once they reach the middle of the lake, the explorers discover an island that harbours an abandoned facility with a horrific legacy: the island is home to a deadly predator eager to feast on those stupid enough to ignore the warnings…
Reviews:
” …it seems like the big thing we’re meant to experience with Legacy is a killer animal thriller that’s wholly devoid of any frivolous entertainment, and does everything in its power to avoid showing us its 50-foot crocodile to make sure of that. Given the terrible CGI – comfortably the worst this franchise has seen – that’s probably for the best…” Alternate Ending
” …really could have done with showing us the crocodile just a tad bit more than it does, especially since hardly seeing it also means that almost all of the death scenes are off-screen, which is kind of annoying since inventive gory death scenes are supposed to be the bread and butter of movies like this.” The B-Movie Shelf
“What lets the film down is mainly its characters who are all pretty unlikeable and when our big croc does turn up you are actually on his side rather than theirs. Sadly as expected the computer-generated crocodile is woeful and seems to change size regularly throughout…” Bloody Flicks
” …far from a good legacy of the original with its lame plot, poor acting, and truly dreadful CGI effects, which make the giant croc look awfully cartoonish and not even remotely frightful, but at least the isolated, uninhabited location is effective, and a few of the attacks are gruesome enough to make the guts-n-gore fans happy.” CineMarvellous
” …this is a through-and-through horror/thriller, with the all the attractive young people getting torn to pieces that the genre demands. However, it is not exactly schlock – the production values and general effort that went into this film far supersede others of a similar style and intent, and the film is all the better for it.” Cryptic Rock
” …compensates for the scarcity of murderous monster mayhem with alternative opportunities for action. Lake Placid: Legacy hits it runtime quota by padding itself with scenes like rappelling down a subterranean shaft, swimming through flooded tunnels, futzing with communications equipment, and other contrived methods of dividing characters into increasingly smaller groups for subplot separation.” Culture Crypt
“While it has a few minor flaws to be had here, this one maintains enough solid and likeable elements that it has some worthwhile moments here despite somewhat offering a few minor points. Give this one a look if you’ve been burned by the past entries and want a more relatable genre effort…” Don’s World of Horror and Exploitation
“Sadly, Legacy‘s tone is utterly cheerless and po-faced, with a ham-fisted “Aren’t corporations just so bad?” theme that sucks the joy out of watching a giant caiman trying its best to chow down on a posse of hippies. Similarly, there is no real craft or guile to any of the kills, making for an instantly forgettable viewing experience…” Geek Ireland
“The featured cast is almost as dull as the lifeless story. Previous Lake Placid films have had a bit of humor, but this is a mirthless affair. Craig Stein’s Spencer is probably meant to be comic relief, but his loud-mouthed complaining is a painful chore to sit through. Use of the word “placid” was always ironic, but in this case, it should be called “Lake Insipid.” J.B. Spins
“Lake Placid: Legacy is fine as far as nature run amok movies of this type go. I wasn’t all that interested in what was going on, but I was never overly impressed by the Lake Placid movies to begin with and I have certainly seen a lot worse than this. Though it runs a bit long at 93 minutes, it provides some mild entertainment…” Life Between Frames
“The dialogue is bland and not a single line stands out as memorable, so not even banter or one-liners provide bursts of fun and escape from the never-ending void of Lake Placid: Legacy. No craziness. Some wild lines, colorful characters, inventive kills, or any kind of effort to entertain could have worked wonders here, but no such luck with any of those elements.” Marc Fusion
” …Lake Placid: Legacy is simply a bad movie. Inadequate acting, a ridiculous storyline and a monster that barely comes into the picture. And when it does, it looks terrible. In short, I hope they aren’t planning to make another sequel.” Movie Freak
” …as a monster-crocodile-chomping-through-the film’s-cast-list kind of film it actually delivers the goods. It’s straightforward, to the point, reasonably made, offers nothing new but still manages to engage as a bit of fun fluff.” My Bloody Reviews
“The biggest setback of this movie, besides the writing, was the acting and the characters featured. There is literally not one likeable character throughout the whole film and even though I love me some Joe Pantoliano, even his cameo couldn’t save this dumpster fire of a film […] Along with the cringe-worthy acting, there was the ridiculous use of CGI on the crocodile.” Nightmarish Conjurings
“Pantoliano was always good for a supporting character actor in bigger budget films but his role here just smacks of desperately needing a payday – he’s there purely to explain the existence of the crocodile and that’s it. The bunch of annoying millennials who make up the rest of the characters are just as pointless and interchangeable.” Popcorn Pictures
” …Lake Placid: Legacy never rises beyond its SyFy Original roots despite its best efforts. It’s still totally and completely what it is and I feel like the only issue with that is that it so clearly doesn’t want to be. Had the film embraced its inherent cheesiness, I’m not sure it would be any better, but it would definitely be more fun.” Wicked Horror
Clip:
Lake Placid movies timeline:
Release:
The sixth entry in the Lake Placid film series, the movie premiered on the Syfy channel on May 28, 2018. It was released on Digital and DVD on September 4, 2018, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Cast and characters:
Katherine Barrell … Jade
Tim Rozon … Sam
Sai Bennett … Alice
Luke Newton … Billy
Craig Stein … Spencer
Joe Pantoliano … Henderson
Alisha Bailey … Pennie
Maxim Baldry … Dane
Greg Kriek … Travis
Gavin Lee Gomes … Gomez
Production and filming location:
Principal photography was shot in South Africa in December 2017.
Technical details:
1 hour 33 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Audio: Dolby
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