Jaws, Roger Corman style, with all the cheesy gloriousness that accompanies his productions. Piranha is a witty, semi-spoof of the underwater monster film, with Joe Dante at the helm and John Sayles at the pen. In a closed-down government facility, mutant piranha, remnants of a "fish warfare" strategy the military was considering for Vietnam, are watched over by Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy). However, an accident releases them into the surrounding rivers and lakes. Now, there wouldn't be much of horror film without victims for these extra carnviorous fish, so the script places a convenient summer camp and summer resorts in the path of destruction. Any other plotting is pointless. This movie is about mayhem, mayhem, mayhem, something that Dante is an expert at (for further proof, see Gremlins). He obscures the fact that the piranha models are embarassingly low-rent by only showing them in quick shots, which actually add to the effectiveness of the whole product. This is an immensely enjoyable film, one that has aged fairly well. Recommended.

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