Executive produced by Roger Corman, Piranha is the first installment in a series of low-budget B movies inspired by the film Jaws (1975), which had been a major success for Universal Pictures and director Steven Spielberg. Initially, Universal had considered obtaining an injunction to prevent Piranha being released, particularly as they had released Jaws 2 the same summer, but the lawsuit was dropped after Spielberg himself gave the film a positive comment in advance.
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Charles Champlin, in his review of the film for the Los Angeles Times, called it "a swift, efficient program picture which squeezes the most out of its dollars to squeeze delicious chills from the audience."[14] Jill Forbes of The Monthly Film Bulletin called the film "a quickie from the Corman company that can't decide whether to plump for horror, science fiction or social comedy, and plays safe with something for everyone", and found it "a lot of fun".[15] Screen International's Marjorie Bilbow wrote that the film "works as spirited scream and giggle nonsense because there is always something happening and Joe Dante directs with a slyly tongue-in-cheek awareness of the existence of big brother Jaws".[16]
Piranha has since acquired a cult status. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 72% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Performed with a wink and directed with wry self-awareness, Piranha is an unabashed B-movie with satirical bite."[17]
Steven Spielberg called the film "the best of the Jaws ripoffs".[6]
Crazy talk. Next you're gonna say we only need one 196 instead of five.