I love creature features, especially the films of Roger Corman, so i was pleased to get a screener for the U.K blu-ray screener for Joe Dante's Piranha, a film which Corman produced and a film which is a hell of a lot of fun. The blu-ray is released by Second Sight on the 28th of January so mark it in your calenders..Check out my review after the jump....
When
I was growing up, I was huge fan of Joe Dante's family films,
although at the time I was unaware of who Dante Was, I loved watching
Innerspace, Explorers, Gremlins, The Burbs and especially his TV show
Eerie Indiana, but as I grew up and developed a love of genre cinema
I discovered films like the incredible The Howling (1981) and Rock
'N' Roll HighSchool (1979) but never got around to checking out
probably his most famous horror flick, even more so than The Howling,
the Roger Corman produced killer fish flick, PIRANHA. Well it's
getting it's U.K blu ray début courtesy of Second Sight releasing
and even though I own the DVD, I still thought that the best way for
me to watch this film was in the best quality possible....and my god
does this film look spectacular in HD.
For
anyone who is unaware of the film, it came out riding on the coat
tails of Steven Spielberg's ground breaking and genre defining Shark
epic, JAWS. How do you capitalise on such a massive film but still
make it an original film. Call in Roger Corman, Joe Dante and
acclaimed screenwriter John Sayles, that's how. For a film that could
have become just another exploitation rip off, Piranha makes the
right choice to play it straight, sure there are mild comic moments
in it, especially some scenes involving actor Paul Bartel as an
overly strict summer camp leader, but the majority of the film is as
straight as line. When you look at the plot of the film, it would be
easy to to just write this off as a waste of time an money.
Genetically engineered Piranha fish escape from a government testing
facility and wreak havoc on a small resort as a female skip tracer
and what I presume was a tracker/lumberjack/woodsman to try an warn
the resort and stop the killer fish from killing what ever is in
their path. See, it's sounds too comical to serious doesn't it. Well
Sayles and Dante actually inject a bit of tension and fear into the
plot which keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, for me, this
is what makes a horror film a horror film.
The
cast is pretty good, we've got Bradford Dillman (The Enforcer) as the
grizzled woodsman who reluctantly helps Skip Tracer Maggie, played by
Heather Menzies-Urich (TV's Logan's Run), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion Of
The Body Snatchers 1955) as the scientist responsible for genetically
engineering the Piranha's, horror veteran Barbara Steel, Dante
regular Dick Miller and Eating Raoul director Paul Bartel as the
Summer Camp Leader.
Second
Sight's Blu-Ray looks stunning. It's presented in a clear colourful
1.85 aspect ratio in 1080p resolution and the colour's are deep and
clear. I have tried to do a picture comparison with the previous MGM
DVD release but due to not owning a blu-ray drive for my PC I had to
take a sort of HD photo, and while it's not the best photo you can
see the difference in picture quality. It's incredible how a film
made for a small budget can scrub up so well.
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| blu-ray |
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| DVD |
It's
a neat package too, the extras are pretty great comes with an audio
commentary from director Joe Dante and producer Jon Davison. Anyone
familiar with Dante's online Trailers From Hell will get a kick out
of listening to Dante talk about his craft, but it's also very
informative. Then we have a behind the scene's look at the making of
Piranha, a series of home movies narrated by Dante that includes a 17
year old Rob Bottin who would go on to do the incredible FX for John
Carpenter's The Thing (1982). The there's a making of which feature
interviews with Dante and Roger Corman, Outtakes and trailers.
Second
Sight have put together a fantastic package with their release of
this classic 70s gore-fest. Piranha is a great gore drenched, tension
filled cult horror that I’m glad I saw in the best possible
quality. It's also a great starting point if you feel you need an
introduction to the films of Joe Dante, I enjoyed the hell out of it
and will definitely be watching this again.
Overall film and extra's
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