Piranha is the first flick in a series of low-budget B movies inspired by the Sielberg’s groundbreaking Jaws (1975), a seminal success for Universal and the director.
Grade: C+ (* 1/2* out of *****)
John Sayles (who would become a major indie director on his own) penned the script based on a story by hmself and Richard Robinson.
The film stars Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Steele, and Dick Miller, all decent character actors who slightly elevated the stature of this horro comedy.
It tells the story of a river being infested by lethal, genetically altered piranhas, threatening the lives of local inhabitants and visitors to nearby summer resort.
Initially, Universal had considered obtaining an injunction to prevent Piranha being released, particularly as they had released Jaws 2 the same summer, but the lawsuit was dropped after Spielberg himself gave the film a positive comment in advance.
Released on August 3, 1978, the film was a commercial success, followed by a sequel, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), and two remakes, one in 1995, the other in 2010, which spawned its own sequel in 2012.
The Characters:
Two teenagers find an abandoned military compound and skinny dip in a pool, but they are attacked and killed by unseen creatures.
Maggie McKeown, tasked with finding the missing teenagers near Lost River Lake, hires a backwoods drunkard, Paul Grogan, to guide her.
They find bizarre jarred specimens and evidence of occupant inside. The pair finds a skeleton in the pool filled with saltwater. The man awakens and steals their jeep, but crashes due to being disoriented and is taken to Paul’s home.
A military team led by Colonel Waxman and former Razorteeth scientist Dr. Mengers spread poison, ignoring protests that the piranha survived the first attempt.
The pair escapes, but Waxman alerts law enforcement to capture them while the piranhas attack the summer camp, injuring children and killing the camp counselor.
The pair returns to the resort, where Paul sinks into catatonic state. During a TV interview, Mengers altered the events and downplays the piranha’s existence.
Initially the film had been given a $900,000 budget, but Roger Corman slashed the budget by $200,000 in order to finance another picture, Avalanche.
Phil Tippett constructed 76 rubber piranhas and 4 with metal teeth for close-ups, while Chris Walas and Rob Short crafted the prosthetic limbs the piranhas tear into.
The proximity to Jaws 2 led Universal to consider an injunction, but Spielberg convinced them otherwise.
In 2010, as tie-in to the release of Shout! the remake, Factory re-released Piranha on DVD and Blu-ray.
Reviews were mixed to negative, with many pointng out the riculous plot, the abuse of women and children, and cheesey special effects, bit acknowledged the occasional screams and giggles, inside jokes for fans of horror, as if winkig at the audience, and suggesting that it should not be taken too seriously.
Despite the reviews, the cheap programmer grossed $14 million in the foreign box office, i.e. outside the US and Canada.
Cast
Bradford Dillman as Paul Grogan
Heather Menzies as Maggie McKeown
Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Robert Hoak
Keenan Wynn as Jack
Dick Miller as Buck Gardner
Barbara Steele as Dr. Mengers
Belinda Balaski as Betsy
Melody Thomas Scott as Laura Dickinson
Bruce Gordon as Colonel Waxman
Barry Brown as Trooper
Paul Bartel as Dumont
Shannon Collins as Suzie Grogan
Shawn Nelson as Whitney
Richard Deacon as Earl Lyon
John Sayles as Sentry
