WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? Multiple Emmy award-winning writer David E. Kelley makes his second go at the big screen with this horror comedy bearing more than a slight resemblance to Alligator.

THE CAST

BRIDGET FONDA: You may remember her as Robert DeNiro's stoned companion in Jackie Brown, or a near-victim of Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female. Other credits include Singles and Point of No Return.

BILL PULLMAN: You may remember him as the President of the United States in Independence Day, the oh-so-hunky Lone Starr in Spaceballs or Fred Madison in Lost Highway. Other credits include The Serpent and the Rainbow and While You Were Sleeping.

OLIVER PLATT: You may remember as Ben Goodrich from Simon Birch, and also from small roles in such films as Bulworth, Dangerous Beauty, A Time to Kill and Dr. Dolittle.

BETTY WHITE: Yeaaah, baby! Super bad-ass mofo Betty White is back! Any hard-core Golden Girls fan knows and worships Betty from her role as Rose Nyland, undoubtedly the coolest Golden Girl ever, regardless what you Sophia-loving freaks say. In Lake Placid, Betty will be playing the esteemed role of Mrs. Bickerman.

THE CREW

DAVID E. KELLEY: As executive producer and writer for such shows as The Practice, Ally McBeal and Picket Fences, screenwriter Kelley has managed to create consistently original, quality television, often successfully balancing more than one series at a time. His sole movie credit, To Gillian On Her 36th Birthday, is more than a bit lacking by comparison. Still, Kelley's credits overall are impressive and encouraging, especially compared to Lake Placid's director.

STEVE MINER: A runner-up to Akiva Goldsman in the genre-man-who-would-be-Satan awards, director Miner has long terrorized audiences for all the wrong reasons. His credits include more installments of Friday the Thirteenth than one would care to remember, the ultra let-down of a sequel Halloween: H20, and that epitome of primordial terror, Dawson's Creek.

STAN WINSTON: The man who created Lake Placid's monster seems to have been baptized in the cinematic fountain of cool. FX master Winston and his company, Stan Winston Studio, have created some of the most memorable makeup and FX in movie history, including those from Aliens, Terminator 1 and 2, Edward Scissorhands, Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

OTHER

Lake Placid is produced by Kelley's company, Rocking Chair Pictures, and Phoenix Pictures, and will be distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was produced by Peter Bogart, David E. Kelley and Michael Pressman.

THE PREMISE: After investigating a series of small-town murders in Mane, Pullman and Fonda come to the conclusion that the culprit is a 35-foot crocodile. Mischief and mayhem ensue.

• You'd think the market on mildly comedic horror films about evil alligators stalking an innocent populace would have been cornered by the 1980 John Sayles film Alligator, but apparently not. There are also some concerns about this film's release date -- a mere two weeks before Deep Blue Sea, a film with bearing both bigger monsters and budget.