Piranha (1978) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="353"] Official Score = 2 Devils[/caption]

You know one of my favorite horror movies when I was a child was the movie, Jaws (1975)... Besides the fact that the movie itself was really exciting, I saw it at a young enough age, where the movie was still really terrifying, and when my family used to go to the beach like the day after... Boy was it exhilarating!

Let's be honest here folks, when you are still young enough, and impressionable enough to be seeing this kind of movie, the first thing you as a kid are going to believe when going in to the ocean, is that, 'Jaws' is going to get you... And heading in anyway, and facing your fear, is like a pulse pounding edge of your seat experience that you will never forget!

Well obviously, 'Jaws' never got me, and when I went to Universal Studios and saw the, 'Jaws' attraction, that fear and heart pounding exhilaration pretty much quickly turned in to just a life long enjoyment of the ocean and all it represents!

Now you might be wondering why I mention this... Well the reason that I mention this, is because as I grew up, so did my love of under water monster movies, and recently I had the chance to see the Joe Dante (Innerspace) B Movie classic, Piranha (1978) for the first time!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="150"] A true classic![/caption]

Written by: Richard Robinson (Kingdom Of The Spiders), John Sayles (The Spiderwick Chronicles) & Directed by: Joe Dante. Starring: Bradford Dillman (Sudden Impact), Heather Menzies-Urich (Ssssss), Kevin McCarthy (UHF), Keenan Wynn (Once Upon A Time In The West), Dick Miller (The Terminator), Barbara Steele (Pit And The Pendulum), Belinda Balaski (The Vampire Hunters Club), Melody Thomas Scott (The Shootist), Bruce Gordon (Tower Of London), Paul Bartel (Escape From L.A.) & Janie Squire (The Great American Girl Robbery).

There is something rotten about to happen in the Lost River area... You see, it all starts when a couple who happens to be hiking through that area and camping, end up coming upon an old Army base that basically looks deserted, and the two of them end up deciding to take the last swim of their lives!

When the hikers end up going missing, 'Maggie Mckeown' (Heather Menzies-Urich) is hired to try and find them... Well, her first stop in the area is to pick up her guide... a surly pain in the ass by the name of, 'Paul Grogan' (Bradford Dillman)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Maggie and Paul as they begin their investigation in earnest![/caption]

Well the next stop they go to is the old Army base, and when they get there they begin looking for any sign of the missing hikers... At one point Maggie goes as far as deciding to take on her own initiative to empty out the little pool out in the courtyard area... This is when the two of them are stopped by Dr. Robert Hoak  (Kevin McCarthy).

Well they knock him out before Dr. Hoak has a chance to tell them that they just let loose a whole ton of genetically altered, 'Piranha' in to the river... And that these Piranha are about to head in to an area that is about to become heavily populated!

Well after Hoak destroys their only means of traveling on land to get to the right people to stop this mistake from becoming deadly, it will be up to Maggie, Paul & Doctor Hoak to travel the same river that the Piranha are now in, and get ahead of them, so that they can coordinate with the authorities to stop the Piranha, before the Piranha can destroy the grand opening of a recently made lake (this lake is what the river with the Piranha flow in to, and to ensure that the mountain of swimmers that are about to arrive, are not food for the Piranha!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="610"] A snack![/caption]

In the end, this movie had all the great elements of a Roger Corman (Death Race 2000) a great cast of almost unknown talent, some groovey special effects that are still great even though they aren't CGI and a story that is completely fun, and the vision of a great director! The main problem that I had with this movie, is that like Roger Corman movies, it has some build up time... The problem is, is that unlike most of his other movies... There is to much build up time and after awhile it becomes a little distracting!

In the end, this movie is a fun one, and if you are a horror fiend like me, then there is a scene in this movie that you really shouldn't miss... Anyway check this one out, you might like it!

http://youtu.be/XoCKGvVlNYM

Death Race 2000 (1975) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

Whether they be, B Scifi or B Horror movies... (to name a few), Roger Corman (Queen Of Blood) is an amazing filmmaker whose name can literally be attached to over 400 hundred amazing and truly classic B Movies!

Besides the fact that this legendary filmmaker has made a surprising amount of movies in his career, but he also helped in a major way to further along some of Hollywood's A list of the 1980s and 1990s, including such names as, Sylvester Stallone (The Expendables) and Ron Howard (Apollo 13)

I have been following his work in depth for the last few years (since I discovered who he was a few years ago when watching, Queen Of Blood).

It turns out that the first movie that I saw that he had ever done was a movie that Mr. Corman produced in 1975, that my father had recommended to me many years ago... That movie is the true classic, Death Race 2000 (1975)!

Written by: Robert Thom (Wild In The Streets) & Charles B. Griffith (A Bucket Of Blood), Directed by: Paul Bartel (Escape From L.A.). Starring: David Carradine (Kung Fu), Simone Griffeth (Swamp Girl), Sylvester Stallone, Mary Woronov (Warlock), Roberta Collins (Eaten Alive), Martin Kove (The Karate Kid) and Don Steele (Gremlins)

This movie which was remade in 2008 with Jason Statham (Safe), this movie tells the story of a future world where after the world's governments have collapsed, the United States Of America, is now known as the United Provinces Of America.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] The start of the Race![/caption]

This government is a totalitarian government that is controlled by Mr. President, (Played by: Sandy McCallum).

One of the way that this new American government is able to maintain control over the populace is that they, hold a coast to coast free for all race called, 'The Trans-Continental Road Race'

In this race, all sort of unsavory elements are allowed to become racers, (including Nazis!) And if a racer kills some one on the road with their vehicle, then they get points for every man, woman or child that they kill!

During this latest race though, the prime resistance group in the United Provinces Of America, that wishes to restore the United States government, has installed a mole as the navigator for the biggest racer in the world by the name of, Frankenstein (Carradine), whose mission it is to help sabotage the race and put it out of business!

The only thing is, is that this navigator will end up getting more then she ever bargained for!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="305"] And the racers are starting their engines![/caption]

In the end I couldn't say one truly classic element of this movie, because when it comes down to it, the truth is, is that this movie had some great acting from everyone, and it was great to see some classic eighties actors in early roles (including, David Carradine, Sylvester Stallone and Martin Kove!)

There was some fun special effects that were very reminiscent of the special effects from back then! As for this story, (which was based on the story by Ib Melchoir (Reptilicus). The story was fun, with a great concept, some shockingly amazing character development (considering the low budget nature of the movie).

Definitely in my opinion, a movie worth watching, and for you collectors out there, this movie is definitely worth owning as well!

http://youtu.be/0ZLYEbkykCI