Piranha (1978)

Surf’s up for BEACH BLANKET BLOODBATH Month at Mondo Mondays, featuring a bevy of beachy B-movies that will keep you screaming all summer long!

“They’re here … and they’re hungry!” Summer hasn’t officially begun until you’ve been attacked by bloodthirsty mutant fish while trying to beat the heat and relax lakeside, so jump in the water and prepare to meet the title creatures of Joe Dante’s toothy horror/comedy, Piranha!  Half Jaws spoof and half gory nightmare, this frightfully fun B-movie from Roger Corman’s New World Pictures kicks off when a couple of skinny-dipping teens accidentally unleash genetically-engineered piranhas from a secret government testing lab, and the feisty fish head downriver towards a summer camp and a small town’s lakeside tourist attraction, ready to make a bloody buffet out of as many unsuspecting swimmers as possible.  A drunk scientist (Bradford Dillman) and a kooky detective (Heather Menzies) race against time to warn the townspeople and stop the monster fish before they can make it to the ocean and terrorize the world. Featuring a killer cast including Dick Miller, Paul Bartel and Barbara Steele, and gruesome SFX from artist Rob Bottin, this funny/scary genre favorite from the director of Gremlins is a real summer treat, and there’s nothing fishy about that! (Dir. by Joe Dante, 1978, USA, 94 mins., Rated R)