Piranha (1978 film)
| Piranha | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joe Dante |
| Written by | Richard Robinson (story) John Sayles (story) John Sayles (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Roger Corman (executive) Jon Davidson Chako van Leeuwen Jeff Schechtman (executive) |
| Starring | Bradford Dillman Heather Menzies Kevin McCarthy Keenan Wynn Dick Miller |
| Cinematography | Jamie Anderson |
| Edited by | Joe Dante Mark Goldblatt |
| Music by | Pino Donaggio |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
Release dates | August 3, 1978 |
Running time | 94 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $660,000 (estimated) |
Piranha was a Jaws rip-off directed by Joe Dante and produced by Roger Corman in 1978. Universal Studios tried to stop the film from being released (because of its' satirizing of Universal's Jaws films), but Steven Spielberg saw the film in advance and liked it. The film spawned several sequels that Dante wasn't involved with. The film's tagline is Lost River Lake was a thriving resort - until they discovered...
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler Insurance investigator Maggie McKeown is dispatched to find two missing teenage hikers near Lost River Lake. She hires surly backwoods drunkard Paul Grogan to serve as her guide. Searching the area, they find an abandoned military facility. The only resident is Dr. Robert Hoak, former head of a top-secret project to breed piranha for use in the Vietnam War. The project was closed down years ago, but Hoak has continued raising a deadly strain of the flesh-eating fish. When Hoak in knocked unconscious, Maggie and Paul accidentally release the piranha inot a local river, which leads to the lake where a children's summer camp and a newly opened tourist resort will provide plenty of fish food for the hungry predators. Maggie and Paul race to warn the locals, but their pleas fall on skeptical ears, such as those of resort owner Buck Gardner — until the piranha reach the swimmers.
Main cast
- Bradford Dillman - Paul Grogan
- Heather Menzies - Maggie McKeown
- Kevin McCarthy - Dr. Robert Hoak
- Keenan Wynn - Jack
- Dick Miller - Buck Gardner
- Barbara Steele - Dr. Mengers
- Belinda Balaski - Betsy
- Melody Thomas Scott - Laura Dickinson
- Bruce Gordon - Colonel Waxman
- Barry Brown - Trooper
- Paul Bartel - Mr. Dumont
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