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Rating:  - Piranha (1978)
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Dick Miller, Barbara Steele, Belinda Balaski, Melody Thomas Scott, Bruce Gordon.
Running Time: 94 minutes
Rated R for violence, gore, language, and nudity.
Piranha" is a very engaging and often gross film, filled with tongue-in-cheek humor and very rich on cult aspects. Joe Dante's directing is sublime and John Sayles' screenplay ("Alligator", "The Howling") terrifically blends black parody with genuine chills and exciting action. The story is well set in a remote Texas area where the mad scientist Robert Hoak (good supportive role by Kevin McCarthy) is still working on a new secret weapon to use in the Vietnam War, even though it's already over. 'Operation Razorteeth' revolves on artificially bred piranhas that are able to survive in cold saltwater and they reproduce at a dazzling speed. When the perky investigator Maggie (Heather Menzies) and the estranged drunk Paul (Bradford Dillman) accidentally allow these finned flesh-eaters to escape in the local river, it's up to themselves again to save the nearby tourist attractions from the ravenous little monsters. That's certainly not an easy thing to achieve, considering the fact there are many corrupt politicians, businessmen and army commanders who attempt to cover the whole thing up.
"Piranha" is yet another fine example to demonstrate that the 70's were the most outrageous years for horror cinema. The witty script generally steals wholesale from Spielberg's "Jaws", but it's unscrupulous enough to add social mockery and even clean images of innocent children getting slaughtered. Throw in some extra sleaze, camp, absurd characters and stylish music and you've got yourself one of the very rare true American exploitation movies. Like it's pretty much the trademark of director Joe Dante ("The Howling", "Gremlins"), he stuffs his film with cinematic in-jokes and endless references towards other genre classics. The nasty little fishes devour their human victims in gruesome ways and what's left over isn't exactly pretty to look at. Bradford Dillman and Heather Menzies do well as the leads, but its supporting cast in particular that is worth naming. The "Roger Corman" regulars Dick Miller, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Bartel shine as the hypocrite and greedy Texans, but the casting choice that is the most appealing is Barbara Steele as the female scientist Dr. Menders. The pace of the film is good, and while the script shows some holes, the plot usually lasts out. It gets a bit hectic towards the end and Dante would have been better served with less carnage and more tension to give the movie a better finale. The effects are pretty much non-existent, as the movie just uses cuts of fish swimming and a bit of fake blood for most of it's shocks. Still, this is a very fun movie and one that people who enjoy a good time will enjoy.
Rating:  - Get out of the water!
Where would we be without the venerable Roger Corman? Lovers of B-movie madness would likely have a lot more time on their hands to read books, interact with family, or take part in generally otherwise fulfilling life experiences had old Rog chosen a different career path. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, Corman sat out in Hollywood for three or four decades making low budget exploitation films. He also tried to cash in on every movie fad in modern cinema. And I do mean EVERY fad. You see, Roger had a dream to take an idea and make a profitable picture out of it that would entertain the masses. The problem was that someone else invariably had the idea first. Thus Lucas's "Star Wars" allowed Corman to unleash "Battle Beyond the Stars" on an unsuspecting public. Car chase movies saw Roger replying with "Grand Theft Auto" and "Eat My Dust." I could go on and on. There wasn't anything Corman couldn't do with someone else's idea. Perhaps the best example is "Piranha," a 1978 ripoff of Spielberg's "Jaws." This film made our man a lot of money, which allowed him to make even more spectacular ripoffs for years to come.
The flick starts with a couple of kids breaking into some sort of rundown fish hatchery for an evening swim. Something in the water kills them. End of movie. Seriously, something rather nasty does do away with the two idiots. We then see an insurance investigator by the name of Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies on loan from Julie Andrews) heading out to discover what happened to these two dolts. She rather quickly hooks up with an embittered alcoholic with a penchant for flannel named Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman channeling Grizzly Adams) who lives in a cabin down by the river. Somehow or other Maggie convinces Paul to head over to the fish hatchery with her. Sure enough they discover that something sinister has been going on there under the aegis of Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy). How do we know this? Because there's lots of nasty looking scientific stuff lying around all over the place. Anyway, Hoak eventually lets our two heroes in on a little secret: the government paid him a bunch of money to create a breed of piranha as part of some weapons program. Personally, I'm for anything that keeps communists out of our swimming pools, lakes, and rivers.
While all this nonsense goes on we know the piranha have escaped from the hatchery (thanks Maggie and Paul!) and are preparing a full-scale assault on the human race. A few locals fall prey first, but the real threat is the summer camp and an aquatic park downriver. Just to ratchet up the emotional element of the film a bit, we also learn that Paul's daughter is currently attending the camp. Oh dear! It's a race against time as Paul and Maggie set out with the twitchy Dr. Hoak in tow to stop the madness. As for the folks at the camp and the park, they haven't a clue as to what's about to happen. The only concern at the camp is the fascistic machinations of Mr. Dumont (Paul Bartel), a guy who takes great joy in ordering kids into the water and snooping on the foxy female counselors. At the water park, the owner plans on making a bundle on opening day and couldn't care less if a battleship full of exposed nuclear waste sailed into harbor. You can pretty much guess what happens in the last part of the film. Screaming, blood in the water, and a lot of out of shape Americans in unflattering bathing suits thrashing around on the beach in agonies. Fun!
I don't know whether to laugh or cry with this one, folks. Lots of people adore this film, and I probably would to if I'd seen it as a wee lad. I didn't, and I'm not that impressed. The swarms of piranha zipping through the water look so like the pieces of plastic they are that it's tough not to snicker. It's even worse when we see them up close chattering away on an exposed leg or belly. We're definitely looking at cheesefest central on a buck and a half budget here. At the same time, I did find a lot to like about the film. Seeing veteran horror babe Barbara Steele popping up from time to time as a government scientist named Dr. Mengers was a nice surprise, although she's largely wasted in the role. Kevin McCarthy plays frazzled well, and the script requires him to morph into a sniveling wimp for most of his screen time. Heck, we even see Richard Deacon (Mel from "The Dick Van Dyke Show") in a small role as Maggie's boss. Can't beat that. The talent behind the camera is moderately impressive too considering the budget. Joe Dante directed this flick, and John Sayles wrote the script. Both men went on to greater success, Dante with "Gremlins" and Sayles with "Eight Men Out," "The Howling," and several other mainstream movies.
Extras on the disc include a commentary track, extra footage, bloopers, and a few other odds and ends. Corman apparently took this film, or at least a similar concept, to television in the mid-1990s. If so, I haven't seen that version and thus cannot make a comparison. If the remake, or retread, or whatever it is looks and sounds like this movie, more laughs await us. Corman continues to churn out pap at an alarming rate, and has even recently inked a deal with Disney that will release his entire catalogue on DVD and keep it in circulation until the sun burns out. I've dogged on Corman quite a bit, but I do appreciate his films. If nothing else they are entertaining, and this one definitely works most of the time.
Rating: - Don't pull the plug on this one!
Piranha is a well directed, fast paced, tongue in cheek, homage to Jaws. A young Joe Dante shows his directing talents, and Rob Bottin, (fx-effects-then only 17), shows his early talents too. Rob later went on to The Howling, The Thing, etc. a genius. Dante, directed The Howling, and Gremlins, both films have so many hidden tributes to other films I can't count them all. Now back to this film, based on the unprecedented success of Jaws, sooner or later ripoffs come. But this isn't a ripoff, characters differ hugely, unlike Grizzly(read my review), and humor is splattered throughout, where Jaws was in the whole, intensely serious. The effects are pretty darn convincing, you learn to actually relate with the characters, and hey, it's a Corman film, king of the B movies, and his best, hands down. This is a cult classic, remade identical for T.V. with William Katt, which sucked. Not a heck of a-lot of scares, but very fast paced and keeps ya glued to the screen. Looks great on DvD, the visuals are very bright and clear.....and that piranha sound is enough to leave you a little on edge. Enjoy the film, don't expect Pacino performances or awards, but instead, what a group of young, talented, dedicated, people set out to do, a fun film.
Rating:  - Great fun!
One of the directors that suffered through Roger Corman's shamelessly cheesy horror film school to make a break in Hollywood, Joe Dante has directed some scary and fantastic movies (The Howling, Gremlins etc) but in my opinion, PIRANHA is his best work. And this is Steven Spielberg's favourite JAWS ripoff, not bad for a film like this, and high praise for the genre. The music is just fantastic too, slowly creeping towards a full-blown finale. A moderate success when first released, this has become a cult classic perfect for over-the-top Saturday night fun. A must-have on DVD. Ignore James Cameron's dissapointing sequel and relish the original in all its feindishly warped glory.
Rating: - THE PIRANHAS ARE EATING THE GUESTS
A justifiable cult classic, PIRANHA boasts an impressive pedigree. Oscar nominated screenwriter John Sayles; director Joe Dante (Gremlins); and some fine character actors: Bradford Dillman, Keenan Wynn, Dick Miller, Paul Bartel, Barbara Steele. The attacks are vicious and quickly paced so you don't pay too much attention to the cheesy special effects. There's satire about the military as well. There are some good suspense sequences, and I almost forgot: Body Snatcher's Kevin McCarthy is on board as the misguided scientist. The best of the subsequent spinoffs, PIRANHA is a great little horror classic.
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