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.
