Killer Fish

{{Infobox film

| name = Killer Fish

| image = Killer-fish.jpg

| caption = Original movie poster

| director = Antonio Margheriti

| producer = Alex Ponti

| writer = Michael Rogers

| starring = Lee Majors
Karen Black
Margaux Hemingway
Marisa Berenson
James Franciscus

| music = Guido De Angelis
Maurizio De Angelis

| cinematography = Alberto Spagnoli

| editing = Cesare D'Amico

| studio = Fawcett-Majors Productions
Victoria Productions
Filmar do Brasil

| distributor = Paris Filmes
ITC Entertainment[https://web.archive.org/web/20150926053427/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/27293/Killer-Fish/credits Killer Fish company credits]. The New York Times

| released = {{film date|df=y|1979|12|7|}}

| runtime = 101 minutes

| country = Italy
France
Brazil

| language = English
Portuguese
Italian

}}

Killer Fish is a horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pevDl3NMUkC&pg=PA279 | title=Attori stranieri del nostro cinema |author1=Lancia, Enrico |author2=Melelli, Fabio | year=2006 | publisher=Gremese Editore| page=279 | isbn=9788884404251}}

Plot

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.

Cast

Lee Majors as Robert Lasky
Karen Black as Kate Neville
Margaux Hemingway as Gabrielle
Marisa Berenson as Ann
James Franciscus as Paul Diller
Roy Brocksmith as Ollie
Dan Pastorini as Hans
Frank Pesce as Warren Bailey
Charles Guardino as Lloyd Bailey
Anthony Steffen as Max
Fábio Sabag as Quintin
Gary Collins as Tom

Filming

The film was made on location in the city of Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.{{cite web | url=http://www.cinemateca.gov.br/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/iah/?IsisScript=iah/iah.xis&base=FILMOGRAFIA&lang=p&nextAction=lnk&exprSearch=ID=021892&format=detailed.pft | title=O Peixe Assasino | publisher=Cinemateca Brasileira | access-date=May 17, 2014 | language=pt | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054239/http://www.cinemateca.gov.br/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/iah/?IsisScript=iah%2Fiah.xis&base=FILMOGRAFIA&lang=p&nextAction=lnk&exprSearch=ID%3D021892&format=detailed.pft | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | url-status=dead }}

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin stated that the film "appears to have a greater budget than Piranha" and that it "exhibits considerably less imagination".{{cite journal|journal=Monthly Film Bulletin|volume=46|issue=540|pages=147–148|year=1979|title=Killer Fish|location=London|issn=0027-0407}} Vincent Canby of The New York Times stated that the film "may not be a good movie — it's really inept—but it's friendly, like Mr. Majors's quizzical squint, which is, I'm told by people who watch more television than I do, what Mr. Majors does best. Everyone, in fact, carries on gamely, as people do at a picnic when it rains."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990DE1D7133EE732A25754C0A9649D946890D6CF|work=The New York Times|title=Killer Fish (1979) Screen: Human Prey Menaced in 'Killer Fish':The Plastic Skeleton|access-date=August 4, 2015|date=December 7, 1979|last=Canby|first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Canby}}

Legacy

The film is one of six movies featured in Season 12 of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet.{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/mystery-science-theater-3000-season-12-trailer/|title='Mystery Science Theater 3000' Season 12 Trailer Unleashes 'Mac and Me' and More Awful Movies|last=Evangelista|first=Chris|date=November 12, 2018|publisher=/Film|access-date=November 12, 2018}}

The film was broadcast on Tele 5 as part of the programme format SchleFaZ in season 1.