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)

The Howling

Dee Wallace plays a television news anchor being stalked by a serial killer. After a particularly intense encounter with the killer, her therapist recommends spending some time at his secluded resort in the country. The locals seem a little odd and there's plenty of howling in the woods at night, but surely these things are unrelated. Or are they? They are. Very much so. The Howling is a Joe Dante movie through and through. Expect to see Dante regulars like Dick Miller, Robert Picardo and Belinda Balaski alongside Hollywood ringers like Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine and Slim Pickens. Heck, there are even cameos from Roger Corman, Forrest J. Ackerman, Mick Garris and John Sayles. The effects from Rob Bottin look pretty good, but there are definitely a few effects sequences that don't hold up. I'm looking at you, poorly animated fireside man-to-wolf transformation sequence.

Rating: 68%

(Image from Amazon)

Alligator

Alligator is way better than it has any right to be. An unapologetic, low-budget, Jaws rip-off that manages to find the perfect balance of schlock and awe. The titular alligator even looks surprisingly good, thanks to the mixture of practical special effects with old timey forced perspective shots. The plot of Alligator is pretty standard for this type of movie: our hero, Robert Forster playing a balding cop, teams up with a sexy redheaded reptile expert to find and stop the renegade gator (renegator?) before it's too late. Throw in Henry Silva as a whacked out big game hunter, a subplot involving a shady chemical company, sleazy reporters, a big wedding, and some kids getting killed at a birthday party and you've got yourself one heck of a movie.

Rating: 89%

(image from impawards.com)

Matinee

Matinee is a comedic coming of age story set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the glory days of the B movie. John Goodman plays Lawrence Woolsey, a stand-in for classic B movie mastermind William Castle, who shows up in town with his new monster movie, Mant, and a boatload of gimmicks. Matinee blends together a lot of elements from 1950's and 1960's American culture (cold war paranoia, juvenile deliquency, teen culture, etc.) which muddies up the time frame a bit, but doesn't distract from the movie as a whole. Matinee is Joe Dante's love letter to the bygone era of the B movie.

Rating: 90%

(Image from movieposter.com)