Piranha

Desperately seeking diamonds, a band of adventurers discover that life in the wild is not all fun and games. After traveling throughout the land on motorcycles and seeing several scenes of birds, they stop at a local pub to drink heavily and absorb the culture. As they become engulfed into the culture and the land, they gather the aid of a hunter named Caribe that has not only mastered a bike race, but also harbors a darker plan. When they arrive to their destination the sight of diamonds turns to dust as these friends are forced to play prey and predator with an evil that wears a familiar face.

William Gibson directs this poorly acted, scripted, and pause-ridden suspense thriller that is easily lost in the shuffle of modern day cinema. The low budget is very obvious as Gibson riddles the film with overlapping scenes of birds, birds, and more birds to fill time. We are even shown unending scenes of diamond mining and bike racing, leaving nothing to develop characters or story. We are even shorted on the title of this film as there are only two mentions of the flesh eating fish.

Back-stories are underdeveloped leaving us a lack of emotion for the main characters and building an emotionless climax that only gave us hope that the film was over. Nothing was worth saving in this film, unless you enjoy studying birds from different countries (outside of the one that the film takes place). Gibson missed the entire focus of this film and the final result reminds us of a preschooler's first collage where there were tons of images, massive amounts of glue, and no real structure.

Grade: * out of ****

Released in 1972, "Piranha" chronicles events when a brother & sister photography team (Tom Simcox & Ahna Capri) enlist a guide (Peter Brown) for a tour in the jungle wilderness where they meet a friendly-but-mysterious hunter named Caribe (William Smith), who lives in the jungle. Caribe shows his true colors when he acts upon his Native namesake.

People badmouth this movie because they fell prey to a bait-and-switch by DVD-makers or whomever. This is NOT the Roger Corman nature-runs-amok flick of the same name from 1978. Neither is it a creature feature at all. It's a realistic Venezuelan jungle adventure/thriller with hints of horror highlighted by genuine early 70's atmosphere. Despite being an adventure/thriller, the title "Piranha" does not misrepresent the movie, which is explained in the second half and ties into the plot (I'm not going to give it away). Another thing to keep in mind is that the movie was released in '72, three years before "Jaws" made nature-runs-amok flicks popular. So the filmmakers didn't title it "Piranha" with the intention of misleading fans of creatures-on-the-loose flicks.

In any case, the cast is great, although they coulda done better with someone other than Capri in the female role, even though she plays the part well despite my slight misgivings. Simcox is a likable masculine protagonist and it's too bad he didn't become a star, although he had constant TV work. Brown is good too, but it's Smith who towers here, literally at 6'2", but in overweening taciturn charisma as well. Caribe seems like a cool guy to party with in the jungle and the quartet have some good times together, including a long (8.5 minute) motorcycle race, but the story takes a dark turn in the final act. I've seen a handful of Smith films & TV episodes over the years and this is by far his best role.

Some complain about the "stock footage" of numerous animals, but it adds to the jungle atmospherics. Others complain about the thinness of the plot and the seeming padding with the animal, Native and diamond-panning footage, etc. This has caused some to criticize the movie as a "Venezuelan travelogue," but I enjoyed this aspect. Viewing the film IS like vacationing in Venezuela and I found it interesting and informative, but it's just a stage for the interesting low-key drama of the quartet. And, say what you will about the thin story, it gels together into a meaningful whole with interesting things to glean.

If you're in the mood for a 60s-70's psychological adventure/thriller I recommend "Piranha." However, if you need an explosion every second and unrealistic action sequences to maintain your attention look elsewhere.

The film runs 90 minutes and was shot entirely in Venezuela.

GRADE: B+

"Two wildlife photographers are traveling through the Amazon River basin on their latest assignment. While trying to capture the wildlife of the area on film, our photographers cross paths with a game hunter, who is stalking the animals for another reason. Looking to eliminate the witnesses to his illegal activities, the hunter decides to…" according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Handsome guide Peter Brown (as Jim Pendrake) takes pretty blonde Ahna Capri (as Terry Greene) and her good-looking brother Tom Simcox (as Art Greene) into the Venezuelan jungle, to admire the view, and take wildlife pictures. After they hook up with hunky big-game hunter William Smith (as Caribe), psychological dramatics surface.

A pivotal scene, with Mr. Brown reposing in the "vee" of a tree, and sharing a cigarette with Mr. Simcox, is nicely staged. The circular direction reappears in the later "fight" between Brown and Mr. Smith; and, it is effective. Simcox' early sex romp adds nothing to the story; it could have been cut, to take advantage of what seems like flirting between the Brown and Simcox characters. An attraction between Brown and Ms. Capri could have been played up, also.

The music, including Jim Stein's "Love All Things That Love the Sun", is fine; but the film needs to be re-tracked, to cut out animals which do not appear on screen. And, there is far too much superfluous footage on display. "Piranha" is a case where less would have been more.

Having watched 'Piranha, Piranha' just last night, when I look at film sites online about it, and see all of these so-called cinephiles so upset because they felt the title was a ripoff (don't worry, I'm not going to give any spoilers), and that the film is an unenjoyable mess, 'to each his own', I say, for I really enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, it's no 'Piranha', 'Jaws' or 'Moby Dick', but for what it does have, and what it does try to do, I give full marks for.

Like Jack Palance and Henry Silva, William Smith is one of those presences that no matter how much you hate, you have to respect, and deep down inside, no matter how good you are, or think you are, you wish you were. Nothing phases them, and they're in complete control of their destinies. If someone bothers them, they are eliminated, and if they want someone, they reach out and grab them. This is one of those films that fully endorses that mythology, in Smith's character, Caribe.

The film is an intriguing blend of 'Deliverance' and 'The Most Dangerous Game'. It's no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. And it's no ripoff to Dante's thriller, because it came out six years beforehand (and three years before 'Jaws' made this type of movie so popular). What is very difficult for me to grasp is that around this same time, in an even more desolate area of South America and with even more temperamental actors, Werner Herzog was making a masterpiece in 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God'...

There seems to be about 30 minutes of movie here and 60 minutes of shaky, hand-held shots of birds, monkeys, guys on an endless motorcycle race. Seriously, the race comes from out of nowhere and takes forever! One guy jumps over a log with a gator beside it. Spine-chilling thrills, there! Hey, let's get some cash together and spend some time in Venezuela! Yay!

Oh yeah, it's about 55 minutes in before anyone even says the word "piranha" and about an hour and ten minutes before you see one "in action".

I, too, got this one for about 5 bucks. I was thinking it was the OTHER Piranha movie. (This one is even so deceptive to be labeled only "Piranha")

Lame. Not even lame enough to be much fun, I'm sad to say.