Review of Piranha (1978) by Thequietgamer — 03 Oct 2018

Master of pop culture mischief Joe Dante helms this low-budget Jaws ripoff/parody with the same "eff-the-man" mentality that would later become one of the defining factors of his career. The kills are rather disappointing as it's mostly just watching people get nibbled to death by fast-moving fishy shapes that we never really get a good look at. Of course part of the reason I may be so letdown by this likely comes from having watched Alexandre Aja's gore-tastic remake Piranha 3D beforehand, but given that one of the main appeals of these kinds of flicks comes from the bloodshed I don't feel wrong for expecting quite a bit more.

The real entertainment value comes from the wacky hijinks the protagonists get themselves involved in as their quest to stop the mutant aquatic terrors they inadvertently released is constantly hindered by a corrupt colonel who wants to keep things quiet at the risk of innocence lives in order to line his pockets. Hence the anti-authoritarian undertones. It's a pretty funny movie. The leads are always ready with a quip and some out-of-the-box thinking to save the day. A midday prison break and an attempt to distract a soldier on guard are particular highlights and great examples of how the film never takes itself seriously at all.

Now just because the movie is keen on having fun with itself and the premise doesn't mean it's automatically a poorly made or lazy experience that tries to coast by on chuckles alone. In fact it's quite more imaginative than I expected it to be. The scene where the main characters explore the semi-abandoned military installation's lab in particular really impressed me. Dante and crew went out of their way to fill it with some other imaginative little critters in tanks. Even one that runs around in an amusing and cutesy manner while they do their snooping. It's a moment where you can tell the people involved went the extra mile with Piranha to give it a quirky charm all it's own. It's that kind of thing that makes this goofy B-movie worth watching even if it fails to live up to it's gorehound satisfying potential.