Leofwine_draca
LAKE PLACID: THE FINAL CHAPTER is another silly and sloppy monster flick made by the SyFy Channel. It's the fourth in the series and the last to date, I think; at least I hope so, because the quality has significantly dropped over the instalments (although I never did like the original's jokey tone to begin with). An aged Yancy Butler returns from part three as a tough-talking warden hunting for killer alligators, and various B-characters get involved in the plot which mainly consists of them running around and getting chomped one by one. The story is a mix of bits and pieces from here and there, with references to JURASSIC PARK 3 at one point. The CGI, in terms of both monsters and gore, is very poor indeed, on the level of a '90s computer game. The only enjoyment I got out of this were the presence of actors Robert Englund (reliably grouchy) and Paul Nicholls, a British actor formerly of EASTENDERS, fairly convincing as an all-American hero.
Wuchak
Released to TV in 2012 and directed by Don Michael Paul, "Lake Placid: The Final Chapter" chronicles events at the crocagator-infested Black Lake, Maine, after the entire lake has been fenced-off with a huge electric fence. Things go awry when a bus containing the Marshfield High swim team accidentally goes to Black Lake instead of Clear Lake. Elisabeth Röhm plays the sheriff, Poppy Lee Friar her daughter, the heroine-by-accident, and Yancy Butler the sassy & droll game warden. Paul Nicholls plays the sheriff's beau and Benedict Smith his son, the latter seeming to have a thing for the heroine. Robert Englund is also on hand as a greedy poacher. This is the fourth movie in the Lake Placid series and it's about on par with the original 1999 flick, as far as story goes, but it lacks that one's production values. The film features an interesting group of females in the cast, but they're sub-par compared to the previous two installments, although Röhm (the sheriff) and Scarlett Byrne (Brittany) are worthy. As the third sequel hindered by a TV budget it's a throwaway horror flick, but it's generally entertaining for what it is, part serious, part amusing and part campy. It surprisingly even tries to throw in a couple of reverent, moving moments. The film runs 86 minutes and was shot in the sticks outside Sofia, Bulgaria.GRADE: C
Uriah43
In order to keep the unique crocodiles away from the nearby town the Army Corps of Engineers has built an electric fence all around the lake to contain them. However, this doesn't deter a crazy poacher by the name of "Jim Bickerman" (Robert Englund) from assembling a small crew of men and then sneaking past the guard at one of the gates to get inside the containment area. Sure enough, he and his men soon find their dangerous prey—or should I say their dangerous prey finds them? Meanwhile, due to the carelessness of the guard the gate is accidentally left open and a bus en route to another nearby lake accidentally takes a wrong turn. Once again the crocodiles are more than happy to meet their acquaintance. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film pretty much followed the same standard format as its predecessors and subsequently suffered as a result. The by-the-numbers plot lacked suspense and the animation was pretty much hit-or-miss as well. As a matter of fact, about the only good thing about this movie was the presence of Elisabeth Rohm (as "Sheriff Giove) but even then her performance was enough to bring this movie up to a respectable level. As such I have rated this movie accordingly. Below average.
Michael_Elliott
Lake Placid: The Final Chapter (2012) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Lake Placid still has a croc problem but it's apparently safer now that the government has put up a huge electric fence around the lake. The only problem is that a group of teens are on a field trip and end up behind the fence so a group has to go in after them. Also within the gate is a poacher (Robert Englund) needing some baby croc eggs to sell. LAKE PLACID: THE FINAL CHAPTER is a major improvement over the last two installments and for a SyFy production it's actually very well made. I was really shocked to see the film rebound so well and especially after the previous film, which was just downright horrid on all levels. I thought this film offered up plenty of a fun, a decent story and several characters that you could actually root for, which is rare for this type of film. Horror fans are certainly going to love the kills in this because they're rather graphic and extremely gory for a TV movie. We're given quite a few croc attacks including one poor guy who gets his junk bitten off. Another memorable scene has a young woman hanging upside down and the aftermath isn't all that pretty. The story itself has one major logical problem after another but do we really need to be thinking during a film like this? For the most part I thought we had some pretty good characters to root for with the main focus being on a Sheriff (Elisabeth Rohm) and her teen daughter (Poppy Lee Friar). Both characters are ones you enjoy but both actresses also deliver fine performances. Yancy Butler returns from the previous film and manages to get across a few good jokes and even Englund is good here. The fourth film in the Friday THE 13TH series had "The Final Chapter" added to it and I'm going to make a prediction that this series keeps on moving just like it.
AD
