Piranha - Der Fluß des Todes

I was duped as well. Here I was expecting all sorts of man eating Pirahnas and what the hell do you get.

An hour and a half of nothing, but awkward silences with some weird guy, who isn't weird enough to be scary.

I thought there was no way $5 could be too much for a movie.

Damn I was sooooo wrong. It was very hard to watch the whole thing.

Don't fool yourself. Its not so good that its bad. Its not even that kind of movie.

Its nothing. an hour and a half of absolutely nothing.

PIECE OF CRAP!!!!!!!!

Released in 1972, "Piranha" chronicles events when a brother & sister photography team (Tom Simcox & Ahna Capri) enlist a guide (Peter Brown) for a tour in the jungle wilderness where they meet a friendly-but-mysterious hunter named Caribe (William Smith), who lives in the jungle. Caribe shows his true colors when he acts upon his Native namesake.

People badmouth this movie because they fell prey to a bait-and-switch by DVD-makers or whomever. This is NOT the Roger Corman nature-runs-amok flick of the same name from 1978. Neither is it a creature feature at all. It's a realistic Venezuelan jungle adventure/thriller with hints of horror highlighted by genuine early 70's atmosphere. Despite being an adventure/thriller, the title "Piranha" does not misrepresent the movie, which is explained in the second half and ties into the plot (I'm not going to give it away). Another thing to keep in mind is that the movie was released in '72, three years before "Jaws" made nature-runs-amok flicks popular. So the filmmakers didn't title it "Piranha" with the intention of misleading fans of creatures-on-the-loose flicks.

In any case, the cast is great, although they coulda done better with someone other than Capri in the female role, even though she plays the part well despite my slight misgivings. Simcox is a likable masculine protagonist and it's too bad he didn't become a star, although he had constant TV work. Brown is good too, but it's Smith who towers here, literally at 6'2", but in overweening taciturn charisma as well. Caribe seems like a cool guy to party with in the jungle and the quartet have some good times together, including a long (8.5 minute) motorcycle race, but the story takes a dark turn in the final act. I've seen a handful of Smith films & TV episodes over the years and this is by far his best role.

Some complain about the "stock footage" of numerous animals, but it adds to the jungle atmospherics. Others complain about the thinness of the plot and the seeming padding with the animal, Native and diamond-panning footage, etc. This has caused some to criticize the movie as a "Venezuelan travelogue," but I enjoyed this aspect. Viewing the film IS like vacationing in Venezuela and I found it interesting and informative, but it's just a stage for the interesting low-key drama of the quartet. And, say what you will about the thin story, it gels together into a meaningful whole with interesting things to glean.

If you're in the mood for a 60s-70's psychological adventure/thriller I recommend "Piranha." However, if you need an explosion every second and unrealistic action sequences to maintain your attention look elsewhere.

The film runs 90 minutes and was shot entirely in Venezuela.

GRADE: B+

Like the above poster, I got burned on the title thinking I was getting the other Piranha... This movie is everything the above poster said and worse...

Poor camera, lousy acting and just plain horrid storyline...

There was very little here that was even worth watching... How this movie even got released is beyond me.

Make sure the movie you buy is the one you want... and not this one.

The movie I bought was labeled "Piranha" and not "Piranha, Piranha!" which is what it actually is... This is the only way they sold this movie at all.

Peace Out.

I got this on a multi-title DVD of monster movies, so it not being a monster movie was a bit surprising, but as the movie was playing I kind of realized it was going that way fairly quickly.

It's an early 70's Crime Thriller of sorts set in the jungles of Venezuela instead of the big city streets.

Besides not being the piranha-fest most people were hoping for, this crime-thriller type of movie moves too slow for most people's liking and not enough happens.

The hurried turn of events at the end is kind of lackluster and even non-realistic in how it happens in many ways.

It's kind of like the end was thrown on quickly when they realized they had enough other footage to pad the movie out to 90 mins., or they were running out of time and money. There's plenty of animal stock footage, diamond mining footage, and a pretty much pointless motorcycle race.....

The ending was kind of predictable too once there were only a few players left and some resolution of the conflict evolving was inevitable.

I wanted to like the movie more, but it just was weaker than it should have been on too many fronts, probably why it's a bargain title or thrown in on multi-title DVD's so cost of it should be around $1 or so to see it.

"Two wildlife photographers are traveling through the Amazon River basin on their latest assignment. While trying to capture the wildlife of the area on film, our photographers cross paths with a game hunter, who is stalking the animals for another reason. Looking to eliminate the witnesses to his illegal activities, the hunter decides to…" according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Handsome guide Peter Brown (as Jim Pendrake) takes pretty blonde Ahna Capri (as Terry Greene) and her good-looking brother Tom Simcox (as Art Greene) into the Venezuelan jungle, to admire the view, and take wildlife pictures. After they hook up with hunky big-game hunter William Smith (as Caribe), psychological dramatics surface.

A pivotal scene, with Mr. Brown reposing in the "vee" of a tree, and sharing a cigarette with Mr. Simcox, is nicely staged. The circular direction reappears in the later "fight" between Brown and Mr. Smith; and, it is effective. Simcox' early sex romp adds nothing to the story; it could have been cut, to take advantage of what seems like flirting between the Brown and Simcox characters. An attraction between Brown and Ms. Capri could have been played up, also.

The music, including Jim Stein's "Love All Things That Love the Sun", is fine; but the film needs to be re-tracked, to cut out animals which do not appear on screen. And, there is far too much superfluous footage on display. "Piranha" is a case where less would have been more.