I like horror movies that happen along or in rivers. Not that there are many "Shock Waves" and "Empire of the Ants" are the only two that come to mind right now. I do not know why, something about the scenery maybe? All I know, out of all the films that ripped off Jaws, this is one of the better ones and one of the better Roger Corman films. Though I say his best movies did come in the 70's and 80's. They started going downhill in the 90's where he would inexplicably do another Piranha movie that is essentially the same as this and he would make Dead Space which was pretty much a remake of Forbidden World. This one though was trying to capitalize of the success of Jaws and did a good job considering the paltry 600,000 budget.

The story has a couple of kids going into a closed off facility and taking a swim where something in the water takes them out. A woman charged with tracking these two makes her way to the area and gets help from a local as they find the facility and proceed to drain the pool into the river when they find the two teen's backpacks. Well, they inadvertently release a deadly new type of piranha into the river where they proceed to go on a killing spree as the local and woman do their best to warn everyone of the oncoming danger!

The cast do a good job and the effects are fairly good considering the low budget. It has some good gore in it as well. Joe Dante directed this and he would go on to direct Gremlins while James Cameron would direct its sequel and also go on to bigger things so you have to give it to Corman, he does tend to help people break into the business.

So we get a rather fun Jaws ripoff, so while you are not getting the performances or tension of the superior film, you are getting more kills and more boobies too! I watched this film again for the first time in a long time and was surprised by all the nudity in it. I always thought it was like PG, but it was an R rated film. There is also some good comedy in it as well. Just a fun picture where we get to watch piranha eat people and do their thing! Nothing to take too seriously.

RELEASED IN 1978 and directed by Joe Dante, "Piranha" chronicles events when genetically-enhanced piranha are accidently released into a river system in central Texas, which threaten kids & counselors at a Summer Camp and vacationers at a lake resort. A spirited skip tracer (Heather Menzies) and a backwoods drunkard (Bradford Dillman) team-up to save the swimmers. Kevin McCarthy and Barbara Steele play military scientists who experimented with the escaped piranha.

While "Piranha" is sort of a "Jaws" (1975) knockoff, it's different enough to not be a rip-off: The story takes place in a river system deep in the mainland and not the ocean; the 'monster' consists of teams of little vicious fish rather than a huge Great White Shark; the beach sequences involve quaint campground-like beaches rather than major ocean beaches; unlike "Jaws," there's a focus on alluring young women, although "Jaws 2" (1978) delivered the goods in this area as well; there's more of a sense of adventure and even suspense; and the tone mixes-in amusing elements with the horrific mayhem.

As inferred, the picture is highlighted by several quality females with curvy Belinda Balaski (from "The Howling") and cutie Melody Thomas Scott (from The Young and the Restless) featured in prominent roles. Moreover, voluptuous Janie Squire has some worthy screen time in the prologue. There are superb women in the periphery as well. Interestingly, the 2010 quasi-remake, "Piranha 3D," took the sleaze route with loads of nudity, but the women are ironically hotter here, not to mention the film's all-around more entertaining.

THE MOVIE IS LEAN and filler-free at 93 minutes and was shot along a river near San Marcos in the heart of Texas, Northeast of San Antonio. WRITERS: John Sayles and Richard Robinson.

GRADE: A-

Piranha may be very daft with a silly plot, and some parts may have dated now, but what we have is an entertaining and quite delightful movie. Joe Dante's direction hits all the right buttons, Pino Donaggio's music is good, the piranhas do bring a fair amount of menace, the script is sly and witty and some of the death scenes are both hilarious and shocking.

I was surprised by the acting too, it's more than adequate. Bradford Dillman is appropriately straight-faced, while Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Dick Miller and Barbara Steele give very neat supporting turns.

Overall, Piranha is a very daft film but it is also a very entertaining one. Shame the sequel was so awful, albeit that is another story. 8/10 Bethany Cox