I listen to only one film-topic podcast: The Movies that Made Me, which I learned about from the YouTube channel Trailers from Hell. The mastermind behind both efforts is director Joe Dante. I’ve seen and liked a few of his films, so I wanted to click a few others off the list. Piranha was one.
I remember Piranha from my youth because I was a huge Jaws (1975) fan. I read the book before the movie was even announced and saw the film several times. I became low-grade obsessed with sharks and were it not for Star Wars (1977), I may have become an oceanographer. Anyhow, any successful subgenre spawns copycats. Even though I saw neither films, Tentacles (1977) and Piranha definitely got my attention.
Some interesting names appear here. Sci-Fi stalwart Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Keenan Wynn (Dr. Strangelove), Barbara Steele (Black Sunday), and Dick Miller (everything) specifically, some frequent collaborators with executive producer Roger Corman. Oh, yea, this is a Roger Corman film. Despite that, it isn’t too bad.
Originally set to conflict with the opening of Jaws 2, Universal filed a lawsuit against the production company, maybe because it was actually a better film. Steven Spielberg, however, liked Piranha calling it the best of the Jaws rip-offs, and convinced Universal to drop the suit. The $600k Piranha opened two months after the $20m Jaws 2 to better critical reviews.
Piranha is a pleasant distraction. Not a great film and, truth be told, a little confounding in some parts, but overall a well put together movie. It doesn’t try to be too much and it won’t stay with me very long. But it is a pretty good Jaws rip-off. AMRU 3.
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