Lake Placid remains John Ottman's most tepid score -- absent the vivid arrangements and thematic development that are the hallmarks of most successful horror soundtracks, the music fails to generate much suspense, instead settling for dank atmospherics that successfully evoke the film's woodsy milieu but fail to supply the requisite thrills and chills. Despite tongue-in-cheek nods to previous "don't go near the water" scores like John Williams ' landmark Jaws , Lake Placid exhibits few of the elements that make creature-feature music work -- without a strong main theme for the man-eating crocodile, the pacing is off and the crescendos don't climax, and even the stabs at humor fall flat.