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)

Dressed to Kill

A sexually frustrated housewife attempts to seduce her therapist. After he turns her down, she picks up a guy at an art galley. Unfortunately, she soon finds out that he has a serious case of VD. She doesn't have a lot of time to fret over it though, as she gets hacked to death with a straight razor in the elevator of the guy's apartment building. So then it's up to her son and a prostitute who witnessed the murder to find the killer. I guess there's a lot of people out there who hated this movie when it first came out, calling it overly violent and misogynistic. Nowadays, a lot of people would probably hate this movie because of its less than PC handling of sexuality and gender dynamics. Personally, I'm not one to let dated attitudes stand in the way of a good murder mystery.   

Rating: 71%

(Image from rogerebert.com)