Piranha

Terror, horror, death. Film at eleven.

Piranha (1978 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Maggie McKeown: Mr. Grogan, I'm looking for two teenagers that disappeared a few weeks ago. Some friends of theirs said they went camping around here. Paul Grogan: Well, I haven't seen them. You talk to the sheriff's people? Maggie McKeown: I did. They told me that it's a pretty big mountain area. Paul Grogan: It is. Maggie McKeown: So... I was wondering if there are any places around here they might be or if they may have gone for a swim. Paul Grogan: Well if they drowned, they'd be swept down to the dam. So, you're starting off at the wrong end. Maggie McKeown: Boy, you're the wrong end all right! Look, am I interrupting something? This is kind of important. Paul Grogan: Hey, you cool your jets, lady. I didn't axe-murder your young couple. I can't help you. I haven't seen 'em.

Piranha (1978 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Maggie McKeown: Are there any other shacks around here? Paul Grogan: Cabins! This is a cabin! Maggie McKeown: Well, are there any more of them? Any place they might be hole up in? Paul Grogan: There's an old fella named Jack who has a place downriver, but he woundn't treat any hospitality towards them. Oh, and there was some kind of Army test site way up on top of the mountain. But that closed down five, six years ago. Maggie McKeown: C'mon, let's go. Paul Grogan: To where? Maggie McKeown: You're taking me up there. Paul Grogan: Oh NO I'm not!

Piranha (1978 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Maggie McKeown: So, did you start drinking before or after? Paul Grogan: Before or after what? Maggie McKeown: Your wife left you. Paul Grogan: What the hell kind of question is that? Maggie McKeown: Look, I'm sorry. I was just interested.

Piranha (1978 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Dr. Robert Hoak: Keep your hand out of the water. Maggie McKeown: What's wrong with the water? Paul Grogan: Since you're talkin' this morning, buddy, how about a name? Dr. Robert Hoak: Hoak. Dr Robert Hoak. Maggie McKeown: What's wrong with the water? Dr. Robert Hoak: The water is filled with carnivorous fish. Piranha. Paul Grogan: Oh, Christ. Maggie McKeown: In here? How did they get in? Dr. Robert Hoak: You let them in when you drained the pond at the test site.

Piranha (1978 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Paul Grogan: The government paid you? Dr. Robert Hoak: Of course they paid. Where there's germ warfare, the bomb, chemical warfare, there's plenty of money. Special agencies. They pay. They pay a lot better than they do in private research. Paul Hogan: For raisin' fish. Dr. Robert Hoak: Oh, no. It's a matter of genetics. Radiation. Selective breeding. They called it Operation Razorteeth. Maggie McKeown: What was it all for? Dr. Robert Hoak: To destroy the river systems of the North Vietnamese. Our goal was to develop a strain of this killer fish that could survive in cold water and then breed at an accelerated rate. We had everything. Blank cheque. And then the war ended. Paul Grogan: You sound disappointed. Dr. Robert Hoak: They poisoned the water. After all that work, they poisoned the water. But some survived. We developed a lot of mutants and a few of them were able to resist the poison. They ate their own. Their own dead. And then began to breed like some wild species. Suddenly th

Piranha (1978 film), CC BY-SA 4.0