Rish Outfield's reviews
Another childhood favourite, this big time Jaws ripoff was really good in spite of its badness.
At a secret government research site in the mountains, genetically-mutated piranha are accidentally released into a nearby river, where they wreak havoc on the locals. It's up to a grouchy recluse and a mouthy investigator to stop them before they eat everybody in America and reach the ocean to move on to the world!!
You know, this movie had no right to be any good. And don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect, but it was nice. Made on an extremely low-budget (even for Roger Corman), it holds up surprisingly well (especially for Roger Corman). You know, there was a lot that was surprising about this thing. The great Kevin McCarthy and Dick Miller both have cool parts. It was filled with clever, often-funny, surprisingly good dialogue. Including the classic line "We'll pollute the bastards to death!" Also surprising were the silly/cool Phil Tippett-created critters and gory Rob Bottin makeup. The piranha were some nasty little buggers that sometimes looked good, sometimes not-so-good, but in the end, a zillion little fish are less scary than one big fish. Campy moments abounded, but it only served to endear the film to me. The awful, silly shlock synthesizer music was used sparingly, thank goodness. My notes included the phrase "Boobily camp counselor," but I won't begin to try and expand on that. Lots of silly subplots, perhaps too many, were introduced. The summer camp angle was neat, as was the evil government coverup. There was a strange stop-motion monster that appeared in one scene, but never reappeared.
And you know, though the Jaws parallels weren't plentiful, I have to give it a skull, kids. Rules is rules. Okay, it had some bad acting in it, but since it was all in the first half, I had to let it go. I make the rules, kids, and when I make the rules, I get to break ‘em too.
I'd Recommend It To: Campy monster movie fans.