The original from Joe Dante sees the deadly fish released after careless swimmers go missing and your main characters race down the river after releasing them. This is really a good fun film that was a good B version of Jaws which had come out the year before, the good thing is they still tried to make a half decent film. A good film if you enjoy the gore factor and the 70's B-Movie.

40/100

Not really seeing how this is much more distinctive than your run-of-the-mill low-budget schlock, apart from the names involved. Dante requires cartoon mayhem to thrive, and a school of identical fish obscured by quick cuts doesn't fit the bill; he's forced instead to foreground the thrashing victims, which is unpleasant without being at all scary. And Sayles' hand is only recognizable in his own scene (featuring the movie's one decent joke, as Maggie just blurts out "Are you gay?") and the climactic battle cry of "We'll pollute 'em to death!" Long stretches, e.g. our heroes escaping from the jail cell, play exactly like '70s TV, dully functional and nothing more. Kevin McCarthy and Keenan Wynn could perhaps have spiced things up, but (SPOILER!) both are eaten almost as soon as they're introduced, leaving us with only Paul Bartel's pompous ass in the comic-relief department. I dunno, guys, the affection for this one seems pretty willful.

It's no Jaws.

An unremarkable but solidly executed creature feature. Seemed like it spread itself a bit thin, and would have been better of spending more time on one or two of the plot points than trying to cram everything in. Between the military conspiracy, the summer camp in danger, the shady business deal and the holiday resort lying in the path of the piranhas, everything just feels very rushed.

Did enjoy Roger Corman's input to the film, though. You know it's a Corman picture when cars keep rolling over and boats are exploding. Got to get those vehicle accidents filmed for the trailer.

'People eat fish, fish dont eat people' says Paul Bartel in Joe Dante's entertaining Jaws rip off. He's wrong.

Very witty screenplay by John Sayles.

The only things that could make this better is Kelly Brook's tits.

A brilliant exploitation film that was made to do nothing more than entertain, and it succeeds magnificently.

An unremarkable but solidly executed creature feature. Seemed like it spread itself a bit thin, and would have been better of spending more time on one or two of the plot points than trying to cram everything in. Between the military conspiracy, the summer camp in danger, the shady business deal and the holiday resort lying in the path of the piranhas, everything just feels very rushed.

Did enjoy Roger Corman's input to the film, though. You know it's a Corman picture when cars keep rolling over and boats are exploding. Got to get those vehicle accidents filmed for the trailer.

Una de las más famosas producciones de Roger Corman (con su discípulo Joe Dante como director) y junto con "Orca" el mejor plagio de "Jaws" que jamás se haya hecho. Al igual que en esta, Dante resuelve las carencias de efectos especiales ocultando lo más posible a las pirañas, convirtiendo así el agua en un elemento peligroso por no saber qué se mueve bajo su superficie. Lo más interesante son sus concesiones a la comedia y su nada disimulado contenido político y ecologista, así como la visible huella de Corman en el estilo y algunos miembros del elenco como Dick Miller o una sobreactuada Barbara Steele. Su carnicería final es el único momento de genuino impacto en una película por lo demás bastante contenida.

Ah, there's nothing like a school of piranhas attacking a children's summer camp on a Sunday morning. Beyond the merciless attack on the children, I really did enjoy Joe Dante's Piranha, even more so than Alexandre Aja's 2010 remake (which, for me, fell into the "tried way too hard to be a cult classic" category). While there's certainly some comedy to the original Piranha, it was played pretty straight throughout, and it works for the film. I just picked Piranha up on DVD yesterday, and I would have bought the Blu-ray had it not always been $20 (I bought the DVD for $7.99). I've foolishly overpaid on shit in the past, but I'm trying to not do that anymore. Piranha's good, but not $20 good.

40/100

Not really seeing how this is much more distinctive than your run-of-the-mill low-budget schlock, apart from the names involved. Dante requires cartoon mayhem to thrive, and a school of identical fish obscured by quick cuts doesn't fit the bill; he's forced instead to foreground the thrashing victims, which is unpleasant without being at all scary. And Sayles' hand is only recognizable in his own scene (featuring the movie's one decent joke, as Maggie just blurts out "Are you gay?") and the climactic battle cry of "We'll pollute 'em to death!" Long stretches, e.g. our heroes escaping from the jail cell, play exactly like '70s TV, dully functional and nothing more. Kevin McCarthy and Keenan Wynn could perhaps have spiced things up, but (SPOILER!) both are eaten almost as soon as they're introduced, leaving us with only Paul Bartel's pompous ass in the comic-relief department. I dunno, guys, the affection for this one seems pretty willful.

The fantastic original Piranha by Joe Dante. Which is the story of genetically enhanced fish beasties attacking absolutely everyone at a River side camp. I love it. Every bit of it.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This is just the best horror film I discovered in my youth and it still holds strong today! The effects and dialogue can be cheesy, but its part of the charm.