Roger Corman takes quick advantage of the success of 1975's Jaws with this, now classic, tale of killer fish. First time solo director, Joe Dante, teams up with screenwriter, John Sayles, to deliver the thrills and chills. These two, along with actress Belinda "Betsy" Balaski, will regroup for the 1981 werewolf tale, The Howling. But, that's a story for another day.

The cashing in on Jaws is most evident in the movie poster. Both show a girl on the surface of the water and a giant fish coming up from below her, even though there are no giant piranhas in the movie. The imagery is clear. We also have the underwater “people are on the menu” shots. At least Piranha admits it by putting a Jaws video game in at the beginning. Do the graphics on that video game ever date this movie.

The film opens with a young couple wandering through the wilderness. I love how they just ignore the no trespassing signs, then they're shocked when something bad happens to them. It gets better as the macho guy teases the girl for not wanting to sneak in, then he's the one constantly worrying about getting caught. Although a female friend of mine assures me that men are really like this, I find it hard to believe. However, their disappearance is necessary as it gives private dick, Heather Menzies, a reason to hire rugged outdoorsman, Bradford Dillman, to search for them.

The search for the missing couple lead them to a secret government base. Where strange little stop-motion critters and Kevin McCarthy are hanging out. It turns out genetic experiments were being carried out which created super-piranhas (still just regular sized). And it turns out that Bradford and Heather have let them out into a local river. Now it's a race to stop a dam from being opened which would add more water to Lost River Lake – and release the piranhas on even more victims.

This is a better than average killer fish story with just the right mix of humor and suspense. Besides the already mentioned cast, we have b-movie maverick, Dick Miller, Paul Bartel in a classic Bartel role. He plays a pompous ass – the character, not the actor – but he is willing to risk his own safety to save some kids. And speaking of kids, it's nice to see a film that doesn't shy away from letting the creatures get at the little bastards. Not that I'm anti-child, you just don't see them get tormented by killer creatures and psychos as much as you do older people. And satching children getting their asses munched on as they dangled down the inner tube holes was hilarious.

There's a bit of nudity, but with they exception of Janie Squire they're all stunt breasts. Heather Menzies, who appeared nude in a certain bunny magazine a few years earlier, shied out of her brief flashing scene. A waitress from a local Holiday Inn was brave enough to stand in for her. Then you have more uncredited nudity in the piranha smorgasbord scenes. Not sure who the redhead is, but I sure am glad she showed up to work that day.

Some parts of the movie leave you scratching your head. A sweater magically changes from piranha-holed to not a few times. I guess it's a good thing that the guy driving the speedboat which had to do stunt just happened to be wearing a helmet. I know I always keep a helmet in the boat I pilot on the lake for just such emergencies. You never know when an explosion is going to happen.

As far as b-movies go, this one goes in the classics pile. It's not the best, but it's far from the worst. Personally, I feel one has to appreciate a movie where the required costume is a bikini. We're even treated to added bonuses of a scary campfire story and a clip from The Monster That Challenged the World How many monsters can say the challenged the world. Not many, that's for damned sure.

So crack open a couple of pints and take turns rooted for the people and the piranhas. A fun time will be had by all.