Produced by L. GUILLERMO VILLEGAS B.  Directed by BILL GIBSON Screenplay by RICHARD FINDER Starring WILLIAM SMITH as CARIBE PETER BROWN as JIM PENDRAKE AHNA CAPRI as TERRY GREENE TOM SIMCOX as ART GREENE with JOHN VILLEGAS as JUAN JULIE TECCA as GIRL ERNIE FRACIS as DIAMOND MINER MIGUEL BERZARES as MIGUEL ANDRES DELGADO as BARTENDER Tom Simcox Ahna Capri

William Smith Peter Brown

This curious little movie bears no relationship or similarity to the three Piranha horror movies (Roger Corman's 1978 original directed by Joe Dante, the 1981 sequel directed by Titanic's James Cameron or Corman's 1995 TV remake starring William Katt).  The Piranha in this movie is William Smith's character, an infamous hunter who hunts "everything".  As he explains, he hunts through instinct bred into the human species from the dawn of man.  It's better to be the hunter than the prey.  Piranha is interspersed with scenes which have the mood of a travelogue or a wildlife special - shots of the native animals, a tour of a diamond market/ mining site and a tour of a  native village take up at least a third of the screen time in this film.  According to our vintage movie magazine collector, Peter Brown was on his honeymoon at the time this movie was filmed, possibly with wife three (Yvette) but it was hard to keep track.  [She's sure about the Yvette part, but not the number.]

Broadly, the plot has photographer Terry Greene (Capri) and her brother Art (Simcox) come to Venezuela on a "photography grant".  They hire Jim Pendrake (Brown) as a guide for a motorcyle trip through the country.  It's established early that Terry has a hatred for guns.  She tries to stop Jim from bringing one on the trip and is angry at his defiance even when he uses it to save her from a rattlesnake.
 

At a rural bar, the trio meet Caribe (Smith).  The subtle dynamics of that meeting set the stage for what follows.  The testosterone meter starts to rise.  When Art introduces Caribe to the other two, Smith's body language tells it all.  He looks at Terry as though appraising her and Jim as though sizing him up as potential competition.  (There is some hint of possible romance between Jim and Terry but only enough to give a sense of  two men possibly wanting the same woman.)  Jim is aware of Caribe's reputation and greets him with muted hostility.  However, after a few drinks, Jim challenges Caribe to a motorcycle race which Caribe  wins despite the fact that he was an inexperienced biker.  [We didn't miss the irony of the challenge of Peter Brown's character challenging Bill to a race in light of Peter's inexperience on a bike and Bill's many biker movies.]

According to Bill and Peter, Peter took a pretty spectacular spill while this race was being filmed.  Unfortunately, it didn't end up in the film.

MORE ON PIRANHA
- How a can of Vienna sausages disrupted filming

To William Smith Fan Site Contents
To William Smith Photo Gallery List

Peter Brown Fan Site