Roger Corman Cult Classics - Piranha

 

 

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this actually is not that bad a movie. it's a bit too melodramatic in parts for my taste.and those moments don't fit for me.but mostly it's intentionally cheesy, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.and on that level,it works.the acting actually is not that bad,from both the main character and the supporting players.the extras on the other hand,that,s a different story.i nearly died laughing at some of the death scenes.overall,the movie is fun,and it does get your adrenaline going.i don't think it's a movie that's meant to be taken seriously,and if you approach as a serious piece of work,you will be disappointed.for me,Piranha (1978) is a 3/5

Somewhere in a Texas hillside in an abandoned Army testing facility long after the Vietnam War, a lone scientist named Dr. Hoak (Kevin McCarthy) continues his genetic research on a school of mutant killer piranha. Nobody knows of the whacked out scientist's existence or the mutant piranha until some hikers go missing and a rookie detective named Maggie (Heather Menzies) stumbles across their gear at the abandoned facility. Maggie believes that the hikers went missing there, so she enlists the help of an unlikely hero in the form of local town drunk and recluse Paul Grogan; played by veteran character actor Bradford Dillman to help her search for them.

After Maggie foolishly drains the military containment pool in an effort to find the missing hikers, the two of them quickly discover the facilities deadly secret has escaped and it becomes a race against time to save the unsuspecting residents down river; including a kid's summer camp and the waterfront amusement park of Lost River Lake. Can Maggie and Grogan reach the summer camp and amusement park in time to save everyone? Can they stop the Piranha from reaching the ocean? Is there anything that can kill the Piranha? You'll have to buy your own copy to find out.

In the 1975 underwater classic "Jaws" Roy Scheider shouted "you're going to need a bigger boat" and in 1978's "Piranha" we heard the classic line "Sir, the piranha are eating the guests". Trying to capitalize on the success of Jaws from three years earlier, Roger Corman produced a little B-movie gem called "Piranha" in 1978; it was scripted by John Sayles and directed by Joe Dante. While "Piranha" never quite reached the status of "Jaws" it did provide B-movie fans with enough blood and gore to satisfy them and it quickly became a classic in its own right.

Fans will be very pleased with the new 2010 DVD release of "Piranha" from Shout Factory. The new video transfer used by Shout factory is the best I've ever seen. Not only does this movie look great, it sounds great. This new DVD version from Shout contains numerous special features and I enjoyed all of them. The disc packaging and disc artwork is well done; even the slip cover is reversible. This is another great addition under the "Roger Corman's Cult Classics Collection" from Shout Factory.

Cast:
Bradford Dillman (Paul Grogan)
Heather Menzies ( Maggie McKeown)
Kevin McCarthy (Dr. Robert Hoak)
Dick Miller (Buck Gardner)
Barbara Steele (Dr Mengers)
Belinda Balaski (Betsy)
Melody Thomas Scott (Laura Dickinson)
Paul Bartel (Mr. Dumont)

DVD Special Features:

- New Anamorphic Widescreen Version (1.85:1)
- Audio Commentary With Director Joe Dante and Producer Jon Davison
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage
- The Making of Piranha Featurette:New Interviews From Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Dick Miller, Belinda Balaski
- Bloopers and Outtakes
- Piranha Trailer With Commentary by Producer Jon Davison: Courtesy of Trailers From Hell
- Stills Gallery With Photos and Posters From Around the World
- Behind-the-Scenes Stills Gallery Featuring Photos From Phil Tippetts Personal Collection
- Additional Scenes From the Network Television Version
- Radio and TV Spots
- New World Trailers

Jaws (1975) frightened a whole generation of people out of the water. Why? Because of the very real elements within the film, being that there are sharks in the oceans, and occasionally they do attack people. Do they ever get as large as the one in the film? Possibly...regardless, the fear was real enough...fast forward to 1978...prolific B movie director/producer Roger Corman, in an effort to capitalize on the immense popularity of the film Jaws, released Piranha, directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, Innerspace, The 'burbs) and written by John Sayles (The Howling, Wild Thing), which, while didn't elicit the response anywhere near that of the film it borrows from, still provides us with a great deal of entertainment (genetically altered super fish just didn't come across with the same level of realism as a giant man-eating shark).

The film stars Branford Dillman, who, along with his extensive television credits, appeared in scores of films like Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and The Swarm (1978), to name a couple. Also starring is Heather Menzies, who appeared in films like The Sound of Music (1965), SSSSSSS (1973), along with various television shows throughout the 70's. Rounding out the cast are Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Paul Bartel, Barbara Steele (Caged Heat and Shivers), Melody Thomas Scott, and character actors Dick Miller and Keenan Wynn.

The film opens at night with two victims, er...I mean backpackers in a hilly area (somewhere in Texas, as we find out later), who happen to come across a seemingly deserted facility surrounded by a large fence, and signage stating 'Military Testing Facility' and 'Keep Out' (it seemed pretty clear to me, as I could read it, but these two knuckleheads completely missed it, bringing to mind the old adage, 'if it was a snake, it would have bit you'). Anyway, lunkhead number one and lunkhead number two, looking for a place to camp for the night, decide this looks promising, and make their way past the fence to find a large, in-ground cement pool. Do you think it contains piranha? And do you also think said piranha are hungry? I do, on both counts, especially given that it's the title of the film. Anyway, they decide to go swimming and quickly discover the pool contains more than water. We also learn the facility isn't entirely deserted...

Apparently someone cares about these two now missing backpackers, enough so to hire private investigator Maggie McKeown (Menzies) to look for them. While initiating her search in the general area, she find a shack occupied by Paul Grogan (Dillman), a divorced, reclusive, mass alcohol consuming (every five minutes he's swilling from a canteen, but never actually seems to get drunk) outdoorsman type, who she basically enlists to aid her, despite his protests, in her search. They find the deserted military facility, which was once some sort of breeding farm for fish, and decide to drain the large pool in hopes of finding clues. As they throw the switch, they get attacked by a wily old man (his name is Dr. Robert Hoak, played by McCarthy) as he freaks out learning that the fish have been released into the river system. The manage to subdue him, and he speaks of his experiments, specifically his genetic experiments for the military in creating a super breed of piranha, meant for use during the Vietnam conflict, but since the war ended, the program was terminated, but apparently no one told Dr. Hoak. So now the highly aggressive and carnivorous super fish are in the local river system. And they're hungry...and breeding...

For a B movie, this tends to one of the better ones I've seen. Even here you can see that Dante has talent in directing, despite what I am sure was probably an extremely tight shooting schedule (Corman always kept this aspect tight). Sayles provides a better than average script for this type of outing, and the actors present enjoyable performances. I do tire of the whole 'government and/or big business conspiracy' cliché that is so often used in films of any type to move the plot along, as it tends to indicate a lack of imagination (just look at some Steven Segal movies, specifically On Deadly Ground (1994) and The Patriot (1998), for a couple of examples). I especially liked the scenes with Keenan Wynn speaking of how much the river gives him, and also the scenes with Dick Miller, who plays the sleazy real estate agent and proprietor of Aquarena, an entertainment water park that recently opened along the river. He's got one of the more memorable scenes in the film when his assistant approaches him about piranha in the waters, and he asks, "What about the godd@mn piranha?!", to which the assistant replies, "The piranha...they're EATING the guests, sir". Paul Bartel also makes a great appearance as an uptight director of a summer camp located on the river (do you think a big part of their program involves swimming?). The special effects are quite good (no CGI work here) and there is a good helping of blood and underwater scenes with the fish tearing flesh off hapless victims.

Presented here is an excellent looking full screen print (Dante claims this is the original aspect ratio of the film, but the titles appear to be in wide screen format). Special features here are copious, including a commentary track by director Dante and producer Jon Davidson, original theatrical trailer, a blooper reel, a short 'Making of' documentary, cast biographies, a reproduction of the original Theatrical Marketing Guide, an eight page booklet titled 'The History of Roger Corman, and trailers for some of Corman's other films including Grand Theft Auto (1977) and Humanoids from the Deep (1980), among others. If I learned anything from Piranha, it's that if you are warn authorities about mutant piranha loose in a populated waterway, you're better off crying toxic waste, as they not apt to believe the piranha thing.

Cookieman108

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5.0 out of 5 stars Low-budget trash 'B' movie mayhem!
I love these kinds of movies, especially whenever they turn out to be low-budget 'B' movies from the 70s-80s genre. Read more

Published on Jun 14 2004 by Blade

3.0 out of 5 stars silly but enjoyable movie that brings back memories for me
I used to love this movie when I was little. One of the things that fascinated me most about it was that it was filmed in San Marcos, Texas, at a riverside resort called Aquarena... Read more

Published on Mar 22 2004 by Steve J

4.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorite cult horror films!
As a kid growing up on all the classic monster films on TV, this low-budget Roger Corman creature feature was always one of my favorites. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2004 by Crazy Jim

4.0 out of 5 stars Lost River is Lost No More
First I read the book. Then I saw the video. Now I have the DVD. Why? Because this is an above average B-movie. Read more

Published on Jan 30 2004 by Joshua Koppel

3.0 out of 5 stars piranHAHA
what is this, jurassic park? what's with those little dinosaur things??

Published on Sep 23 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars bzuzzuuxuzuuuzuzuuzzuzuxuzzzzuzzzzzuzzzzzz...
the best part of this movie is the ominous buzzing sound made by the pirahnas when they attack! yummy.

Published on July 23 2003 by theodosya

4.0 out of 5 stars Piranha has Bite
After the smashing success of "Jaws", B-movie producer Roger Corman delivers plenty of blood and gore in the Sci-Fi thriller "Piranha". Read more

Published on Aug 12 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars a great bloody flick
I don't know why people think this is silly while i thought it was pretty good, i bought it on dvd and i liked it very much, if you like to watch movies with a lot of blood than... Read more

Published on Jun 22 2002 by Nicholas F. Dandrea

4.0 out of 5 stars "THE PIRANHAS, THEY'RE EATING THE GUESTS, SIR..."
I LOVE THIS MOVIE. IT MANAGES TO HAVE A FEW SCARY MOMENTS WHILE LOADING UP THE CHEESE. THERE ARE SO MANY FUNNY LINES IN THIS MOVIE, AND WE CAN'T FORGET THE MAN WHO HOLDS HIS... Read more

Published on Jan 31 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, SOME of the Piranha scenes looked okay, I guess
Yes, I know John Sayles wrote this, and there ARE some good moments both in the action and characterization areas, but in the end, I'm afraid "Piranha" isn't a very good... Read more

Published on Dec 4 2001 by Joseph P. Menta, Jr.

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