PIRANHA

PIRANHA

"People eat fish … fish don’t eat people".

Young lovers David and Barbara climb through a hole in the fence of an old military testing base, drawn to the private swimming pool they see glistening in the night air on the other side. They strip off and, giggling, dive in for a swim. Guess how this opening scene ends?

A short while later, investigator Maggie (Heather Menzies) comes to the sticks in search of the missing couple. She sets her sites on divorced trapper Paul (Bradford Dillman) who now lives remotely in a cabin in the woods. He says he hasn’t seen the kids, but suggests the only place of possible interest locally is the old army base whose swimming pool still gets used occasionally.

The pair drive up there in Maggie’s jeep and find the couple’s belongings. They also make a couple of more significant discoveries: a strange fish-like creature contained in an experimental jar, and a drunken old fool by the name of Hoak (Kevin McCarthy).

Hoak steals Maggie’s jeep in a bid to escape but, in his inebriated state, he trashes it. As a consequence, the trio have to sail back to the nearest village on a quickly constructed raft. While on their journey, Hoak is coerced into telling Paul and Maggie that, during their search of the test base, they have inadvertently freed carnivorous piranha fish – the product of genetic engineering by the US army during the Vietnam war – into the local water supply. Oops.

That’s not going to help Paul’s estranged daughter Suzie (Shannon Collins). She’s at summer camp and being bullied by her mentor (Paul Bartel) to take part in an upcoming boating relay race, despite her fear of water.

Meanwhile local fishermen and bathers are meeting bloody ends in episodic scenes that propel the action towards the real meat of our story: a huge local celebration to be held by the Mayor (the excellent Dick Miller) and, naturally, set on the lake.

Will the Mayor heed the warnings of those in the know? Or will he follow his greedy snout and continue to put people’s lives at risk as long as it means lining his pockets in the process? If you’ve seen JAWS, you already know the answer.

Indeed, Joe Dante’s 1978 effort PIRANHA is acknowledged by its producer Roger Corman as being a quick-cash-in on Steven Spielberg’s hugely popular JAWS. It even opens, rather cheekily, with a character playing an arcade game based on the latter blockbuster.

PIRANHA rises above mere rip-off though, thanks to the wit and intelligence of John Sayles’ script, the enthusiasm of a very well-placed cast (as well as the likes of Dillman, Miller, Bartel and McCarthy, also look out for Barbara Steele) and Dante’s no frills direction.

Though not the most striking film visually, and although the FX work sometimes leaves a lot to be desired, it’s the script and its delivery that elicit the most pleasure from repeated viewings of Dante’s film. I’m not suggesting it’s a classic – frustratingly, Dante’s a director who never gets it quite right (though he has come close in the past: GREMLINS, THE HOWLING) – but it is innocuous fun.

Perhaps that’s what it lacks, beneath its wisecracking script and slightly smug nod and wink to the viewer: it could do with a bit of real bite. Even the hint of political allegory towards the Vietnam war is pussyfooted around. But, even if that’s the case, it’s hard to deny that the performers are all enjoying themselves immensely here and that definitely rubs off on the viewer.

Well, Shout! Factory gave PIRANHA a Special Edition release a couple of years back. In the meantime, British fans have had to make do with MGM’s barren DVD. Until now.

Second Sight continue their impressive run of resurrecting cult titles with respectful releases (SOUTHERN COMFORT; THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD; FROM BEYOND etc) by adding Dante’s hit to their canon.

Coming to the UK in both standard and HD formats, the blu-ray disc was made available for SGM to review.

The film is presented uncut in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The framing appears to be correct, although I believe the US counterpart offered the film in 1.78:1? The 1080p transfer is 16x9 enhanced and looks decent for a low-budget film that was shot back in 1978. Colours are strong, textures are smooth and natural. Images are on the soft side, but I don’t recall the film every looking particularly sharp. All in all, despite minor print damage during the first couple of minutes, I’d say this was a good presentation.

English 2.0 audio has been given the Master HD treatment and is pleasingly clean throughout. Any previous pops or hisses are swept away without ever compromising the consistency of what’s been fitfully left intact. Optional English subtitles are well-written and easy to read.

The disc opens to a colourful animated main menu page. From there, pop-up menus include a scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 16 chapters.

Extra features are similar to those proffered on the aforementioned Shout! Factory release (one of their "Roger Corman Collection" series).

These begin with an enjoyable audio commentary track from Dante and producer Jon Davison.

10 minutes of archive behind-the-scenes footage is interesting but hardly illuminating.

Much better is a 19-minute Making Of featurette, in which Dante, Corman and co speak individually about how the film came to be. From the hiring of the director, through the casting and – best of all – to the revealing of some of the deceptively simple FX work, this makes for a great companion piece to the main feature.

An ample stills gallery, a couple of US radio spots and a TV spot round off the satisfying bonus features.

PIRANHA stands up as an enjoyable slice of hokum. It’s not great and it has definitely aged, but it’s still an interesting addition to the Roger Corman vault of shameless B-movies ripping off Hollywood films. Dante’s promise is evident in it, while the humour and gore mix together well. But it does all seem oddly sedate in light of Alexandre Aja’s outrageous post-Millennial reboot.

Still, it’s great to see the original finally get the Special Edition treatment in the UK.

Also available on DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Second Sight Films
Region B
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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