"Operation Razorteeth," a government project involving the breeding of mutant piranhas, gets way out of hand when the fish raid a lake at a summer camp for kids in this Roger Corman-produced, Joe Dante-directed classic. Heather Menzies stars as Maggie McKeown, an insurance investigator out to trace a missing teenage couple who have disappeared in the woods. With the help of a drunken recluse, Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman), they come across a supposedly deserted army base inhabited by Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy) who has been breeding the deadly fish in secret. In their hunt for the missing couple McKeown and Grogan drain the army pool, unleashing millions of mutant piranhas into the lake of a nearby children's summer camp and a newly opened tourist resort. Smart exploitation with a ludicrous and clever script co-written by John Sayles, this drive-in answer to JAWS is full of film references and plenty of B-movie thrills (gore and nudity). PIRANHA is the kind of movie they don't make anymore--and better yet--it holds up well.
(22 votes)
2.
Roger Corman produced this shameless Jaws rip-off at the height of the "nature gone wild" boom of American cinema and struck B-movie gold. Scripted by John Sayles and directed by Joe Dante, this tongue-in-cheek thriller stars Bradford Dillman (doing his best Rip Torn impression) as an antisocial mountain man and Heather Menzies as a rookie detective who race a school of mutant piranha downriver. Dante and Sayles provide the requisite blood and gore for this drive-in meat market: a kids' summer camp and a waterfront amusement park await the little beasties. Along the way, riverside retiree Keenan Wynn gets his ankles stripped clean, camp counselor Paul Bartel is chomped on the cheek by a hungry little bugger who takes to the air, and hordes of unlucky bathers are caught in the center of a feeding frenzy. What differentiates this little gem from the legion of similar knockoffs are the satirical swipes at military arrogance and crass commercialism, Dante's energetic enthusiasm, and the bursts of black humor: "Lost River Lake: Terror, horror, death. Film at 11." The culty cast also includes Invasion of the Body Snatchers's Kevin McCarthy as the hysterical scientist guarding the creatures, horror diva Barbara Steele as a devious government researcher, and longtime Corman regular Dick Miller as an unscrupulous entrepreneur ("Sir, the piranha are eating the guests").
The DVD features good-humored commentary by director Joe Dante and producer Jon Davison, who also narrate the 10 minutes of good-quality home-movie footage shot by Davison. There are also six minutes of outtakes. --Sean Axmaker
(20 votes)
3.
Lost River Lake was a thriving resort - until they discovered…
A school of piranha are heading downstream and eating everything in their way… just when you though it was safe to go back in the water! Produced by legendary producer-director Roger Corman, Piranha is the film that helped spawn the careers of Joe Dante (director), Jon Davison (producer), John Sayles (writer), Rob Bottin (special effects), and Chris Walas (effects). Starring Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Bradford Dillman, and Heather Menzies, as well as long time Corman-faves Dick Miller, Barbara Steele, and Paul Bartel.
(20 votes)
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