Piranha (1978),
dir. Joe Dante, New World Pictures
Moving ahead, we find one of the many graduates of Roger
Corman’s school of cheap filmmaking. Joe Dante cut his teeth on the sometimes
sleazy world of Hollywood, directing what Steven Spielberg would eventually
call the finest of all Jaws
rip-offs.
Two teenagers, Barbara Randall (Jane Squire) and her
boyfriend David (Roger Richman) are having a typical make-out session in the
woods when they get the idea to continue their carnal questing deeper in the
wooded area. Finding an abandoned Army testing ground, they decided to
consummate their passion within the crumbling area. Ignoring the warning signs,
they easily enter the area. Deciding a full moon skinny dip would set the
proper mood before their little death, both are soon naked and splashing
without care. Something then kills them both.
After some time has passed, private eye Maggie McKeown
(Heather Menzies) has been hired to find the missing teens. She retraces their
steps with the extremely reluctant help of local man Paul Grogan (Bradford
Dillman), who takes time from his busy scheduling of drinking and trying to
look after his hydrophobic daughter Suzie (Shannon Collins), who was recently
dropped off a camp down the river. They follow the teen’s trail exactly and
soon end up at the testing ground. When Maggie empties the pool to search it,
all she finds a small pile of bones and Barbara’s locket; this action prompts a
wild-eyed man to scream at them and try to steal Maggie’s jeep. One car wreck
later the man identifies himself: Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy).
As the trip float down the river on a homemade raft, Dr.
Hoak explains the reason for his outburst. It seems he was the head researcher
of Project Razorteeth, an attempt by the military to breed an aggressive type
of piranha capable of living in both salt and fresh water for use against the
Viet Cong. Maggie and Paul dismiss Hoak
as crazy, at least until they find the remains of Jack (Keenan Wynn), Paul’s
neighbor. His legs have been bitten off. Also, Jack’s house was in a straight
line straight to the summer camp where Suzie is right now.
Paul, Maggie and a boy Hoak rescued before dying manage to
escape the river and get word to the authorities, represented by Colonel Waxman
(Bruce Gordon) and his aide, Dr. Menger (Barbara Steele). Neither the colonel nor
the doctor wants the word of their screw up reaching the public, so Paul and
Maggie end up in the slammer.
The piranhas, on the other hand, don’t care about public
relations and plan on turning the summer camp into an all you eat buffet. Can
our heroes stop them in time?
Remade and squeals aplenty, none compare to the first. Dante
has enough humor and scares to balance everything out. Dick Miller as the
cheapskate amusement park owner is a nice touch.
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