PIRANHA on Disc
By: John ThonenDate: Tuesday, May 23, 2000
Not every genre DVD is a recent theatrical release or a well recognized classic. As the new format's popularity with consumers increases, there are those who are eager to exploit a hungry new market for films on disc with a wide-ranging variety, and quality, of movies. And anytime you find the words 'film' and 'exploit' in close proximity to each other, you are certain to find Roger Corman. Corman's New Horizon, was one of the first independent video labels to jump on the DVD bandwagon, and one can only be grateful that, in addition to DVD releases of his generally dreadful recent productions, Corman has also chosen to offer some of the best titles from his heyday when, as head of New World Entertainment, his product dominated the exploitation film market throughout the '60s and '70s.
The phenomenal success of Jaws in 1975 led to a wave of 'natural' monsters, including the killer bear of Grizzly, the killer snake of Jaws of Satan, the killer octopus of Tentacles, and the killer 'gator of Alligator. Standing at the top of this dubious sub-genre was Joe Dante's Piranha. Dante has since gone on to some degree of fame as the director of The Howling, Gremlins, Innerspace and the recent Small Soldiers, but Piranha was his first true credit as a director (having earlier co-directed the stock footage-laden Hollywood Boulevard), and its success launched his career.
Considering the inexperience of those handling the film's production, and the limited funds Corman had put at their disposal, the film holds up better than one might have expected. That success is largely thanks to John Sayles tight and often amusing script (Sayles also wrote Alligator) and an unusually solid cast for 70s exploitation fare.
The film offers pretty Heather Menzies (of the Logan's Run TV series) as a skip-tracera kind of low level bounty hunter. Her search for a missing girl, leads her to a remote area where she stumbles on a largely abandoned government weapons project designed to create genetically altered piranha that could be used during the Vietnam War. When she accidentally unleashes the voracious title creatures into a peaceful river, she pairs with a crusty local doctor (Bradford Dillman) to try and warn a girl's camp and a newly opened water park, of the threat heading downstream towards them.
That's about it for plot. The rest of the film is a series of increasingly larger scale fish attacks, some digs at the military-industrial complex, some enjoyably tongue-in-cheek dialogue, and a lot of chewed up latex covered in Karo syrup blood. There's a flash of nudity, a brief scene of dimensional animation, Dante's customary film in-jokes and the director's perennial good luck charm, character actor Dick Miller. Also present are the early efforts of such later special effects superstars as Rob (The Thing) Bottin (17 years old at the time) Phil Tippet (Star Wars) and Peter Kuran (Robocop).
Fun as the film and its cast may be, the greatest pleasures of this DVD are found in the extra features. The menu offers several varieties of toothy fish who chow down on such selections as the original trailer, a blooper reel, a 'making-of' featurette (derived from 8mm movies producer Jon Davison shot during production) and a wonderful commentary from Dante and Davison. Functioning more like a comedy team than successful director and producer, the Dante-Davison duo are a fount of self deprecation, jokingly telling us that John Sayles was so appalled by the first cut of the film that it inspired the ace screenwriter to become a director himself, and that fellow director Paul Bartel (Death Race 2000) was cast in the film because 'I always try to have another director on the set to save me from my mistakes.'
The pair also regale us with anecdotes such as: Heather Menzies balking at doing the topless scene she'd agreed to, leaving Dante and Davison to convince a local waitress to body double for the scene. There's even bits of useless film buff trivia, like the fact that Dante himself is one of the scuba divers in the film, and Phil Tippet is the diver the piranha kill.
In spite of a bad Italian produced sequel, Piranha 2: The Spawning (directed by no less than James Cameron) and a generally lame, Corman produced, remake in 1995, Dante's Piranha has stood the test of time surprisingly well. No one will ever confuse the film as being a classic, but it remains a pretty enjoyable 'junk' film, enlivened here by some fun DVD extras. Well worth a rental and maybe even a purchase for Dante fans.
PIRANHA. New Horizons Home Video, October 26, 1999 (theatrical: 1978). Directed by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles. Produced by Jon Davison. Rated- R. 92 mins. Starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Steele, Dick Miller.
More From Mania
Alex Aja's PIRANHA 3-D Shoot Delayed
Aja Talks PIRANHA 3-D
(Friday, April 18, 2008)
Alexandre Aja remaking "Piranha"
(Thursday, March 15, 2007)
Marooned... metaphorically speaking
(Monday, April 17, 2006)
Dimension Will Release PIRANHA
(Thursday, January 12, 2006)
Paul Bartel
(Tuesday, May 23, 2000)
DEATH RACE 2000: Days of Future Passed
(Thursday, January 20, 2000)
See more related content
