Piranha

Name: Piranha
Director: Joe Dante
Released: 1978

Synopsis

When flesh-eating piranhas are accidently released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.

88
Slant Magazine
Dante makes films that Spielberg’s id might make, movies that double down on pop cultural know-how and riotous thrills without pausing for anything so unentertaining as an earnest assessment of humanity.
80
Empire
Like all the best exploitation flicks, Piranha is driven by a ruthless desire to entertain and, in this non-pretentious ambition, it succeeds magnificently.
80
CineVue
A delight; a silly B-movie with a smart script and an amusing anti-authoritarian undercurrent.
75
The A.V. Club
With Piranha, Dante delivers a superior Jaws rip-off with a light, goofy touch that anticipates the anarchic, gleeful mayhem of his later work.
70
Time Out
Engaging tongue-in-cheek exploitation pic.
63
TV Guide Magazine
The silliness of the whole concept is handled with a sly sense of humor by director Dante, with some tongue-in-cheek appearances by Keenan Wynn, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Bartel, Barbara Steele, and Dick Miller adding to the fun.
60
IGN
Whether Piranha was made as an intentionally cheesy spoof of Jaws or a cynical bargain-basement imitation, the fact remains that it's just bad enough to qualify as good. As long as you don't take it too seriously (after all, the filmmakers clearly didn't).
50
Variety
This is one film where the fish win.