Wuchak RELEASED IN 1995 and directed by Scott P. Levy, "Piranha" chronicles events when genetically-enhanced piranha are accidently 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 with the horrific mayhem, but this version shoots for a more austere air.As my title blurb points out, 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 stop-motion mini-dinosaur featured in the first act is omitted; 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 superior on practically every level.THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes and was shot, in part, at Castaic Lake just north of Valencia/Santa Clarita, California.GRADE: C-

Henry Kujawa This movie has a TERRIBLE reputation... but, frankly, I've seen far worse, and, lately! (I know, hardly high praise-- heehee.) I was mainly interested because it featured 2 of my favorites-- William Katt & Alexandra Paul (SIGH!), plus, with Monte Markham as the slimy corporate developer baddie, it wound up with no less than 3 PERRY MASON alumni (I can't believe that was a coincidence). Katt played Paul Drake Jr. in the first 8 Raymond Burr TV-movies in the 80s, Paul was in the first 2 movies after he left (along with William R. Moses-- I was always surprised that she didn't stick around longer), and Markham starred in the ill-advised revival in the early 70s.All I can say is... it HELD my attention, and I managed to plow through it with fewer breaks than a LOT of Corman-produced films. (It was funny how they actually made reference to several of his 70s films in the dialogue, including one of the "women in prison" films.)

gilligan1965 This, like "Frogs" (1972) is a great introductory horror film for children who are showing signs of liking horror movies.There's no real graphic violence here; no vulgar words spoken; no real nudity except that which amounts to not much more than what's seen at a good beach with hot women; and, little boys can have their little fantasies about Mila Kunis as a little girl, as I once did as a little boy about Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal; and, Kim Richards.With today's standards, this is the kind of "STARTER" movie that little kids watch before they grow into 'REAL HORROR' movies like...what we 'adults' all watch and love today.It's not a bad movie, it's just 'soft-core' horror for children; and, for adults who just can't hack the way the world really works.I'd like to thank pbrandon074 for his review, which is the reason I watched this movie.Again...It's not a bad flick; and, it's 'very realistic' in the way that the police and politicians act (don't act at all) without any care or concern for people they're paid to protect! :)

Theo Robertson Thgis is supposedly a remake of the 1978 film PIRANHA directed by Joe Dante and written by John Sayles but right from the opening scene you're aware of how similar it is to the original movie . There's a pre-title sequence of two horny teenagers breaking in to a facility and getting consumed by a school of piranhas that ends with a light in the darkened tacitly being turned on just like in the original . Did I use the word " similar " ? My mistake the word I meant to use was " identical " . And so it continues . Not only does the film use the identical structure of the 1978 film it reproduces nearly every scene word for word and scene for scene almost to the point of sharing the same camera angles There are a couple of very small modifications . One is the role reversal of characters who were male in the original whilst here they are female characters . In fact the one original scene is inserted featuring a female character and a wannbe film director is inserted in to the narrative and the fall out of having one of the characters die is quickly forgotten about . Wouldn't this be a major plot turn and lead to a warning that the lake is infested with deadly fish ? This film has a very low average rating and some of the commentators feel it deserves a higher mark . Perhaps it does but that would be down to it basking in the glory of the original film and perhaps I would have been better copying and pasting my review of the 1978 movie . Same difference