This movie was clearly inspired by Jaws, but quality-wise, it has much more in common with the Jaws sequels.
Piranha is one in a long line of aquatic horror movies that came after Jaws had massive box office success in 1975 (including 1977’s Orca and Barracuda.) The ocean (or any large body of water, really) is inherently scary because you can’t see what is around you. Anyone who has ever been to the beach has had an experience stepping on or brushing up against something that they couldn’t identify. That scene where Quint describes the the shark attack on the sailors of the USS Indianapolis is so emotionally impactful because it’s easy to picture yourself floating there, waiting for your turn on the ladder and having no idea when and if the next attack is coming. Piranha obviously traffics in the same anxieties, but the result is far less effective.
Look, am I shocked to find that this Roger Corman produced imitator does not live up to the pedigree of one of the best action thrillers of all time? Not at all, and I was certainly not offended by the effort here. Spielberg is on record liking Piranha the best out of all the Jaws rip-offs, and having a young Joe Dante (Gremlins) at the helm certainly helps. Dante has very little money to work with, and I imagine the challenges of filming with a river as your primary terrain made the budget even more strained, but he makes the most of what he has. Sure, you have to be ok with a lot of shots of reddish water and swirly bubbles representing the carnage brought about by the piranhas, and very few shots of the piranhas themselves, but you weren’t really expecting to be scared by this movie anyway, were you? The film also takes some short cuts building stakes, and I found myself rolling my eyes when the genetically-enhanced school of killer piranhas ended up on a collision course with a summer camp of cute, elementary-aged moppets. Still, Dante keeps things moving economically towards the big, bloody finale, and he gets fun performances from his two lead actors. The movie must have struck a nerve to some extent, because it was remade twice, once in 1995 for a poorly received made-for-tv showing, and then again in 2010’s over the top and tongue-in-cheek update, Piranha 3D.
Look, for those of you who read this blog in search of recommendations, there is really no reason to watch Piranha. The 2010 version tops it both in terms of comedy and carnage, and of course you can always revisit its initial inspiration, which happens to be one of the most rewatchable films of all time. That said, I don’t regret watching it. I had seen it once or twice when I was young, and it was pleasant revisiting it now. It is pure B-movie ephemera, but you could do worse than the pair of Corman and Dante for that type of thing. Just don’t expect it to scare you away from the swimming hole next summer.
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