Piranha is a 1978 American horror B movie about a swarm of killer piranhas. It was directed and co-edited by Joe Dante and starred Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Steele, and Dick Miller. Produced by Roger Corman, Piranha is a parody of the 1975 film Jaws, which had been a major success for distributor Universal Studios and director Steven Spielberg, and inspired a series of similarly themed B movies such as Grizzly.
''Piranha II: The Spawning'' (1981)
Piranha II: The Spawning, also known as Piranha II: Flying Killers, is a 1981 horror film and the sequel to the 1978 low-budget cult film Piranha, and the feature filmdirectorial debut of James Cameron. The 1978 film involves a private investigator Maggie McNamara from Lyon Investigation hired by the wealthy J.R. Randolph to find his niece that has disappeared with her boyfriend. Maggie seeks out the lonely environmentalist Paul Grogan to help her to look for the teenager. They head to an abandoned army facility and Maggie decides to drain the pools to see whether the body of the girl is there. They are assaulted by a woman with a crowbar but they subdue her. However she escapes and soon they learn that the woman is Dr. Leticia Baines, who is researching a hybrid species of piranha that is capable of surviving in fresh and sea waters for military purposes. Further, Maggie has released the piranhas on the river and they are heading to the Lost River Lake Resort. Maggie and Paul inform the corrupt local Sheriff but Randolph tells him to lock them up since he does not want to jeopardize the party he has promoted to his resort.
''Piranha'' (1995)
Piranha, also known as Piranhas, is a 1995 American horror film directed by Scott P. Levy about a school of killer piranhas descending upon the bustling Lost River Lake Resort. Produced by Roger Corman for the Showtime network, the film is a remake of the 1978 film Piranha, directed by Joe Dante.
''Piranha 3D'' (2010)
Piranha 3D is a 2010 American 3D horror comedy film and a remake of the 1978 film Piranha. It was directed by Alexandre Aja and sports an ensemble cast featuring Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Jerry O'Connell, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd, Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Kelly Brook, Riley Steele, Ving Rhames and Eli Roth. The film begins with a sudden underwater tremor that frees scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, and an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area's new razor-toothed residents.
''Piranha 3DD'' (2012)
Piranha 3DD is a 2012 American 3D comedy horror film and sequel to the 2010 film Piranha 3D. It is directed by John Gulager from a screenplay by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. It stars Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Koechner, Chris Zylka, Katrina Bowden, Gary Busey, Christopher Lloyd, and David Hasselhoff. Production began on April 27, 2011 with a release scheduled for November 23, 2011, but a month prior to release this date was revised to an unspecified 2012 date. The film was eventually released in the UK on May 11, 2012 and in the U.S. on June 1, 2012.
