Pirana {1978}

We should all be thankful for Steven Spielberg. If it wasn’t for him, no JAWS. And if it wasn’t for JAWS, no PIRANHA. And if there’s no PIRANHA, what’s the point?!

Half a JAWS spoof and half trash-gore fishploitation powerhouse, PIRANHA holds the key to a most bitchin’ summer. When some jerkfaces skinny-dip near a government testing lab, they accidentally unleash…PIRANHA!! The bloodthirsty mutoids rend flesh in a small-town lake while a drunk-ass scientist, a go-getting detective and exploitation superstars Dick Miller, Paul Bartel, and Barbara Steele hang out and take care of business.

From GREMLINS to INNERSPACE, from THE ‘BURBS to SMALL SOLDIERS, director Joe Dante is a master of transforming genre pastiche into peerless entertainment. His love of Fifties sci-fi/horror and playful mayhem make PIRANHA a rare delight — a knockoff just as fun as the original, with fledgling SFX guru Rob Bottin’s puppet fish a wonder to behold.