Piranha Blu-ray review
Obviously inspired by the success of “Jaws,” the Roger Corman-produced “Piranha” (1978) follows a sleepy Texas village that finds itself under attack from hordes of mutant piranha. The film is directed by Joe Dante (“Innerspace,” “Gremlins”), and you’ll see some actors from later Dante projects appearing in this film.
After two teen backpackers disappear in the woods, Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies), a “skip tracer,” is sent to investigate their disappearance. She questions the sullen rural sot Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) who, despite not liking her very much, agrees to help her track the missing teens. They break into a hidden military base upstream, where they find clues to the disappearance — and accidentally drain the pool on base holding the mutated piranha, who were responsible for the teens’ demise.
Working with Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy), the lead project scientist on the deadly piranha project who stayed behind on the abandoned base, they try to warn the town of the danger to come. And when Grogan discovers the piranha have the ability to swim upstream, endangering both a new aquatic park and his daughter’s summer camp, the stakes get even higher.
Written by John Sayles (“Eight Men Out”) in his feature film debut, the dialogue veers from the campily witty to the flat-out goofy.
The acting is over the top, which actually fits nicely with the overall presentation of the material.
While there’s no mistaking the kind of entertainment this is, “Piranha” revels in its B-grade status, while making some wry commentary along the way. It’s almost impossible not to be entertained in some way by this film.
Blu-ray extras include audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, bloopers, trailers and deleted scenes.
— Matthew Price
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