Piranha (1978)
Piranha is the best Jaws rip-off by a country mile. A product of Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, Piranha is a campy straight-faced killer fish movie that takes the Jaws mould and plays with it to make something unique. A drunk races down a river to try and stop a school of genetically altered killer fish, created to deploy in Vietnam, from reaching civilization and killing people. And there’s bloody carnage all the way.
Joe Dante would make other, better movies than this one but Piranha is a singular and iconic moment for the director. It’s a low-budget treasure.
Piranha 3D (2010)
Piranha 3D was directed by Alexander Aja, a director I feel I must admit I don’t care for all that much. I’ve always felt his movies to be mean and nasty in a way that’s not terribly poignant or entertaining and while I’ve really enjoyed three of his films, I just don’t get too excited when he’s announced for a project.
Piranaha 3D starts off bold, having Richard Dreyfuss appear as Matt Hooper from Jaws and get chomped by the killer fish before the title card even comes up. This time our story takes place in a lake town in the desert where a rather absurdly large spring break festivity is being held. A breed of subterranean cannibalistic piranha escape through a fissure in the bottom of the lake and begin chomping on all the dumb kids partying in the water. What sets this movie apart from the original is that it’s a comedy with over-the-top characterization, nudity so gratuitous it’s nearly artful, and very gruesome visceral gore.
Is it a good remake?
Piranha 3D has a lot of the same problems as Aja’s sequel to The Hills Have Eyes. It decides to go way too big for its own good, which is far more noticeable here than it was in Hills. The comedy serves the kills in that it makes most of the victims rather unlikable prior to their demise, though that doesn’t quite work during the big massacre scene in the third act where a lot of people are getting shredded by the school of piranha. It starts fun but then gets a bit upsetting to watch, which is maybe the point because splatter films are hard to do effectively without paying lip-service to the idea of a serious plot. Ultimately the ugliness of the comedy just kind of makes the gore seem ghoulish, it’s all very exciting for a gorehound but begins to feel empty at a certain point.
Does it stand on its own?
I know it sounds like I’m down on this movie but I actually find it fairly well-made and a lot of fun. I just also feel like the tone doesn’t quite work and Alexander Aja maybe isn’t the best at doing comedy. Still, this is a good and very hardcore vioelnt movie that I think people will really vibe with so long as they can handle some really mean and nasty kills.
This is a well-made movie with a pretty great cast, my only complaint is that the movie doesn’t have an ending. I want to see the fallout of everything that happens but it feels like the movie ends just as its ramping up, and the sequel doesn’t offer much in the way of answers.
Watch, toss, or buy?
Buy it.