Directed by:
Joe DanteScreenplay:
John SaylesCinematography:
Jamie AndersonComposer:
Pino DonaggioCast:
Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Dick Miller, Barbara Steele, Belinda Balaski, Bruce Gordon, Barry Brown, Paul Bartel (more)VOD (2)
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Man has meddled again with mother nature and the result is not only deadly... it's voracious! With a clever screenplay written by John Sayles from a story by Richard Robinson, director Joe Dante creates an eerie and devilishly fun tale of mutant piranha terrorizing a local swimming hole. On an inviting tranquil evening, two venturesome teenagers take a moonlit skinny-dip in the inviting waters of Lost River Lake... little did they know they would quickly become fish food for a hungry school of man-eating piranha! Their deaths prompt an investigation that reveals a governmental cover-up of a top secret experiment called Operation Razorteeth. And it only gets worse. These insatiable, gilled monsters are heading downstream where a newly opened swimming resort will give them a smorgasbord of tasty vacationers, unless a brave outdoorsman (Bradford Dillman) and a sharp, beautiful investigator (Heather Menzies) can stop their deadly spawn... for good. (Final Cut Entertainment)
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Piranha, or how else to follow up the big-budget Jaws than with lots of little low-budget Jaws. Joe Dante's first independent film has plenty of directorial flourishes and ideas, plenty of action scenes for such a low-budget film, and some well-shot crowd hysteria. The script could use some polishing, especially when it comes to the main characters not being seen as the architects of the plot (something that could have been avoided), but I still find the film quite functional in the context of the time. And Dick Miller is a total dick here.
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