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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PiranhaPosterA.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:Totally [[Film/{{Jaws}} original]] [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute poster]], [[BlatantLies we swear]]!]]
3
4!!!'''This entry is for the original 1978 movie and its sequels. For the 2010 remake and its sequel, see ''Film/Piranha3D''.'''
5
6''Piranha'' is a 1978 HorrorComedy BMovie, directed by Creator/JoeDante and written by director-to-be Creator/JohnSayles, about a swarm of [[AttackOfTheKillerWhatever genetically-engineered killer piranhas]].
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8Two teens break into an abandoned facility to engage in a spot of SkinnyDipping in the reservoir, and are promptly pulled under and torn to shreds. The next day, insurance investigator Maggie [=McKeown=] (Heather Menzies) is dispatched to find them. Teaming up with local hillbilly Paul Grogan (Creator/BradfordDillman), the two enter the facility themselves and inadvertently drain the critters engineered by resident MadScientist Dr. Robert Hoak (Creator/{{Kevin McCarthy|Actor}}) as part of the now-defunct Operation Razorteeth ([[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar in which they would be unleashed into the riverways of North Vietnam]]) into the river; wherein they make themselves en route to a nearby summer camp where Grogan's daughter is staying, and ultimately the ocean...
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10In many respects a parody of ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', Universal Studios initially threatened to sue until Creator/StevenSpielberg saw it himself and loved it. In 1981, it got itself a sequel titled ''Film/PiranhaPartTwoTheSpawning'' in which the piranhas ''fly''; this film happens to be the directorial debut of Creator/JamesCameron. [[Film/TheTerminator Yes,]] '''''[[Film/{{Aliens}} that]]''''' [[Film/Titanic1997 James]] [[Film/{{Avatar}} Cameron]].
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12The first film was remade as a [[MadeForTVMovie TV movie]] in 1995, most notable for starring a young Creator/MilaKunis and for [[StockFootage reusing footage]] from the original film.
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14A more notable 3D remake, ''Film/Piranha3D'', eventually arrived in summer 2010, directed by Creator/AlexandreAja. Shifting the action to Lake Victoria (a fictionalized version of Lake Havasu, Arizona) and ditching the GovernmentConspiracy set-up in favour of a plot involving prehistoric versions of the eponymous fish, it was BloodierAndGorier, HotterAndSexier, and generally [[RefugeInAudacity reveled in its own silliness]]. A sequel to the remake, ''Film/Piranha3DD'', was released in 2012.
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16-----
17!!The original films and TV remake provide examples of:
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19* AgonyOfTheFeet: Jack bleeds to death when the piranha attack his feet.
20* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:The piranhas are implied to survive the toxic waste and reach the ocean.]]
21* AnimalMotifs: Lots of sealife motifs are present, especially all over the resort.
22* ArmiesAreEvil: The U.S. Government is the one that funded "Operation Razorteeth", a biological weapon with absolutely no concept of discrimination between combatants and non-combatants, to be used during the Vietnam War and Colonel Waxman, the general that arrives to help deal with the released piranha, is a SuitWithVestedInterests in the ''Jaws'' way. In the remake, the intent was for them to be used in the Cold War if it went hot.
23* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The piranha in the TV remake make various high-pitched squeals and shrieks, an impossibility for fish as they have no vocal chords.
24* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Colonel Waxman]] is devoured by a swarm of piranha.
25* AttackOfTheKillerWhatever: Biologically-modified piranha.
26* AttackOfTheTownFestival: Actually an opening of the swim resort, but close enough.
27* BioweaponBeast: The piranhas were made in a lab through controlled mutation and bioloical manipulation to be unleashed in rivers as an area denial weapon, during the Vietnam War in the original and the late Cold War in the remake.
28* BMovie: Overall, the film carries its designation on its sleeve proudly. As well, ''Film/TheMonsterThatChallengedTheWorld'' from 1957 appears on a scene.
29* CassandraTruth: Partially because the government covers it up until the last possible second, and partially because it is hard to believe that an American river is full of ''genetically modified piranha'', the heroes are believed to be insane or drunk (and put in jail for a short while).
30* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Lots. Being eaten by piranha with multiple takes of people being gnawed to the bone while they're still alive definitely falls under this.
31* DartboardOfHate: Of the leader of the children's camp.
32* DeadpanSnarker: Paul. He has no problem pretending to be proud to be the town drunk, among other things.
33* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler:Creator/KeenanWynn as Jack,]] who appears in only two scenes before [[spoiler:his legs are devoured by the piranhas, and he bleeds to death.]]
34* DeadHatShot: After [[spoiler:Colonel Waxman]] is devoured by the piranhas, his hat is shown sinking to the bottom of the river.
35* DeathByAdaptation: In the original version of the film [[spoiler:J.R. Randolph (the owner of the swim resort and one member of the "SuitWithVestedInterests" subplot) ends the film standing in the middle the slaughterhouse that his resort became thanks to the piranha attack, looking despondent.]] In the 90s remake [[spoiler:his role in the film finishes with him seeing said slaughter and, knowing he is utterly ruined, [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]].]]
36* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler:In the original, one of the kids does not survive the piranha attack at the summer camp]].
37* DeepSouth: The events of the film happen in the fictional Lost River and surrounding county, apparently somewhere in Texas.
38* DiabolusExMachina: A female scientist (played by Barbara Steele) says that [[spoiler:[[BlatantLies the piranhas won't survive in salt water]]. Cue a beautiful dusk shot of the sea... and the piranhas' distinctive growling.]]
39* DistractedByTheSexy: Maggie distracts a soldier so Paul can knock him out by flashing her breasts at him. The soldier looks to be ''very'' pleased by that... for a couple of seconds, at least.
40* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The piranha reach the ocean, and the world is definitely screwed.]]
41* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:J.R. Randolph in the remake goes to his office and shoots himself in the head after the piranha kill or maim a large number of his resort's guests and ruined his business.]]
42* DrowningMySorrows: Jack is an alcoholic and this has completely destroyed his marriage, which drove him to drink more.
43* EatenAlive: What the piranha do to their victims.
44* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler: Both the original movie and TV remake end with Paul polluting the river and seemingly killing off all of the piranha, only for the last scene in both movies to imply that the piranhas have survived and made it to the ocean.]]
45* EveryCarIsAPinto: Two boats crash in the original film explodingly.
46* EvilDetectingDog: Jack's dog starts reacting shortly before AgonyOfTheFeet occurs. When Maggie, Paul, and Hoak arrive on the scene, the dog is barking like crazy as if to warn them.
47* EyeOpen: The first thing we see of the piranha in the entire movie is the close-up of the eye of one of them as it opens in response to the tank's water being disturbed by a girl in the prologue.
48* {{Fanservice}}: We get a lot of people in swimsuits, a close-up of Maggie's bare breasts when she flashes a soldier as a distraction so Paul can conk him from behind, and the girl of the skinny-dipping couple in the prologue accidentally goes full-frontal for a second before she pulls her panties back up as she rushes to take off her pants.
49* FilmAtEleven: Said by the reporter at the end.
50-->'''Reporter''': "Terror, horror, death. Film at eleven."
51* FlyingSeaFoodSpecial: The second film has ''flying piranha''.
52* GenderFlip: The sole remaining scientist of Operation Razorteeth in original film's was Dr. Hoak, who was played by Kevin [=McCarthy=]. The scientist in the made-for-TV remake produced by Showtime was Dr. Leticia Barnes, played by Darleen Carr. Name and gender changes aside, both characters were exactly the same.
53* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: Genetically-engineered killer piranhas. 'Nuff said.
54* GeneralRipper: Colonel Waxman, who is implied to want to preserve the piranhas to use them as a weapon, which results in him keeping the situation quiet (of course, this is also motivated by him trying to prevent him from being bankrupted by an investment he made in a swim resort).
55* GilliganCut: Maggie is told to go to a dam to find missing teenagers:
56-->'''Maggie:''' Well come on, let's go.
57-->'''Paul:''' Go where?
58-->'''Maggie:''' You're taking me up there.
59-->'''Paul:''' Oh, no, I'm not.
60-->[''Cut to him accompanying her to the dam'']
61* {{Gorn}}: Lots of blood and bite marks everywhere (even on children).
62* GovernmentConspiracy: Operation Razorteeth.
63* HazardousWater: Being full of piranha sure makes it that.
64* HellIsThatNoise: The piranhas make a noise similar to chatter or buzz-saws on most of the scenes they are in... which are them eating people.
65* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Hoak]] jumps in the water he knows is infested to save a boy trapped on a sinking, capsized canoe.
66* HotterAndSexier: The 1995 remake has two female characters (shortly before diving into the water and becoming piranha chow) doing full blown strip-tease sequences. Ironically, it loses the scene where Maggie [[DistractedByTheSexy flashes a soldier]].
67* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Throughout the movie, Dumont the camp counselor can sometimes be pretty mean to Suzie and some other kids. However, he truly cares about their safety as he helps out some of the children when the piranhas attack the kids during a game at the summer cap. He even shows sadness when he's seen [[spoiler:over a body of a child who did not survive the attack]].
68* MadeForTVMovie: TheRemake, made by Showtime and produced by Corman. Attempted to make somewhat DarkerAndEdgier by removing the comedy scenes, but still almost a ShotForShotRemake.
69* NeverMyFault: Goes both ways on the raft, as Maggie and Paul chastise Hoak for continuing the experiment and thus keeping the little monsters alive all this time, but he's quick to point out they were the ones that released them from their isolated pool.
70* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nice job releasing the piranha from their completely isolated pool, hero. Jeez.
71* NightSwimEqualsDeath: The young couple in the opening scene meet the piranha in their pool at night.
72* OperationBlank: "Operation Razorteeth", the government project to genetically engineer piranha capable of living anywhere (even oceans) to use as a riverine denial weapon in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Dr. Hoak reminisces the experimentation days by telling the heroes that the government spared absolutely no expense on the project... and as usual, when the project became unnecessary, they arrived and did clean-up work without bothering to see if it was actually thorough.
73* PiranhaProblem: The advertisement even boasted about the fact that the monsters of this tale are ''multiple'' killer fish whereas ''Jaws'' has only the one shark.
74* PyrrhicVictory: In the original movie Paul and Maggie manage to get rid of the piranha, but the river ends being polluted. Made even worse when [[spoiler:it's revealed the piranhas had survived]].
75* SexSignalsDeath: Both versions of the film begin with a skinny-dipping couple getting eaten by the piranha. The climactic attack on the resort also shows a lot of swimmers getting antsy with each other during the "calm before the storm" montage. The Showtime remake adds a second skinny-dipper who gets eaten the night before the attack on the camp and both her and the couple of the beginning [[HotterAndSexier make a lot more clear]] that they want to have sex in the water.
76* SmugSnake: The female scientist constantly assumes that the piranha are incapable of solving problems or surviving the traps the military places for them, and her assurance that all the piranha are dead at the end [[spoiler:([[TheEndOrIsIt yeah, right]])]] is delivered with a very smug little smile.
77* StockFootage: The TV remake shamelessly re-uses the underwater shots from the original.
78* SuitWithVestedInterests: Colonel Waxman, the leader of the military detachment that gets sent to deal with the piranha happens to be a major investor of the swim resort that is about to open, and because of this one of the biggest reasons he wishes to keep the situation quiet (even if this may get people killed) is to prevent tourists from being spooked away from the grand opening. [[spoiler:He gets his JustDesserts when the piranha attack the resort's opening and the ship he's in gets overloaded with panicking tourists, tossing him into the water and eaten.]]
79* TooDumbToLive: David? Barbara? You find a facility surrounded by a chain-link fence and multiple "Keep Out" -signs, and you decide to go swimming in the large pool of water you find within?
80* TotallyRadical: Lots of this dialogue amongst the children in the remake.
81* UnabashedBMovieFan: In the original movie some guard watches ''Film/TheMonsterThatChallengedTheWorld'' from 1957.
82* WeirdMoon: The prologue happens on a night with a full moon... of the "looks so close that should be causing gravitational issues" kind.
83* WhatTheHellHero: Dr. Hoak has very little problem reminding Jack and Maggie that ''they'' were the ones that drained the tank where the piranha lived, releasing them into the river.
84* WouldHurtAChild: The film one-ups its otherwise [[BloodierAndGorier more extreme]] remake in one significant department: namely, we see the piranha attack a summer camp full of children. Complete with multiple kids being dragged under and eaten (even if the scene isn't as bloody as the one at the resort). This would hardly be the last time that Creator/JoeDante would put kids in peril in his movies.
85* YouSayTomato: Hoak and Mengers both pronounce piranha "piranYAH", while everyone else says "piranAH". Technically the former is the correct, original pronunciation, but the latter is so widespread that it's more common.

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