Piranha (1995)

the audience applauded

It is a performances centric movie

Boring

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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! :)

Piranha (1995) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Remake of the 1978 cult classic by Joe Dante features pretty much the same story as we hit "nature strikes back" mode again. This time out a bad girl and her dorky boyfriend go missing so a detective (Alexandra Paul) goes looking for them. With the help of a mountain man (William Katt) they learn that the government has made some man-eating piranhas and sure enough they've let them loose in a popular lake. Whereas the original film was tongue in cheek in terms of its black humor and violence, this one here plays it rather straight, which is a minor problem. I'm not sure if the production team here, which included Roger Corman, just decided to not try touching the original but a little humor here would have helped things. Without the humor we're left with a pretty standard, made-for-TV horror movie that ups the violence and gore. Outside some stock footage from the original movie, the attacks here are pretty good especially one scene towards the end when our hero is trying to save the day when a group of fish attack him. The rather violent bites will certainly make your squirm and this is preceded by some other nice attacks including one poor soul who leaves his feet in the water a tad bit too long. Katt and Paul deliver fine performances and are strong enough to carry the film. The supporting cast doesn't get much done, although the James Karen (THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD) was nice. Fans of the original really aren't going to find this film topping it in any way but fans of the nature attacks genre will want to check it out as harmless fun.

I don't know why this is compared to the original. That film was no classic, and at least this one doesn't pull any punches. Indeed, the DVD version is R-rated and definitely not TV fare. Mila Kunis is so young in this that one wonders if it was made earlier than 1995. Anyhow, the story is ridiculous and pretty hackneyed, but William Katt and Monte Markham add credibility. It's always a pleasant surprise when James Karen shows up too. As a cheapie horror flick it delivers exactly what it promises and holds one's interest throughout. Making films like this made Roger Corman a legend, and his contribution to this particular film is probably what makes it work.

Although many will disagree with me here, I have to say that I enjoyed this film and actually prefer it to the original. The original is too old for me to appreciate it and even though this movie is made for TV it is still preety good and is well acted and directed. The plot is slightly different in this one but i like it. The script is exactly the same but does have some extra decent one-liners and funny parts, especially with that idiotic director who fancies that girl 20 years younger than him! That had me laughing for ages! William Katt was very good in this movie and is in a lot of other movies i've seen him in. He deserves to be in much better, well-known movies than this one. Also good is the guy who plays Randolph (the bad guy in the movie.) The music is preety good as well. Although it ends a bit weirdly and there isun't much development between the two main characters as there was in the original this is still good entertainment for a Saturday night in. So go check it out!