Piranha

The private investigator Maggie McNamara (Alexandra Paul) from Lyon Investigation is hired by the wealthy J.R. Randolph (Monte Markham) to find his niece that has disappeared with her boyfriend. Maggie seeks out the lonely environmentalist Paul Grogan (William Katt) to help her to look for the teenager. They head to an abandoned army facility and Maggie decides to drain the pools to see whether the body of the girl is there. They are assaulted by a woman with a crowbar but they subdue her. However she escapes and soon they learn that the woman is Dr. Leticia Baines (Darleen Carr), who is researching a hybrid species of piranha that is capable to survive in fresh and sea waters for military purpose. Further, Maggie has release the piranhas on the river and they are heading to the Lost River Lake Resort. Maggie and Paul inform the corrupt local Sheriff but Randolph tells him to lock them up since he does not want to jeopardize the party he has promoted to his resort.

"Piranha" is a B-movie with the same storyline of "Jaws". There are ridiculous scenes, like for example, Maggie tasting the water of an abandoned experimental pool. Or the heroine Maggie opens the drain valves without measuring the consequences and causing the death of several people. Or when Dr. Baines dies and Maggie and Paul say that they need to find someone with knowledge in piranhas. Or the instructors of the children camping that do not use the boats to rescue the children, walking on the water under attack of piranhas. It is funny to see Maggie driving the high-speed motor boat at full speed pulling Paul tied to a rope. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Piranha"

Well, it IS near identical. A lot of changes from the original had been made (the doctor minding the piranha testing center being just one of those). Still, I prefer this one. One: it provided more character detail into Paul. Two: this remake's Maggie isn't as "bumbling" as the one in the original (although she's still far from being a decent gumshoe). Three: the circumstance behind the piranhas' poisoning (just in the pool) is more believable than the original (an entire water system in Vietnam). Four: the usage of stock from the original aside, the fact that they left bones after piranha attacks makes it more believable than the original. Five: because they made this look more serious than the original, it actually made it funnier.

It's still a bad movie, but, at least the way they changed it made it a tiny bit better.

Detective Maggie McNamara investigates a case of a missing young couple as she runs into Paul Grogan, who lives as far away as possible from the city because he doesnÕt want to meet anybody. Together, they unwillingly unleash a plague of killer piranhas created by the military. The Piranhas attack an opening ceremony for some holiday resorts, where lots of guests are in the water - including GroganÕs little daughter...

A Roger Corman-produced TV Remake to a Roger Corman-produced (and Joe Dante-directed) original. Sounds bad enough to be a warning? ItÕs almost the same movie as the original, and nothing has improved since, in fact, this has to be one of the most unnecessary remakes in the long history of unnecessary remakes. As for the special effects, almost every single shot is lifted from the original which makes this hard to defend for even the most jaded fan. Not only the special effects in this 1995 movie are from the seventies, thereÕs also still no one around to provide a cell phone when you need one. If only the very likeable William Katt were in the original...

RELEASED IN 1995 and directed by Scott P. Levy, "Piranha" chronicles events when genetically-enhanced piranha are accidentally released into a river system in the wilderness north of Los Angeles, which threaten kids & counselors at a Summer Camp and vacationers at a lake resort. A private investigator (Alexandra Paul) and a lonely environmentalist (William Katt) team-up to save the swimmers.

This is virtually a scene-by-scene recreation of the 1978 film, taking place in Southern Cal rather than the heart of Texas. While "Piranha" (both versions) is sort of a "Jaws" (1975) knockoff, it's different enough to not be a rip-off: The story takes place in a river system deep in the mainland and not the ocean; the 'monster' consists of teams of little vicious fish rather than a huge great white shark; the beach sequences involve quaint campground-like beaches rather than major ocean beaches; unlike "Jaws," there's a focus on alluring young women, although "Jaws 2" (1978) delivered the goods in this area as well; and there's more of a sense of adventure and arguably suspense. The tone of the original version of "Piranha" mixed-in amusing elements amidst the horrific mayhem, but this version shoots for a more austere air.

This 1995 version is all-around inferior to the 1978 rendition, even though it's basically the same exact story and both were produced by Roger Corman. Some of the changes, aside from cast and locations, include: A woman (Darleen Carr) is substituted for the scientist (Kevin McCarthy) at the research facility; the curious stop-motion mini-dinosaur featured in the first act of the original is omitted here; there's a new wannabe director character; one of the two babes at the camp dies prematurely; and the filmmakers were more conscious of including racial diversity in the background.

The new locations with sparser foliage are also inferior, as are the women. Although voluptuous Lorissa McComas as Barbara in the prologue is just as good as (or better than) Janie Squire in the original, Soleil Moon Frye and Kehli O'Byrne are rather second rate compared to cutie Melody Thomas Scott and curvy Belinda Balaski, although Kehli is certainly a striking woman.

I suggest skipping this one and viewing the original instead, unless you're a fan of some of the cast members or want to compare the two versions. The 1978 film is just all-around superior.

THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes and was shot, in part, at Castaic Lake just north of Valencia/Santa Clarita, California.

GRADE: C+

I don't know why this is compared to the original. That film was no classic, and at least this one doesn't pull any punches. Indeed, the DVD version is R-rated and definitely not TV fare. Mila Kunis is so young in this that one wonders if it was made earlier than 1995. Anyhow, the story is ridiculous and pretty hackneyed, but William Katt and Monte Markham add credibility. It's always a pleasant surprise when James Karen shows up too. As a cheapie horror flick it delivers exactly what it promises and holds one's interest throughout. Making films like this made Roger Corman a legend, and his contribution to this particular film is probably what makes it work.