Piranha (1978)

When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Richard Robinson (story), John Sayles (story)

Stars:

Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bradford Dillman	...	Paul Grogan
Heather Menzies-Urich	...	Maggie McKeown (as Heather Menzies)
Kevin McCarthy	...	Dr. Robert Hoak
Keenan Wynn	...	Jack
Dick Miller	...	Buck Gardner
Barbara Steele	...	Dr. Mengers
Belinda Balaski	...	Betsy
Melody Thomas Scott	...	Laura Dickinson (as Melody Thomas)
Bruce Gordon	...	Colonel Waxman
Barry Brown	...	Trooper
Paul Bartel	...	Mr. Dumont
Shannon Collins	...	Suzie Grogan
Shawn Nelson	...	Whitney
Richard Deacon	...	Earl Lyon
Janie Squire	...	Barbara Randolph

Storyline

When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.

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Plot Keywords:

piranha | summer camp | experiment | child in peril | rescue | 

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Taglines:

Lost River Lake was a thriving resort - until they discovered...

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Piraña

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$6,000,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Piranha Productions, New World Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 106 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The novelization fills in some of the background about Paul's character. His wife left him which is why he's such a hard drinker. The only explanation given is that she couldn't stand the sight of him. He doesn't write or try to contact his daughter, something Laura the camp councilor resented him for. She later changed her mind about Paul after saving (some of) the kids from piranha. Including his daughter. And the main reason Dumont thinks he's drunk over the phone is because during one visit to the camp, Paul drunkenly threw Dumont in the river when he told him to leave.

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Goofs

The water skier is doing his runs on the river. He is wearing a orange life jacket, but when he falls into the water the jacket is yellow.

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Quotes

Reporter: Terror, horror, death. Film at eleven.

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Crazy Credits

The FBI warning at the end of the credits ends with the phrase "So There." Producer Jon Davison used the same joke for the FBI warning in his later picture "Airplane."

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Connections

References 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

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Soundtracks

Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
(uncredited)
Traditional camp song

User Reviews

I always enjoy a river horror.

I like horror movies that happen along or in rivers. Not that there are many "Shock Waves" and "Empire of the Ants" are the only two that come to mind right now. I do not know why, something about the scenery maybe? All I know, out of all the films that ripped off Jaws, this is one of the better ones and one of the better Roger Corman films. Though I say his best movies did come in the 70's and 80's. They started going downhill in the 90's where he would inexplicably do another Piranha movie that is essentially the same as this and he would make Dead Space which was pretty much a remake of Forbidden World. This one though was trying to capitalize of the success of Jaws and did a good job considering the paltry 600,000 budget.

The story has a couple of kids going into a closed off facility and taking a swim where something in the water takes them out. A woman charged with tracking these two makes her way to the area and gets help from a local as they find the facility and proceed to drain the pool into the river when they find the two teen's backpacks. Well, they inadvertently release a deadly new type of piranha into the river where they proceed to go on a killing spree as the local and woman do their best to warn everyone of the oncoming danger!

The cast do a good job and the effects are fairly good considering the low budget. It has some good gore in it as well. Joe Dante directed this and he would go on to direct Gremlins while James Cameron would direct its sequel and also go on to bigger things so you have to give it to Corman, he does tend to help people break into the business.

So we get a rather fun Jaws ripoff, so while you are not getting the performances or tension of the superior film, you are getting more kills and more boobies too! I watched this film again for the first time in a long time and was surprised by all the nudity in it. I always thought it was like PG, but it was an R rated film. There is also some good comedy in it as well. Just a fun picture where we get to watch piranha eat people and do their thing! Nothing to take too seriously.