I have no way of knowing if what I am about to describe to you is real or not. its one of those foggy childhood memories that has stuck with me for a long time, and this is about the only place I will ever get to talk about it. at some value village somewhere in southern Alberta, i saw a post that scared the shit out of me. it was a women lying in bed, with a large bite mark taken out of one of her calves. in red, text along the bottom read PIRANHA. To this day, every time I am in a value village I look for that poster. anyway.... lets talk about this movie shall we?
I have been curious about this movie for quite awhile, but never enough to actually watch. I saw piranha DD when I was far to young, and i was hoping this movie would have similar gore and a lot less nudity. so what made me finally watch this movie you ask? i learned this movie was directed by Joe Dante. and of course Joe once again has made a great horror comedy.
Joe Dante has a great sense of humor that pairs surprisingly well with this type of movie. a lot like gremlins, this movie has a lot of my favorite stuff. Great characters, tiny little creatures killing people, Dick Miller, explosions, dozens of kills, practical effects, and a whole lot of great scenes of tension. the whole movie has that fun 80s - 70s horror atmosphere that fits me like a warm blanket. unlike a lot of those type of movies, the characters here aren't just cardboard cut outs to be murdered for shock value. we spend a lot of time with in this movie with no Piranhas at all, and i respect this movie for not just being the bare minimum.
but don't get me wrong, when the Piranhas do show up, things get real violent real fast. A whole summer camp full of kids, a charming old mans feet, and the odd teenager are all on the menu for the piranhas with quick and choppy close ups from there POV. thankfully It never looks to real, which helps when watching a bunch of small children die. the main way this movie works is simply making you tense at the sight of water.
simply put, this movie is just straight up fun, and a great summer movie to watch in the pool.
9/10
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