Piranha (1978)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Richard Robinson (story) and
John Sayles (story) ...

Release Date:

3 August 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Lost River Lake was a thriving resort - until they discovered...

Plot:

When flesh-eating piranhas are accidently released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.

Plot Keywords:

Piranha | Fish | River | U.S. Army | Experiment

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Bradford Dillman	...	Paul Grogan
Heather Menzies	...	Maggie McKeown
Kevin McCarthy	...	Dr. Robert Hoak
Keenan Wynn	...	Jack
Dick Miller	...	Buck Gardner
Barbara Steele	...	Dr. Mengers
Belinda Balaski	...	Betsy
Melody Thomas Scott	...	Laura Dickinson (as Melody Thomas)
Bruce Gordon	...	Colonel Waxman
Barry Brown	...	Trooper
Paul Bartel	...	Mr. Dumont
Shannon Collins	...	Suzie Grogan
Shawn Nelson	...	Whitney
Richard Deacon	...	Earl Lyon
Janie Squire	...	Barbara Randolph

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1978) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1984) (cut) | Italy:VM14 (original rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | Australia:M | France:-12 | New Zealand:R13 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2002) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

San Marcos, Texas, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Bradford Dillman was originally unhappy with his character's 2D nature, and asked writer John Sayles why his character was so thin. Sayles responded that Roger Corman regularly did not use good actors in his film, so he deliberately didn't elaborate on characters. But since Dillman was a "real" actor, he was more than happy to enhance his character's depth.

Goofs:

Continuity: The water skier is doing his runs on the river. He is wearing a orange life jacket, but when he falls into the water the jacket is yellow.

Quotes:

Maggie McKeown: Are there any other shacks around here?
Paul Grogan: Cabins! This is a cabin!
Maggie McKeown: Well, are there any more of them? Any place they might be hold up in?
Paul Grogan: There's an old fella named Jack who lives downriver, but he woundn't treat any hospitality towards them. Oh, and there was some kind of Army test site way up on top of the mountain. But that closed down five, six years ago.
Maggie McKeown: C'mon, let's go.
Paul Grogan: What?
Maggie McKeown: You're taking me up there.
Paul Grogan: Oh NO I'm not!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Lesser Evil (1998)

"People eat fish, fish don't eat people"

Yes, in most cases; fish don't eat people, people eat fish; but the auteur of that quote clearly forgot about man eating fish, such as piranha; and that reflects even worse on his brain power when you consider that, at the time of speaking, he was actually in a film called "Piranha", which also happens to be about man eating fish! Lots of 'em! It's little delights like the one just mentioned that make Piranha what is - the script doesn't take itself seriously, and that blends with the shameless ripping off of many a creature feature, and both of those in turn provide the audience with a very camp movie experience indeed. Creature features have a long history of being camp, and Joe Dante's film will no doubt be a highlight for fans of the classic movies in this field. Joe Dante has made a lot of cheap, but good films, and while The Howling remains the best of his oeuvre and the 'best director' awards certainly won't be winging his way soon, he's an underrated talent in the horror film industry and Piranha is certainly one of his better films.

Joe Dante has put a good cast together for this movie, which equally weighs out the camp and action sequences in the movie in the same proportions that the movie itself gives out. Bradford Dillman takes the lead role, and while he clearly knows that he's appearing in a camp and very much 'B' standard horror; he still gives it his all and makes for a fine protagonist. The highlights among the ensemble are Barbara Steele, a regular in horror films, with performances in the likes of 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'Black Sunday', and Dick Miller; a cult star that Dante would go on to use regularly, but found his cult stardom in the Corman classic 'A Bucket of Blood'. 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.