Lake Placid

This is a bouillabaisse of aquatic exploitation pics. Indeed, so similar is the opening scene to Jaws, you'll wonder whether it's homage, spoof or rip off. Stylistically, it's all three. Scriptwise, it's almost up there with the likes of Piranha, Alligator and Tremors. Something strange lurks beneath the surface of a Maine lake - how else could a law enforcer have been bitten in half, with only his big toe left as evidence? The culprit, it transpires, is a giant Asian croc. Before long a group of interested parties - Pullman's fussy game warden; sheriff Gleeson; wealthy slouch Platt; Fonda's nature-hating paleontologist - are on the case, falling over each other's feet and exchanging wonderfully cutting and often deadpan dialogue. Platt and Gleeson get most of the best lines, along with local dear Mrs Delores Bickerman (White), whose obscenities recall the Zucker brothers at their peak. If you don't find something to laugh about here, you've clearly stumbled into the wrong movie. As for the effects, they veer from the genuinely impressive - ever seen a crocodile eat a bear? - to the jerky and poorly rendered, as in the overblown finale.