Killer fish (1979)
Killer Fish is an Italian-French-Brazilian horror film from 1979 directed by Antonio Margheriti. Starring Lee Majors, Karen Black and Margaux Hemingway.
Plot Killer fish
The mastermind behind a precision theft of priceless emeralds decides to hide the jewels at the bottom of a reservoir he has secretly stocked with savage deadly piranha. Retrieving the gems turns out to be a caper in itself since the group is now torn by suspicion and jealousy.
Several gang members try to recover the loot on their own, only to become screaming victims of the insatiable horde of killer fish. The treasure is down there just waiting to be brought up. To get them, everyone must face the inescapable terror of thousands of man-eating creatures.
Notable scenes
The piranha scenes.
Making of Killer fish
This is one of several movies made in the mid-to-late 1970s and 1980s after the box-office success of Jaws (1975).
One of two movies first released in 1979 that shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that featured a ”sea monster” of some form. The films were ‘Killerfish’ (1979) and ‘Moonraker’ (1979) which featured piranhas and a giant sea snake respectively.
Killer fish is one of two emerald heist movies made and first released within a couple of years. The other picture was ‘Green Ice’ (1981). Both films were distributed on home video by CBS*Fox Video / 20th Century Fox Video in a number of markets and territories.
Killer fish is one of the sea monster movies that feature piranhas as the predator. It first was released in 1979 which was the next following year after Joe Dante’s ‘Piranha’ (1978) had debuted. In some markets and territories, the picture’s name had the word ”Piranha(s)” in the title so as to cash in on ‘Piranha’ (1978), implying a sequel to it e.g. ‘Piranhas II – Die Rache der Killerfische’ in West Germany. The actual sequel, ‘Piranha II: The Spawning’ aka ‘Piranha II: Flying Killers’, directed by James Cameron, would not actually be released until 1981. 
After one crew member is attacked by the piranha, a second jumps in and is attacked before making it back to the boat. In closeup, blood is in the water. In shots over the transom he is splashing in clear water.
One of the final shots of the destruction of the oil refinery, a crew member is in the background. The scenes use miniature model sets, so he looks gigantic.
Our view on Killer fish
Killer fish was directed by Antonio Margheriti a prolific but fairly middling Italian director who directed Naked You Die (1968). This flick was one of the many water-based horror flicks from the time but for the first two thirds of the movie it’s more-or-less a crime film. The piranhas of the title take a while to get involved and it’s only towards the end that we actually see them. But once a dam breaks and the killer fish are set loose around the surrounding area, the movie becomes an horror.
Trailer
Where to buy
DVD/VHS/Betamax/VCC LP
Watch on Youtube
Details
Genre: horror
Released in: 1979
Era: seventies
Actors: Lee Majors, Karen Black, Margaux Hemingway
Director: Antonio Margheriti
Musical Score: Guido & Maurizio De Angelis
Poster artist: Unknown
Country: Italy, Brazil, France
