Sayles’ first script, I believe, and because it was for Roger Corman’s New World Productions, it got made. Actually that’s not the only reason – this is a very good script, simple but effective, much better than most for New World. It has a strong central idea – the piranhas were developed by the US government to fight in North Vietnam, which is a bit leftie but also something that makes complete sense.
Sayles adds other touches: the feisty female lead; an alcoholic male hero whose daughter is at the resort down stream; the influence of big business and the army (they don’t want the news to get out); the camp counsellor who refers to a little girl getting her period; a bit of science with the female lead explaining the bodies would have bloated. It's also a very solid structure, based on a ticking clock (will our heroes stop the piranhas in time), decent reversals (they think they stop them, but then don't, then get arrested), logical presentation of potential victims (fisherman, a camp, a resort). It's funny how the heroic leads are the ones actually responsible for letting the fish out.
This has been called a spoof but I didn’t take it that way at all – it’s serious with humourous moments. Too many innocent people die for this to be a comedy, including little kids and that really nice counsellor who looks after the hero’s daughter; even the male hero is possibly mortally wounded at the end. There is humour, however, such as the bit where the owner of the resort is informed that the guests are being eaten, the military colonel explaining he's remained at the rank he has for so long because it's all political.
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