Planet of Evil

A distress call brings the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith to Zeta Minor, a planet on the edge of the known universe. A scientific expedition on the planet has suffered several casualties at the hands of unseen forces. When a military ship arrives to retrieve the scientists, the Doctor is blamed for the killings. Meanwhile, after prolonged exposure to anti-matter, the expedition's lead scientist has begun to change in unpredictable ways. Planet of Evil is, unfortunately, a real mixed bag. While I love the design of the planet itself, everything else in the serial is pretty bad. The creature design, which cribs a bit from Forbidden Planet, leaves a little to be desired. The military ship looks like a cross between an upside down Enterprise and a dust buster. And the costumes in this serial are terrible across the board. I'm accustomed to forgiving the show for its cheapness, but this serial proved to be a bit of a slog.

Rating: Not guilty%

Piranha

Piranha isn't trying to hide the fact that it's a Jaws rip-off. Just one look at the poster and it's undeniable. Having said that, other than the poster and the basic premise of killer fish, Piranha doesn't really take all that much from Jaws. It doesn't feature any sharks, stock footage or bootleg John Williams sound cues. Piranha follows its own Cormanesque B-movie path. It's loaded with practical makeup effects, car stunts, boat stunts, underwater sequences and tons of screaming extras. With genre vets like Kevin McCarthy and Barbara Steele bringing some gravitas to the proceedings and Corman regulars Dick Miller and Paul Bartel rounding out the cast, Piranha stands head and shoulders above your average Jaws rip-off.

Rating: 78%

(Image from Wikipedia)