When I was a kid, my grandpa used to tease me by talking about “crocogators,” some sort of fictional creatures he made up, an obvious amalgam of a crocodile and an alligator. Seeing how lucrative the crocodilian species has become for Syfy and its Saturday night original movie franchise, maybe I shouldn’t have forgotten those stories so easily. Perhaps I should yet whip out a screenplay and turn Crocogator into the next hit Syfy movie franchise (by the way, Syfy, don’t get any ideas).
As it is, the network is continuing its most successful crocodile horror franchise tonight, with Lake Placid The Final Chapter, premiering at 9pm ET. Of course, any time a movie franchise puts “The Final Chapter” in one of its titles, knowing movie fans usually giggle, roll their eyes, and say, “Sure,” especially those of us old enough to recall seeing 1984’s Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter — and then seeing Jason continue his slashing for 20 more years.
But for what it’s worth, that’s the title of this fourth and latest installment in the Placid franchise, whose ratings have been anything but flaccid. The franchise actually started life as a 1999 theatrical film (which may have been partly responsible for Betty White’s career resurrection, as she played a fan-favorite, foul-mouthed character). In the sequels since, other actors have played members of the Bickerman clan that Betty White’s character was a part of. In Lake Placid 2, Cloris Leachman played Sadie Bickerman; in Lake Placid 3, Colin Ferguson played Nathan Bickerman. And now, in Lake Placid The Final Chapter, horror legend Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) stars as the latest member of the Bickerman family to tackle a monster crocodile.
In Lake Placid The Final Chapter, Englund plays Jim Bickerman, a poacher looking to score a big break on hides and eggs from those rare crocs in Black Lake. Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order) and Yancy Butler also star, as once again, of course, attempts to contain the crocs fail, and the monsters go on a rampage.
Par for the course for a Syfy original. And all the more reason for me to get going on Crocogator — The Movie!
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© 2012 Syfy Media, LLC
