(Excuse an aside before I begin to recap. This episode of The Last Drive-In is a quintessential example of what this show is at its finest: one film balancing the other. Joe Bob introduces an excellent film that some in the audience haven’t, perhaps, seen. The other film … well, JB frames a steaming pile with entertaining tales about its production. I won’t say which of tonight’s films was which, but maybe you can figure it out. )
Piranha (1978)
The set of the Last Drive-In included a minor change that gave us a clue about the evening’s theme: a wading pool for Joe Bob and Darcy to dip their feet in.
In the wake of Jaws (1975), there were many killer-creature-in-the-sea films. JB mentioned Orca (killer whale), Mako: The Jaws of Death (sharks again), Barracuda (not a goldfish), and others.
There were apparently lots of options for what Joe Bob called “‘Jaws Ripoff,’ I mean ‘Ecological Horror’ Night.” He went with a film from the master of the ripoff, producer Roger Corman, and his slightly belated, um, “Eco Horror” film, Piranha.
When Jaws was released to great critical and financial success, a New York Times critic wrote, “What is Jaws but a big budget Roger Corman film?” So initially, Corman saw no point making a film that couldn’t compete with the Spielberg masterpiece.
But when Jaws 2 was scheduled for release, Corman decided it was an opportunity to draft on that film’s publicity. He put Piranha into production, believing it safe to go back in the water. He hired John Sayles, whose work was published in The Atlantic, for the script. (Joe Bob noted that people at Corman’s offices were people who read The Atlantic, which was much less likely in the offices of the big studios.)
JB dug into production details of the film: Corman’s studio had two pictures ready for production at the same time – Piranha and Rock and Roll High School. Prospective directors Allan Arkush and Joe Dante both wanted Rock and Roll High School, but Corman chose Arkush for the anarchy Ramones-driven musical. Dante was given the killer fish film as a consolation prize.
Corman had told Dante he would have a budget of $800,000 – but then halved it. Dante knew he couldn’t make the film for $400,000, so he helped work a deal with United Artists. Corman would put up $400,000 for the domestic rights to the film, and UA would pay $400,000 for the foreign rights. Once the deal was in place, Corman only put up $200,000. The film was made for $600,000.
It was released in August 1978 after the June release of Jaws 2. Piranha capitalized on the other film’s publicity and was a huge success domestically (good for Corman) and even bigger overseas (better for United Artists).
Universal considered a lawsuit against Corman claiming it was a Jaws ripoff, but when the studio screened the film for Steven Spielberg, he loved it and insisted the suit be dropped. (And soon after, Spielberg would be working with Joe Dante on such projects as Gremlins.)
Joe Bob ranted about a lot of other things, including pith helmets, shipping services, Siskel & Ebert, and Texas Aquatic amusement parks’ swimming pigs. You really need to watch for yourself, but for now, here are Joe Bob’s drive-in totals:
Crocodile (1978…or 1979… or 1981… or 1982…)
We get a hint of the second feature when we see Darcy the Mailgirl cosplaying a crocodile, making it clear that sharks – and piranhas – weren’t the only big players in the Ecological Horror genre.
Joe Bob somberly intoned that “This is what Film with a capital F is all about!” He claimed that he sent postcards to the 40 largest film schools to inform them that this feature, as screened on The Last Drive In, was one that should be closely studied by all aspiring filmmakers. That film – the evening’s second feature – is Crocodile.
He told Darcy, “By the time this is over, you and all who view will recognize this as a world classic of cinema.”
Joe Bob argued that the best way to understand this film is as a “palimpsest,” which we all know is a manuscript written over again and again, and one which we can appreciate even more by studying its layer upon layer.
In light of this, JB informed us that there are at least six versions of Crocodile. As is his custom, he described them in great detail.
Crocodile began in the masterly hand of Won-Se Lee who, in 1978, made a film titled Crocodile Fangs, about Thai villagers terrorized by a giant crocodile. He hired an assistant from Toho Studios who had formerly worked with the great Akira Kurosawa to help with special effects.
That man, Sompote Sands, took over the film from Won-Se Lee. A man with money came along, and Sompote took his money and gave the man a part in his film. He added a few scenes, cut away from Won-Se Lee’s work, and released it again, this time under the title of Choroka, with the credit “directed by Sompete Sands.”
There are still more layers to examine! Along came Dick Randall, a writer/producer/director who already contributed two features to The Last Drive-In (Pieces and Don’t Open Until Christmas). He was looking for an international release of the film, but because of some unfortunate incident or another, Randall wasn’t, um, comfortable in returning to the United States. He brought in producer Herman Cohen to assist in his release of what was now titled Crocodile to Thailand and the United States in 1980.
As an artist, Randall felt the film needed something more. So he filmed a new opening sequence of naked women being devoured by a crocodile. A version was released in Europe in 1982 with more nudity, sex, and violence. Darcy was rightly disappointed that we didn’t have that version of the film.
This was not the only thing that displeased Darcy in the episode. In addition to the scanty nudity, not a single version of the film received the seal of approval from the Humane Society, because the film portrays the actual killing of a crocodile.
But JB didn’t back down from his unabashed praise for the film. Even the use of a bathtub toy as a flying crocodile met with adulation from our host. “It’s not just a bath toy in the hands of a master filmmaker,” he asserted.
While honoring all the versions of the film, Joe Bob reminded us to honor one more most of all “the version of Crocodile in your heart.”
Joe Bob’s admiration and love for this film can be seen in his Drive-In totals: