Piranha

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Piranha

R

Released Jul 3, 1978

1h 32m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Two people (Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies) unwittingly free a mad military scientist's (Kevin McCarthy) mutant fish near a summer camp and resort lake.

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Critics Consensus

Performed with a wink and directed with wry self-awareness, Piranha is an unabashed B-movie with satirical bite.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Of all the late '70s-early '80s Jaws knockoffs, none balanced tongue-in-cheek humor with out-and-out gore as deftly as Joe Dante's Piranha.

Rated: B+

Jan 10, 2006

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Empire Magazine

Rated: 4/5

Jan 1, 2000

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Ultimately Dante is the star and his personality seeps from ever pore of the movie. From his snarky jabs at the military and political apparatuses to silly flourishes that seem to come from out of the blue, Dante’s fingerprints are everywhere.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 17, 2023

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Dante’s talented, sure hands assemble a fun little horror-thriller that deserves to be seen as more than just a post-Spielberg rehash, but a winking and skilled thriller in the summer escapism style.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 9, 2023

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Stephanie Archer

Film Inquiry

While Piranha may not be the best horror film, even boarder lining ridiculous at times, it is undeniably entertaining.

Jul 30, 2022

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Even Jaws director Steven Spielberg counts himself among the film's fans.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 26, 2021

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nick s

I didn't expect much of this movie given that it was cashing in on Jaws. It did lack the buildup and payoff of the blockbuster and the action wasn't paced well. But what really took me aback was the quality of the acting. Until the appearance of Dr Menders at the half way mark it was very convincing. Far above a B movie.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/03/24

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Dallas H

I enjoy watching Joe Dante's creature features even if they feel like a Jaws movie riff. And what is the deal with pronouncing the word "piranha" in this movie? The characters enunciate the word with a hard Y instead of a silent H.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/17/24

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Christian K

Funny and harmless enough, appreciated the simple setup and premise and the bad acting. The actual piranha scenes are done surprisingly well.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/30/24

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Comrade A

Jaw's autistic younger cousin???

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/21/24

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Jules N

Piranha offre une sorte de satire des Dents de la mer assez réussi et sanglante avec pas mal d'action, dommage que les acteurs qui donnent une interprétation de leur personnage beaucoup trop théâtral et donc ridicule rendent le film quelques fois exaspérante. Les effets spéciaux ont aussi beaucoup trop mal vieillis.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/20/24

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Blu B

It's exactly what you'd expect and nothing more. A low budget B-Movie Jaws inspired creature feature with none of the suspense or amazing characters of the movie it's influenced by. It barely ever shows the piranhas but there is lots of blood and kills so it's almost like a creature slasher than anything. Everything is as medicore as you can get. It's super campy/cheesy and self aware which defintely helps warm up to it's poor quality at times. Nothing is really memorable or well done about it but nothing is truly broken either and it's totally followable. It just doesn't do a good job of building any suspense and is more mindless than anything. If your a big creature feature fan than I guess give it a try but most should skip it. It's hard to get angry at any of it's shortcomings because its so clear it knows what it is and accomplishes what it sets out to be. A run of the mill B-Movie. Nothing more nothing less.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/13/24

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Joe Dante

Director

Bradford Dillman

Paul Grogan

Heather Menzies-Urich

Maggie McKeown

Kevin McCarthy

Dr. Robert Hoak

Keenan Wynn

Jack

Dick Miller

Buck Gardner

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Synopsis

Two people (Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies) unwittingly free a mad military scientist's (Kevin McCarthy) mutant fish near a summer camp and resort lake.

Director: Joe Dante
Producer: Jon Davison
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Distributor: New World Pictures
Production Co: New World Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 3, 1978, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 3, 2018
Runtime: 1h 32m
Sound Mix: Mono

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