Piranha (1978)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

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

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
Roger Richman	...	David
Bill Smillie	...	Jailer
Guich Koock	...	TV Pitchman
Jack Pauleson	...	Boy in Canoe
Eric Henshaw	...	Father in Canoe
Robert Vinson	...	Soldier
Virginia Dunnam	...	Girl
Hill Farnsworth	...	Water-skier
Bruce Paul Barbour	...	Man in Boat (as Bruce Barbour)
Robyn Ray	...	Screaming Woman
Mike Sullivan	...	Dam Guard
Jack Cardwell	...	Brandy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sally Bondi	...	Swimming Deb (uncredited)
Eric Braeden	...	Dr. Robert Hoak (swimming double) (uncredited)
Joe Dante	...	Scuba Diver #2 (uncredited)
Amy Holden Jones	...	Hertz Clerk (uncredited)
Andrew G. La Marca	...	Scuba Diver #1 (uncredited)
John Sayles	...	Army Sentry (uncredited)
Phil Tippett	...	Scuba Diver #3 (victim) (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Dante

Writing credits
Richard Robinson		(story) and
John Sayles		(story)
John Sayles		(screenplay)

Produced by
Roger Corman	....	executive producer
Jon Davison	....	producer
Chako van Leeuwen	....	co-producer (as Chako Van Leeuwen)
Jeff Schechtman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Pino Donaggio

Cinematography by
Jamie Anderson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Joe Dante
Mark Goldblatt

Casting by
Susan Arnold

Art Direction by
Bill Mellin
Kerry Mellin

Set Decoration by
Jeff Ayers

Makeup Department
Rob Bottin	....	special makeup
Vincent Prentice	....	special makeup

Production Management
Thomas M. Hammel	....	production manager: second unit
Tom Jacobson	....	production manager
Harry Wowchuk	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles H. Eglee	....	assistant director (as Charles Eglee)
Greg Gears	....	assistant director
Dick Lowry	....	second unit director
Costa Mantis	....	background director

Art Department
Tim Doughten	....	assistant art director
Kathleen Hughes	....	property master
Kevin Hughes	....	property master
Rob Bottin	....	model maker (uncredited)

Sound Department
Richard L. Anderson	....	sound effects editor (as Richard Anderson)
Teresa Eckton	....	sound effects editor (as Terry Eckton)
Joel Goldsmith	....	location sound mixer
Anthony Santa Croce	....	boom operator (as Tony Santa Croce)
David Lewis Yewdall	....	sound effects editor (as Dave Yewdall)
Velcie Yewdall	....	foley artist
Kendrick Sweet	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Douglas Barnett	....	mechanical effects (as Doug Barnett)
Jon Berg	....	special effects
Dave Morton	....	mechanical effects
Chris Casady	....	mechanical effects (uncredited)
Phil Tippett	....	model construction (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Bill Hedge	....	photographic effects
Peter Kuran	....	photographic effects
Pat O'Neill	....	special optical effects
Jules Roman	....	effects assistant (as Jools Tippett)
Jerome Seven	....	effects assistant
Rick Taylor	....	photographic effects

Stunts
Roger Creed	....	stunts
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunt coordinator (as Conrad Palmisano)
Nick Palmisano	....	stunts
Bobby Sargent	....	stunts
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	utility stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniel Adams	....	best boy (as Dan Adams)
Ted Boehler	....	still photographer
Chris Brightman	....	grip
Clyde E. Bryan	....	assistant camera: second unit (as Clyde Bryan)
Scott Buttfield	....	grip: second unit
Dana Christiaansen	....	assistant camera
Bill Decker	....	grip
Ben Haller	....	key grip
M. Todd Henry	....	director of photography: second unit
Michael Katz	....	gaffer (as M.W. Katz)
Andrew G. La Marca	....	assistant camera (as Andy La Marca)
Moshe Levin	....	grip: second unit (as Moshe Levine)
O.C. Perkins	....	still photographer
Eric Stoner	....	underwater grip
Lynn Troupe	....	underwater grip
Christopher Tufty	....	assistant camera: second unit

Animation Department
Adam Beckett	....	animator
Phil Tippett	....	creature animation

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jack Buehler	....	wardrobe assistant
Linda Pearl	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Brenda Balanda	....	assistant editor
Stacy Russo	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Natale Massara	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Michael K. Davis	....	driver: grip (as Michael Goldson)

Other crew
Jim Boni	....	production assistant
Robert Brown	....	production assistant
William Decker	....	dog wrangler
Jack Hicks	....	boat captain
Jeffrey M. Hoffman	....	production assistant (as Jeff Hoffman)
Nava Jacoby	....	location auditor
David Kayler	....	coordinator: Los Angeles
Michael Martin	....	production assistant
Sharron Reynolds	....	production secretary
Jeanne Rosenberg	....	script supervisor
Robert Short	....	special properties
John Smead	....	scuba instructor
Ashley Stieglitz	....	production secretary
Ed Tarbutton	....	production assistant
Phil Tippett	....	creature design
Chris Walas	....	special properties
Harry Wowchuk	....	location manager
Susan Arnold	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Taira Rosales	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Robert Short	....	armatures (uncredited)
Chris Walas	....	armatures (uncredited)

Production Companies

• New World Pictures

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1978) (France) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1980) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• New Horizons (video)
• Stormovie (2005) (Italy) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Ryder Sound Services  post-production sound

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: As Dr. Hoak is attacked by a piranha, he gets onto a raft and his sweater alternates between torn and intact.

Quotes:

Maggie McKeown: That guard is still out there.
Paul Grogan: Fine, I need you to distract him.
Maggie McKeown: What for?
Paul Grogan: So I can get away.
Maggie McKeown: So YOU can get away? What about me?
Paul Grogan: Well suit yourself. Just come onto him, tell him what an admirer you are of Army or something like that.
Maggie McKeown: What if he's gay?
Paul Grogan: Then I'll go and distract him!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Not of This Earth (1988)

This movie bites....in a good way.

In the wake of "Jaws" came countless man vs. nature flicks with everything from bees to grizzly bears to frogs coming out to get man back for his crimes against the ecology (and don't forget "Night of the Lepus" in which huge bunny rabbits munched on hapless victims!) This film is considered one of the best imitators, primarily because of its tongue-in-cheek approach and it's deliberately campy writing and casting. Menzies is a hotshot missing persons expert who goes in search of two young hikers who have disappeared. She enlists the aid of hermit-like Dillman who lives near an abandoned government testing facility where the hikers were last suspected to have been. When they come upon a murky tank and believe the bodies could be at the bottom, Menzies releases the contents, unwittingly unleashing a school of vicious, genetically-altered piranha onto an unsuspecting river full of camp kids and park revelers. From there, it's a race against the clock to get to Dillman's young daughter who is about to enter a camp relay race in the water downstream. The film is deliberately peppered with actors who've made their mark in either horror or suspense films and it makes no pretenses about its lack of originality (though it does manage to come up with some despite itself!) Dillman (sporting an atrocious come-and-go Southern accent) and Menzies have a surprisingly decent rapport with each other with a few amusing scenes tossed in amongst all the panic. McCarthy pops up as a terrified scientist who knows his plans have gone awry. Wynn has a cameo as a gruff, but likable neighbor of Dillman's. Steele plays an ominous scientist in cahoots with Army colonel Gordon to keep the whole situation under wraps. Bartel is the persnickety camp counselor and Miller is the smarmy amusement park owner, both of whom disbelieve that there's any danger. Despite it's minuscule budget and rather homemade effects, the film does generate a bit of eye-opening gore and more than a little discomfort as these tiny fish nibble away at anything in the water. If "Jaws" caused people to avoid the ocean, this film could make people think twice about cloudy rivers and lakes! The murkiness of the water only adds to the horror of it all as the bikini-clad tourists and innertube-wielding kids can't begin to see what's coming. It's just a sting, then a nibble, then blood everywhere! Some of the effects are tacky and amusing, but there's a certain level of true fear as well. If one likes this genre to begin with, it will probably be a pleasure to watch. Others may be less enthralled.