Plot: What’s it about?
A young couple, hiking in the woods, decides to take a break for a while near a small abandon building. After noticing the building housed a small pool of water, the two decide to take a dip, so that “it won’t be so funky in that sleeping bag!” After a few moments of splishy splashy, the male discovers that he’s being bitten. He thinks it’s the girl, but actually it’s a school of mean little dudes, called piranha! They eat the guy, then reduce his girlfriend to a red stain at the bottom of the pool. Nothing will clog up a drain like a mutilated corpse, let me tell you. Then a young girl named Maggie (Heather Menzies) embarks on a journey to find the missing couple. As she searches through the woods, she comes across a cabin, owned by a drunk, Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman), who is not very helpful to her. But after some coaxing, he agrees to take her to an abandon government research facility up the mountain a ways. Well, lo and behold, there’s the very pool that those pesky piranha lurk in!
After snooping around a bit, they discover all sorts of strange animals and what not. A weird creature that looks like a sock puppet sways in one tank, while only eye balls are visible in others. Maggie decides to drain the pool, but as they try, they are attacked by a man (Kevin McCarthy), who seems intent on the water staying in that pool for good. But two versus one, he loses, and out goes the water, washing the fishies down river. After exploring the empty pool, Maggie finds bones and a piece of jewelry belonging to the couple. The man who attacked them turns out to be a scientist, who was taking care of the mean fish, and he informs them of their boo boo. Big “uh-oh’s” all around, and the three end up on the river, trying to warn a local summer camp and a water resort, before all the vacationers and campers end up like Swiss cheese. Will the piranha turn the river populace into fish food? Or will they take the bait, and be defeated by the humans?
If you have never seen Piranha, you might think this sounds like a Jaws rip-off or something. Trust me, it’s not. Piranha, much like other recent reviews of mine (Modern Vampires, Army of Darkness) is a satire of other movies in it’s genre. At the time Piranha was made, there was a popular movement of nature gone bad movies, like Jaws. Piranha tackles the issue of the genre, but does not take itself as seriously as Jaws does. You can tell by reading the included booklet just how serious these guys were about the movie. To paraphrase, the promotional guide for this movie asked theater owners to place dead piranha along water lines, and pay children to act like they were missing for a few days. Is that awesome or what? If a movie tried that these days, it would never leave the editing room. Piranha is well made, and a good movie, but it meant to be a satire, so don’t expect a bone dry movie here.
Piranha is part of the Roger Corman Collection, which almost guarantees some things. One, the budget will be low. Two, the actors and crew will go on to do bigger projects. Three, the movie will be a lot of fun. Piranha delivers on all three promises. Although the budget was small (under a million dollars), the movie looks, sounds, and feels very good, rarely can you notice where they scrimped with the cash. The blood effects are very cool, and the fish themselves are excellent, they have a cool way of darting people’s limbs that makes me happy when I watch. The attack scenes are well done, and convey the feel of a real frenzy for the fishies. The make up effects are also good, mostly bites and tears. As far as the cast and crew, I’ll discuss them later. As far as fun, buckle up my friend, this ride is bumpy! Piranha is a great movie to watch with friends, the more the better. The piranha are fun to cheer for, and some of the characters are hilarious. While this type of fun is not everyone’s bag, it’s mine, and I know I’m not the only one.
Now, no matter how great a concept is, if a movie lacks a good cast, it will suck. This has been proven, but I refuse to name names. Piranha has a wonderful cast, most of whom went on to many more projects as well. Leading the cast are Bradford Dillman and Heather Menzies. Dillman (The Way We Were, Love and Bullets) does a fine job of playing Grogan, who has a less than good reputation to say the least. While the role does not require much in terms of character development, Dillman does his job, and is believable in the part. Playing Maggie McKeown is Heather Menzies, who does a nice turn here. Menzies (Logan’s Run-TV, Hawaii, Ssssss…) is more than acceptable in Piranha, giving Maggie not only an adventuresome side, but also a sensitive, caring side. I know it’s a “B” movie, but still, the characters have decent depth for this type of film for sure. Another performance I cannot help but mention is that of Paul Bartel, veteran of Corman films. Bartel plays an insensitive camp counselor, who harasses the campers! Yes! Bartel can also be seen in DeathRace 2000, CaddyShack 2, and many others. He also directed a pretty cool movie, Eating Raoul, so check that out as well.
Even with two great leads, a movie needs a strong supporting cast, even a satire like Piranha. And luckily for us, Piranha has a delightful backup cast, with plenty of recognizable faces. Highlighting the rest of the cast are Kevin McCarthy (Greedy, UHF-YES!), Keenan Wynn (The Shaggy D.A., Herbie Rides Again), Bruce Gordon (Curse of the Undead), Richard “Dick” Miller (Chopping Mall, ‘The Burbs), Barbara Steele, Richard Deacon, and Belinda Balaski. Also of note are the three main creative forces at work behind the camera in Piranha. Writer John Sayles (Eight Men Out, Lone Star), producer Jon Davison (Robocop, Starship Troopers) and director Joe Dante (Gremlins 1&2, Small Soldiers) are certainly not “B” level talent in the least. So while Piranha may be a cult film, it is not a “B” movie, and truly stands out as a fun movie to watch.
Here’s where I give my speech on why you should check this movie out. Simple. It’s a fun, silly look at piranha. Not just regular ones, but cool ones, that look mean and cute at the same time. Piranha is a fun movie, that’s all I can say. It has good production values, but never caught on full force. If you’re a fan, you’ve got to buy this disc, as all other formats are out of print. And have been since the mid eighties. So if you want the definitive version, you’re reading the review of it right now. This has it all, and Piranha deserves the royal treatment. So if you love fun films, with a campy feel, check out Piranha, and remember, fish don’t eat people, people eat fish.
Video: How does it look?
Piranha is presented on this DVD in full frame only, which director Joe Dante stated was it’s correct aspect ratio, and there is no panning or scanning. So all you widescreen diehards, relax, you’re getting the whole picture here. The print looks nice, much better than I was expecting, as the VHS version is terrible, but then again, my copy is over ten years old, what can I expect? While is some flecking and what not, it’s not the transfer’s fault. Piranha was digitally remastered for this special release, and it looks great! Colors are well done, and black levels are on par as well. No artifacts or shimmering that I could see, but then again, I had my eyes glued to the fish.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, digitally remastered and sounding great! The splashes are the most frequent effects, but screams and yells are there too. The soundtrack is laid back for the most part, so the main audio focus is on dialogue. And the dialogue sounds good, easily audible, even when music/effects are present. While Piranha is not the movie to use to show off your home theater’s audio power, it would be fun to watch with friends!
Supplements: What are the extras?
They don’t call this a Special Edition for nothing! First off, you get a nice reproduction of the original promotion book sent to theaters, complete within typos! A nice addition, and the best insert book I have seen to date. You get a running commentary with Joe Dante and Jon Davison, which reveals just how fun it was to make the movie. They also tell a little about the making of, but nothing earth shattering. A nine and a half minute featurette is included, and has some behind the scenes footage, including cool shots of all the piranha models. You also get a five minute blooper/outtake reel, which has some funny, and colorful, language. Rounding out the disc are cast/crew bios and the original theatrical trailer. Wow, I am impressed!
