# Lake Placid vs. Anaconda
**Lake Placid vs. Anaconda** is a 2015 American made-for-television horror comedy that crosses over the *Lake Placid* giant-crocodile and *Anaconda* giant-snake franchises, following a sheriff's fight to destroy the two monsters before they destroy a Maine town. It premiered on Syfy on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 9 PM as the fifth film in each series.[1](https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3334596/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-premiering-april/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | Syfy, April 25, 2015, 9 PM[1](https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3334596/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-premiering-april/) |
| Franchise position | Fifth film in both the Lake Placid and Anaconda series[1](https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3334596/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-premiering-april/) |
| Director | A.B. Stone (Rotten Tomatoes lists Griff Furst)[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_placid_vs_anaconda) |
| Cast | Robert Englund as Jim Bickerman, Yancy Butler as Sheriff Reba, Corin Nemec as Will Tull[4](https://www.thetvdb.com/movies/lake-placid-vs-anaconda) |
| Runtime / rating | 92 minutes; TV-14 on Syfy, R-rated home video[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4497416/parentalguide/) |
| Home video | DVD released August 4, 2015 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; estimated US DVD sales $296,303[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda) |
| Audience score | IMDb 3.2/10 from about 4,500 votes[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-2015) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
In Black Lake, Maine, the poacher Jim Bickerman, survivor of the reptilian attack in *Lake Placid: The Final Chapter* (2012), works with a pharmaceutical company to capture a crocodile for cross-breeding experiments.[9](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/lake-placid-vs-anaconda/cast/2030221764/) Bickerman, working with the hired soldier Beach, takes a female giant crocodile into custody and hands it over to a pair of scientists, who blend its blood with blood drawn from a female giant anaconda; the crocodile then gets loose and sets the anacondas free, damaging part of the electric fence that contains the crocodiles in the lake.[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-2015) Sheriff Reba of Black Lake asks Fish and Wildlife officer Will Tull for help recapturing the animals, while a group of Delta Gamma sorority members arrives at nearby Clear Lake for initiation.[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-2015) Sony's own synopsis pitches the spectacle plainly: anacondas large enough to crush an SUV, crocodiles strong enough to leap onto speedboats, and a battle between mutated crocodiles and genetically engineered anacondas.[12](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/lakeplacidvsanaconda)
## Production
The crossover was announced in November 2013, when rights to both franchises had ended up at Sony and the plan was to combine them for a micro-budget feature shooting in early December in Bulgaria.[7](https://www.darkhorizons.com/they-are-making-a-lake-placid-vs-anaconda/) Both series had begun as theatrical films from different studios, Lake Placid at Fox in 1999 and Anaconda at Sony in 1997, before both properties became Sony direct-to-DVD titles and Syfy original premieres.[8](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/736137-lake-placid-and-anaconda-to-collide-for-versus-film) Each franchise had reached four entries, almost all of them direct-to-disc, before the merger.[7](https://www.darkhorizons.com/they-are-making-a-lake-placid-vs-anaconda/)
The film was produced by UFO Films with Curmudgeon Films and Syfy, written by Berkeley Anderson, and produced by Jeffrey Beach and Phillip J. Roth.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_placid_vs_anaconda) Credit for the director is split among sources: The Numbers, TV Guide, Crew United, and the German home-video listing all name A.B. Stone,[2](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda) • [9](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/lake-placid-vs-anaconda/cast/2030221764/) • [10](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda__209143.html) • [11](https://www.videobuster.de/dvd-bluray-verleih/201683/lake-placid-vs-anaconda) while Rotten Tomatoes lists Griff Furst.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_placid_vs_anaconda)
## Cast
[Robert Englund](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-englund), known for playing [Freddy Krueger](https://www.edgepedia.org/freddy-krueger) in *A Nightmare on Elm Street*, reprises his Jim Bickerman character from *Lake Placid: The Final Chapter* (2012).[1](https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3334596/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-premiering-april/) • [13](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/your-guide-to-all-six-movies-in-the-anaconda-franchise) [Yancy Butler](https://www.edgepedia.org/yancy-butler) plays Sheriff Reba and Corin Nemec plays Will Tull; the supporting cast includes Stephen Billington as Beach, Skye Lourie as Bethany, Annabel Wright as Sarah Murdoch, Oliver Walker as Deputy Ferguson, and Nigel Barber as the Mayor.[4](https://www.thetvdb.com/movies/lake-placid-vs-anaconda)
## Reception
The film drew poor reviews. Rotten Tomatoes records a Tomatometer of 14% from a single critic review and an audience Popcornmeter of over 100 ratings; the sole listed critic review, from Tim Brayton of Alternate Ending, gave it 2 out of 5, calling it a made-for-cable genre film that neither reaches the ceiling of what such a production could be nor falls into the basement.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_placid_vs_anaconda) Audience reviewers criticized the cheap-looking CGI and the brief, underwhelming climactic battle between the two creatures.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_placid_vs_anaconda) On IMDb it holds 3.2 out of 10 from about 4,500 votes.[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-2015) A Wicked Horror advance review found the quick pace a strength, with carnage within the first ten minutes, but called the all-CGI creatures one of the worst things in the movie.[14](https://www.wickedhorror.com/horror-reviews/advance-review-lake-placid-vs-anaconda-unrated/)
## Place in the two franchises
The crossover sits at the end of each franchise's television era. The original *Lake Placid* (1999), written by [David E. Kelley](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-e-kelley) and starring [Bridget Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/bridget-fonda), Bill Pullman, and [Oliver Platt](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-platt), grossed $34 million for Fox; Sony's *Anaconda* (1997), starring Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, and Eric Stoltz, made $65 million at the box office.[1](https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3334596/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-premiering-april/) After the crossover, the 2018 sequel *Lake Placid: Legacy* was made as a direct sequel to the 1999 original, disregarding the events of *Lake Placid vs. Anaconda*.[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-2015) The Anaconda franchise later continued with a 2024 Chinese remake and a 2025 meta comedy directed by Tom Gormican starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd.[15](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/action-movies/jack-black-and-paul-rudd-head-out-into-the-jungle-to-find-a-giant-killer-snake-in-meta-first-trailer-for-anaconda/)
## References
1. ['Lake Placid vs Anaconda' Premiering This April On Syfy, Bloody Disgusting (March 3, 2015)](https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3334596/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-premiering-april/)
2. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015), Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda)
3. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lake_placid_vs_anaconda)
4. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, TheTVDB.com](https://www.thetvdb.com/movies/lake-placid-vs-anaconda)
5. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (TV Movie 2015), Parents guide, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4497416/parentalguide/)
6. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015), NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lake-placid-vs-anaconda-2015)
7. [They Are Making A "Lake Placid vs. Anaconda", Dark Horizons (November 5, 2013)](https://www.darkhorizons.com/they-are-making-a-lake-placid-vs-anaconda/)
8. [Lake Placid and Anaconda to Collide for Versus Film, ComingSoon.net (November 4, 2013)](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/736137-lake-placid-and-anaconda-to-collide-for-versus-film)
9. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/lake-placid-vs-anaconda/cast/2030221764/)
10. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, Crew United](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Lake-Placid-vs-Anaconda__209143.html)
11. [Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, VIDEOBUSTER DVD listing](https://www.videobuster.de/dvd-bluray-verleih/201683/lake-placid-vs-anaconda)
12. [LAKE PLACID VS. ANACONDA, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/lakeplacidvsanaconda)
13. [Your Guide to All Six Movies in the Anaconda Franchise, SYFY WIRE (March 13, 2025)](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/your-guide-to-all-six-movies-in-the-anaconda-franchise)
14. [Lake Placid vs Anaconda (Unrated) [Advance Review], Wicked Horror (July 28, 2015)](https://www.wickedhorror.com/horror-reviews/advance-review-lake-placid-vs-anaconda-unrated/)
15. [Jack Black and Paul Rudd head out into the jungle to find a giant killer snake in meta first trailer for Anaconda, GamesRadar+ (September 17, 2025)](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/action-movies/jack-black-and-paul-rudd-head-out-into-the-jungle-to-find-a-giant-killer-snake-in-meta-first-trailer-for-anaconda/)
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