Producer Roger Corman rarely misses an opportunity to ride on the tide of success of a major film release. Back in the mid-Seventies though Corman and his New World Pictures somehow missed the boat first time around when it came to cashing in on the original summer blockbuster that was Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Fortunately for Corman opportunity came a-knocking again when Universal Pictures announced that they were to tap into the rich vein left bleeding by Spielberg’s classic priming the sequel Jaws 2 for release in 1978.
Universal Studios were not best pleased to hear that their sequel’s time ruling the box office maybe slighted by Corman’s rip-off/cash-in Piranha and began legal proceedings to sue New World Pictures accordingly. However any publicity is good publicity though, even if it might mean being sued by a major film studio and Corman’s measly-budgeted flick (estimated at between $600,000 and $770,000) and shot in just thirty days went on to become one of New Line Pictures’ biggest hits. With ten million dollars taken at the worldwide box office and achieving cult status on the rental/retail market Piranha exceeded all expectations.
The Universal Studios lawsuit was dropped and Joe Dante’s Piranha so impressed a certain Mr Spielberg that he later offered Dante the directing gig on his production Gremlins which again mixed black humour with a savage violence that wasn’t afraid to see kids getting a raw deal from the title characters.
As for the franchise there was the inevitable sequel which dared to take our razor-toothed fishies and make them flying killers in the so awful its good Piranha Part Two: The Spawning directed by none other than future self-proclaimed King of the World James Cameron. And then much later a remake for Showtime Television in 1995 followed by a higher profile rethink in 2010 courtesy of Switchblade Romance’s Alexander Aja that delivered on the ample tits and gore but otherwise followed a more conventional plot arc. The less said about Piranha 3DD the better that forgot to be entertaining trash rather than just trash – throughout Dante’s original remains the one to dip into for repeated viewing pleasure.
When a back-packing teenage couple go missing near Lost River Lake insurance investigator Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) is hired to track them down. To assist in her search Maggie enlists the assistance of grumpy hard-drinking local Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman), as her guide. Starting at what is believed to be an abandoned military installation they find that it not quite so abandoned after all.
With a back-pack found screaming out as proof that the missing teenagers had been at the location Maggie digs further by draining a huge tank on the premises in the hope of finding their bodies. In doing so Maggie inadvertently unleashes a strain of piranha engineered to cope in both cold and salt water and that have enough savvy to find their way to the ocean via the river and streams where they can truly run amok.
They are attacked by Doctor Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy) prior to Maggie draining the tank. Hoak panics, steals their Jeep and overturns it. When he comes to he is with Maggie and Paul on a home-made raft heading down the river. Hoak tells them both about the strain of piranha Maggie has released into the river engineered to aid during the Vietnam War and although the project was shut down some of the piranha survived and their initial scepticism about the genetically altered fishies is soon put to rest when they find the bloodied corpse down river of Grogan’s buddy Jack (Keenan Wynn). Grogan susses that if the local dam in opened that the school that the piranha will have full access to a local tourist trap and a summer camp, where his daughter is having a miserable time, and it becomes a race down river and against time to ensure that the piranha are stopped.
Producer Roger Corman’s output is generally variable however with a decent script from John Sayles and Dante calling the shots behind the camera Piranha is no Killerfish or Orca: Killer Whale – it’s a deliciously witty and vicious slice of B-movie nirvana. Self-aware, winking at the viewer, knowing it is formulaic and not giving a crap. From the start it’s letting the viewer know ‘yes we are cashing in on the Spielberg film’ by having Maggie play a Jaws arcade game.
Special effects gurus Rob Bottin and Phil Tippett are responsible for the make-up effects and effects work respectively. Given the limited funds at their disposal it’s not surprising that the special effects are relatively primitive and hugely dated. Where the limited funds available work in their favour is by having the piranhas as rubber puppets on sticks that are waved at the victims to give the impression of savagely attacking them adhering to Corman’s missive to go for smaller fishes and lots more blood. The blurry shots of multiple fish – quickly inter-cut as they attack – are, more often than not, convincing in their abruptness. The piranha attacks are frenzied and vicious and still pack a punch especially when it’s children that are getting the razor-toothed nibble treatment.
Pino Donaggio’s score is another plus for Dante’s B-movie hit. Donaggio had been responsible for the heartache, throb and sadness that underscore the horror in Brian DePalma’s classic Carrie as well as the erotic sighs and transvestite horror of the later underrated Dressed to Kill. Dante obviously thought so too employing the composer to add that extra polish to his werewolf comedy The Howling.
Donaggio was not the only one to work again with Dante on The Howling and a couple of the names that follow became regulars of the director’s supporting cast in a few of his future film projects. Kevin McCarthy, from the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, went onto be in The Howling and Dante’s segment of 1983’s The Twilight Zone: The Movie and Dick Miller, here chewing up the scenery as corrupt businessman Buck Gardner, proved to be absolutely priceless in the Gremlin movies.
Elsewhere horror icon Barbara Steele shows up as Dr. Mengers and Paul Bartel (director of the original Death Race 2000), as head of the camp Mr Dumont, is pitch perfect as the arsehole the script requires him to be without losing the laughs and also managing to have his character believably redeem himself come the inevitable piranha attack. The chemistry between the leads McKeown and Dillman is surprisingly good. In fact, for a campy, low budget horror, the acting is damn good even from the kiddie performers.
This Blu Ray release has decent, informative and, more importantly, fun extras to further entice you into buying however it’s a shame that the film print hasn’t quite cleaned up as one would expect for the extra pennies one is expected to shell out for the format. That teeny weeny niggle aside Joe Dante’s original Piranha should be sitting pretty in any respecting horror genre/B-movie fan’s collection and relished completely.