Two teens are killed in an abandoned army research station by something in a pool. Skiptracer Maggie McKeown is sent to find the missing teens. She comes upon woodsman Paul Grogan who guides her to the station. Maggie mindlessly turns on a lever and gets attacked by Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy). Hoak has been doing experiments from the Vietnam era and the lever has released a new species of piranha into the nearby river threatening a children's summer camp.
This is one campy B-movie. Some of it is non-sense. The group is paddling down a river like Huck Finn. People are doing stupid things against self interest for no good reason. It's an early movie from director Joe Dante. It's great to have horror veteran Kevin McCarthy as the mad scientist. It's camp but there are issues even with that consideration. I don't think having little kids being eaten by piranhas is good cinema. It's probably a mistake to use kids that young. The fish sounds are rather silly. This is not a movie to be taken seriously and it does some B-horror fun.
This is one campy B-movie. Some of it is non-sense. The group is paddling down a river like Huck Finn. People are doing stupid things against self interest for no good reason. It's an early movie from director Joe Dante. It's great to have horror veteran Kevin McCarthy as the mad scientist. It's camp but there are issues even with that consideration. I don't think having little kids being eaten by piranhas is good cinema. It's probably a mistake to use kids that young. The fish sounds are rather silly. This is not a movie to be taken seriously and it does some B-horror fun.