Jaime Anderson's cinematography is good specifically for the underwater scenes. What was the point? Kudos to using the technique but thumbs down for not giving it meaning. There's a scene where stop motion animation is used and it looked great but it never served a purpose. I mean, even if the cast isn't the most convincing, the plot device should at least. Phil Tippett's ability to make the piranhas themselves, the gore and blood look authentic is important. And who doesn't like Dick Miller? For one, the practical effects are quite convincing to say the least. Thankfully, there are a enough good parts to help make it somewhat enjoyable. Unfortunately, these things are big parts to the film that weigh it down because they are essential to telling a good story. e what I mean on character depth? Some of the dialog is silly to hear at times too. She also becomes Dillman's love interest - without little explanation.

Next is Heather Menzies-Urich who plays a missing persons detective, who also looks to find the truth behind the piranha epidemic. So you can imagine what the rest of the characters are like. And this guy was the only one to ask to have his character have more depth. Bradford Dillman as a divorced drunk father of one daughter is possibly the most interesting of the bunch. Not many of the actors that take part feel like they are that of something new either. It has been exploited since the early 50s era films. Using radioactivity as a plot device for a sea creature is no longer usable. It's understood that this comes from a time where it was prevalent but now it no longer is plausible. So in other words radio activity is the problem. Turns out, a school of piranhas were genetically enhanced to help win the Vietnam war. It works well at building tension in how the story plays out, but the dialog and back-story to why the piranhas are in a local resort feel flimsy. One of those elements is John Sayles' writing. For the most part, the film is watchable but there are various elements that don't work. Seriously, looking at the poster alone tells you that Dante and Corman were borrowing the concept from Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). The thing is, Dante at least does it with a non-subtlety attitude and style. Dante is another filmmaker that enjoys taking ideas from popular films and turning it on its head. Then there's Joe Dante, a director who hasn't worked with many theatrical released films, but the ones he has made have faithful followings. That man was Roger Corman, a producer who worked at creating cheap films that entertained viewers no matter what the material. With all the films that are released on video that try to ride the coat tales of other popular entries in film, people forget that early on there really was only one man who did that.

Piranha