This absurd (and absurdly entertaining) action-adventure flick from the days of polyester, poppers, and Plato’s Retreat has to be one of the most assertively engaging “70s aesthetic” films I’ve ever seen that wasn’t actually set in a disco. The cocaine-thin leading ladies (not divulging anything, that’s what the look was called) sport clunky jewelry, epic perms, and dramatic eye shadow while serving up a veritable fashion parade of outré late-‘70s resort wear. Meanwhile, you can practically smell the Aramis Cologne wafting from the hirsute, heavily-tanned, gold-chained chests peeking out from behind the earth-toned, wide-collared and wide-open Quiana shirts of the film’s blow-dried leading men.
Set in Brazil and cast with what look to be the stragglers from a particularly off night at Studio 54 or Xenon, Killer Fish is a disarmingly fun dishonor-among-thieves jewel heist flick with a bit of post-Jaws perils-of-the-deep action thrown in. And by thrown in, I mean literally. For unbeknownst to his fellow partners in crime, the ringleader behind the theft of an emerald mine tosses 100 deadly, rapidly-breeding piranha into a nearby reservoir to act as razor-toothed security guards protecting the multimillion-dollar cache of stolen jewels stashed way, way down...deep below in the watery depths.
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| "I'm gonna have to see some ID." |
While rampant greed and mucho-mistrust lead to escalating betrayals and double-crosses among the motley crew of gem grabbers, the arrival at the resort of an American supermodel and her entourage lighten the tone of things by providing romantic interest, labored comedy, and the opportunity for enhanced body-count jeopardy once an ill-timed tropical tornado (!) flings them all together in a sinking ship in piranha-infested waters.
I might be guilty of making it all sound much better than it actually is (the film's pacing deadlier than the fish), but from its tin-eared screenplay, discordant performances, and "vicissitudes of time" casting (this meager production couldn't have afforded its cast just four short years earlier) Killer Fish is one of those sublime lightning-in-a-bottle epics of ineptitude that I live for.
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| Thieves Like Us "Trust me, nobody's gonna notice us in black leather & turtlenecks in sweltering Brazil." |
One of the last of a handful of motion pictures to bear the dubious A Fawcett-Majors Production banner (the Fawcett-Majors marital union had already dissolved by this point), this waterlogged French-Italian-Brazilian bouillabaisse (cioppino, moqueca) went through several working titles –The Naked Sun, Greed, and Deadly Treasure of the Piranha– before settling on the throw-up-your-hands, cut-to-the-chase, B-movie obviousness of Killer Fish. And it’s a good thing, too, because this isn’t the kind of movie that can afford to play it coy (koi?).
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| Karen Black as Kate Neville |
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| Lee Majors as Robert Lasky |
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| Margaux Hemingway as Gabrielle |
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| James Franciscus as Paul Diller |
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| Marisa Berenson as Ann Hoyt |
Looking at the exceptionally attractive roster of talent assembled for Killer Fish from the vantage point of 2021, one would be forgiven if mistaking it for the guest star list of a special two-hour episode of The Love Boat or Murder, She Wrote. But back in 1978 this cast of Oscar-nominees, runway models, TV stars, and Stanley Kubrick alumni were, as one critic put it, “stars in the autumn of their careers” appearing in a leaky, tax-shelter flick produced by Sophia Loren's stepson and promoted as costing $6 million.
But one look at the cartoonishly shoddy special effects and no-budget production values supports the theory that the budget boast was mere PR puffery calculated to inspire cross-reference association to Lee Majors’ long-running TV program The Six-Million Dollar Man, then in its final season. Killer Fish was Majors' doomed second attempt to parlay his TV fame into movie stardom following The Norsemen (1978), a Viking adventure that was all but laughed off the screen.
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| No Lies Detected, Ms. Black |
From its sunny tropical setting to its don’t-go-near-the-water menace, the PG-rated Killer Fish is just the sort of action-packed, sun-baked escapist fare ideally suited for quickie summer playoffs at Drive-Ins and air-conditioned matinees. Yet in a move as characteristically wrongheaded as most everything associated with this film, Killer Fish was launched in Los Angeles as a Christmas holiday release, opening in December of 1979 on the same day as Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Since no one in their right mind could have possibly considered Killer Fish a serious contender to go head-to-head against that eagerly-anticipated Trekkie wet dream, my guess is that distributors were banking on Killer Fish capturing the spillover demographic of disappointed (and more importantly, desperate) teens and young adults turned away from sold-out screenings of Star Trek.
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| Killer Fish opened on Friday, December 7, 1979 at the Pacific Theater on Hollywood Blvd. The visual clutter of this ad fails to take advantage of the fact that Killer Fish is loaded with, if not exactly marquee names, certainly recognizable, exploitable ones. |
As a non-Trekkie who got caught up in the hype and lined up to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture on opening day, I'm more than a little surprised (given my adoration of Karen Black) that I have absolutely no memory whatsoever of the release of Killer Fish. What's more, it's maddening to realize in hindsight that not only would I have had a better time at Killer Fish, but I more than likely would have had the entire theater to myself.
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| The influence of this fashion-forward adventure flick extends to featuring, in the person of photographer's assistant Ben played by Chico Arago, a Where's Waldo? prototype (Where's Wally? in the UK) some eight years before the first puzzle book was published in 1987 |
Part caper film (imagine a soggy, poorly-acted The Treasure of Sierra Madre); part eco-horror/when-animals-attack flick (The Swarm submerged); part action-adventure (lots of things get “blowed up real good”); and part disaster movie (a tornado, a bursting dam, a plane crash, a sinking boat), Killer Fish is one of those “International Market” projects that toss a bit of everything into the mix, hoping something will ultimately land.
Alas, very little of it does. But what saves Killer Fish from being the bland, by-the-numbers, macho actioner Lee Majors’ participation all but guaranteed, is the startling, obviously inadvertent fashion-focused, supermodel in peril, female-centric, Last Days of Disco feel of it all. Killer Fish is like Halston & Andy Warhol got together to make an action film primer for gay teens raised on Vogue, After Dark Magazine, and Donna Summer.
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| Gary Collins as Tom |
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| Former NFL quarterback Dan Pastorini as Hans |
Disco was everywhere in the late '70s, making it all but mandatory for movie soundtracks to feature at least one disco track. Disco goddess Donna Summer contributed the theme to The Deep in 1977, so, not to be outdone, Killer Fish enlisted Ami Stewart--of "Knock on Wood" fame--to sing the jarringly tension-killing but infectiously booty-shaking disco theme "The Winner Takes All" (no relation to ABBA's similarly-named "The Winner Take It All" which was still a year off).
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| Disco Duck to Disco Pirahna: Listen |
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS MOVIE
After I missed its original theatrical release, Killer Fish was entirely off my radar until it resurfaced in 2018 on a particularly riotous episode of Netflix’s rebooted Mystery Science Theater 3000. While my principal interest in the film has always been Karen Black, who could pass up the glam + quirk factor of having Margaux Hemingway (whom I absolutely loved in the widely-reviled Lipstick) and Marisa Berenson (Cabaret and Barry Lyndon) all together in the same movie? Tack on the random casting addition of dimpled nonentity Gary Collins, and Killer Fish becomes a positively irresistible must-see.
Given all the aforementioned ingredients, there was no way Killer Fish wasn't going to be my cup of so-bad-it's-good tea anyway. But I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be quite enjoyable on its own merits, and a marvelous time-capsule of that peculiar point in time (Backgammon!) when the ‘70s was ready to morph into the ‘80s.
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| Timeless Words, am I right? |
Killer Fish looks like one of those movies actors agree to appear in just to get a free vacation in an exotic locale, but it seems the making of this toothy opus was no picnic. For starters, the expensive and uncooperative piranha taxed the film's already strained budget. A bored Lee Majors was dissatisfied with the script and worried about getting a case of the trots. Marisa Berenson, recovering from a marriage break-up, enjoyed a brief fling with the film’s producer Alex Ponti, but during one of their off-set jaunts, she suffered facial lacerations in an auto accident that killed two people. Muriel Hemingway's 2015 memoir Out Came the Sun has big sister Margaux recounting how Karen Black was still breastfeeding her 3-year-old son during production, and his calling out “Tit, mommy!” when hungry.
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| Over-the-top comic relief (such as it is) is supplied by Roy Brocksmith as Ollie, the temperamental fashion photographer. Ollie evokes the essence of producer Allan Carr possessed by the spirit of Bruce Vilanch |
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| Tom wants to fan flames of passion - Ann suspects he won't be able to find the pilot light Gary Collins plays the pilot of a private plane. Marisa Berenson the head of a fashion agency |
THE STUFF OF FANTASY
I knew Killer Fish was going to be my kind of movie when, during the film’s pre-title sequence, Karen Black is shown committing a dangerous stealth robbery—an act requiring climbing ladders, scrambling across railroad tracks, running in the sand, and climbing over rocks—wearing a pair of extraordinarily impractical, albeit stylish, high-heeled boots. When Ms. Black’s wobbly efforts to maintain her footing (and look good while doing it) proved more compelling to me than the robbery at hand, I knew I’d found MY kind of action film.
And that sequence sets the fashion-over-function sartorial standard for the entire movie: meaning that in every scene, no matter how life-and-death the circumstances, at least one character can be relied upon to be preposterously overdressed. Which in the ‘70s meant…dressed.
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Indeed, both the frequency of costume changes and sheer volume of fashions on display suggests the actors supplied their own clothing with the enticement of a tax write-off for all items appearing onscreen. This would certainly account for the scene where Lee Majors, in hot pursuit of Karen Black (wearing yet another outlandishly chic getup while commandeering a boat), appears to change into a new outfit mid-chase.
From start to finish Killer Fish is a cavalcade of flowing scarves, patterned fabrics, rakish hats, fetching short-shorts, plunging necklines, and gold accessories…and that’s just the men.
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| Brothers in crime Lloyd (Charles Guardino) & Warren (Frank Pesce) play "I'm a Little Tea Pot" as they let Kate (Black) know what they think of her "uptown" talk. Meanwhile, an uncomfortable Lasky (Majors) adjusts his kicky leather shoulder bag. |
PERFORMANCES
Poor Karen Black. Here she is doing her best in trying to invest a bit of authenticity and genuine human drama into Killer Fish...just as she did with Trilogy of Terror (where her commitment made us believe a plastic doll was a homicidal threat) and Airport 1975 (her terror-stricken stewardess flying the plane providing the only tether to reality in a relentlessly silly movie); but in this case, it’s clear she’s met her match.
Bearing out the axiom that no one is as bad as a good actor in a film where no acting is required (Cicely Tyson in The Concorde: Airport '79, Anne Bancroft in The Hindenburg, the entire cast of Bloodline), Karen Black is surrounded by so many non-actors in Killer Fish that she—the lone individual giving anything even resembling a real performance—actually winds up coming off the worst.
Refusing to play down to the material (she's like late-career Joan Crawford in that respect) Black is serious as a heart attack as she brings the "major motion picture" big guns to her underwritten role. Meanwhile, her breezy castmates are fine serving up TV movie-of-the-week "This'll do" energy. This leaves Black, who's never less than fascinating to watch, playing entire scenes in a vacuum, giving the impression she's acting in an entirely different movie.
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| Karen Black's realistic reaction to witnessing a violent and gory death comes off as hysterical and shrill when her co-stars are responding to the same sight with looks of mild annoyance |
Speaking of Joan Crawford, the last time I saw Lee Majors, she was lopping his head off with an ax in Strait-Jacket -1964. Yet even in that bisected state, he was more animated than he is in Killer Fish. The eminently likable Majors is one of those bafflingly always-employed TV actors who (like Susan Lucci of All My Children) works a lifetime at their craft—The Big Valley, The Six-Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy—without showing signs of getting one iota better at it.
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| Lee Majors' talents are confined to staying out of the way of explosions, squinting, conveying an easygoing charm, and arching his left eyebrow. The latter he's very good at. |
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| Pictured at far right is Chico Arago as Ben, the photographer's assistant |
I'm not sure there are many who would find Killer Fish watchable without the MST3K wisecracks. I suspect genuine fans of action movies are given little bang for their buck, what with the underwater footage of the obviously-in-a-tank piranha being murky, the thrills low-wattage, and the laid-back leading men looking reluctant to engage in any heroics that might disturb their frosted haircuts.
My personal recommendation....come for the carnage, stay for the clothes.
Although Pastorini & Hemingway share no scenes in Killer Fish, offscreen the pair did share the similar naive, cash-grab hope that a nude photo spread for a magazine might help jump-start (Pastorini) or resuscitate (Hemingway) their careers. Pastorini appeared twice in the pages of Playgirl (December 1980 and January 1982) while Hemingway appeared in and graced the cover of the May 1990 issue of Playboy.
In 1977 Margaux Hemingway became the million-dollar face that launched Faberge's Babe perfume. The song featured in TV commercials for the affordable fragrance--(You're) Fabulous Babe-- was performed by singer Kenny Williams and released as an infectiously lush (all those soaring strings!) & cheesy (those spoken interludes - "You're one of the boys, but you're a real girl, Babe!") disco single. One that calls to mind the theme from The Love Boat (which debuted as a series that year). Listen: (You're) Fabulous Babe.
Copyright © Ken Anderson 2009 - 2021
BONUS MATERIAL
Before wrangling with piranha in Killer Fish, Lee Majors grappled with Sharks! (1977)
I tend to forget that 1975's Jaws-mania lasted well into the '80s, with knock-off aquatic adventure movies proliferating until 1987's self-parodistic Jaws: The Revenge (1987) provided the long-overdue final coffin nail. In 1977, with the summer success of The Deep keeping alive the public's interest in soggy sea sagas, Lee Majors' TV show The Six Million Dollar Man kicked off its 5th and final season with a 2-parter episode about killer sharks. I have no idea if those one-hour TV episodes were ever combined and released as a feature film in foreign markets or for VHS, but the indifferent poster above (which makes no mention of the TV program) certainly presents the possibility.
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| Play-mates Dan Pastorini and Margaux Hemingway |
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| Not every film can boast of having two members of its cast appear on the cover of Time Magazine. |
My God, this was wonderful! LOL So hilarious... The assemblage of that cast seems like an elaborate parody rather than something that actually happened for real. I loved this: "Ollie evokes the essence of producer Allan Carr possessed by the spirit of Bruce Vilanch." He looks to have a dab of Louie Anderson in there, too. I will have to check this out for sure. As a hairy chest collector, it looks like something that would pique my interest for that alone. Thanks for the morning chuckles!
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Jon! And thank you very much. I’m so pleased you enjoyed reading this.
DeleteAnd how perfect that you're the first to comment: I try never reading anything online about a movie I’m doing a piece on, but immediately after completing this, yours was the first blog I visited…so certain I was that you’d already written about this movie that is so much to your tastes (hairy chests, and all).
After reading your comments I’m now positive you’ll enjoy it
Your observation "that cast seems like an elaborate parody rather than something that actually happened for real" is spot on. It’s an unusual cast for ANY film, much less a post-Jaws heist film.
And you're so right about the photographer character in the film sending off a Louie Anderson vibe.
Thanks again for reading this and commenting. I’m glad you’ll be getting to checking out KILLER FISH some day. And as first-rate as the MST3K version is, it’s heavily edited. The full version is definitely the one to seek out.
Argyle here. I actually saw this on its release. It came out during the last winter semester of my college career. My great friend and I were going to see virtually everything that was released - me, for fun and to avoid school; him, for fun and to gather momentum for his eventual film school enrollment. (We also saw the Star Trek movie, of course, although neither of us was interested in Star Trek.) You called it EXACTLY, kind of scary, actually; we were steeped in Vogue, Halston, Andy Warhol, After Dark, and Donna Summer. Also, I had not been able to see LIPSTICK. I don't think it really got released in my area of the South. But I had been completely fascinated with Margaux Hemingway's rocket trajectory, her story, and her odd sense of impending personal tragedy. And Marisa Berenson was right there in that same shiny, chic, purposeless, desperate cul-de-sac. Fortunately, she survived. I would not have remembered that Lee Majors was the male lead. And Karen Black, at that time, usually meant, at least, a good time. You perfectly capture the atmosphere of too much wardrobe, but I have to say, Marisa manages to look great in that screen cap. Maybe she brought her own people. And Margaux looks good in that newsboy cap.
ReplyDeleteOther things: I always appreciate James Franciscus. Your line: "Yet even in that bisected state, he was more animated than he is in Killer Fish." is priceless.
Not to be a mood killer, but as a tribute to your evocative writing, I also remember how after the movie and the hilarious recapping and analysis over late night diner coffee and pecan pie; after getting back to school and deciding that, no, I really couldn't stay up and work on that project; going back to the dorm, and crawling into bed - I was miserable and seeing another really bad movie apparently wasn't going to help. It wasn't going to bring an epiphany. I eventually figured something out or I experienced a few more things or just matured, I really couldn't say. Maybe Karen Black had similar feelings when she got back to her hotel room after a day's shooting.
Thank you, Ken.
Bill
Hello, Bill
DeleteWow, you really DID go to see virtually everything at the movies if you managed to be among the select few who actually saw KILLER FISH in theatrical release!
Your citing of the pop-cultural appeal/interest of the actresses assembled (it’s unlikely you’re the first to forget Lee Majors was in the cast) is an inseparable part of why this film fascinates. Margaux’s white-hot shot to fame and equally swift descent, Karen Black’s grip on early ‘70s cinema and the unfulfilled promise of her intense popularity. Berenson as the symbol of the intersect of fashion/film/jet-set fame of the decade.
I don’t get a sense that anyone associated with KILLER FISH had any clue about the gay appeal of their film. Certainly, nothing about how the film was marketed recognizes that the CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC set might have gone ga-ga over the NYC in-crowd cast of this low-budgeter had they been aware of its existence. It feels like the great undiscovered gay-friendly action film.
About your last paragraph, I hope what you figured out during that last winter semester is something that made you happy.
Good to hear from you, Bill. And thanks for reading this and commenting so quickly. I’m always so flattered by your compliments and I always love what you add to the liveliness of these comment sections.
This has to be one of your funniest reviews. They don't make 'em like this anymore. The following: "The eminently likable Majors is one of those bafflingly always-employed TV actors who (like Susan Lucci of All My Children) works a lifetime at their craft—The Big Valley, The Six-Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy—without showing signs of getting one iota better at it." I chuckled aloud...and I actually have always liked Lee Majors but you're right...he doesn't have much range. By the way, I actually saw Majors' film "The Norsemen" in the movie theatre. My parents were big "Six Million Dollar Man" fans (so was I) and took us to see this project. I was pretty young and didn't have the vocabulary to express my reaction but now I'd describe it in one word "dull." Not even "fun" dull. Steve Austin in a horned helmet. That kind of dull. Thanks for the fun review.
ReplyDeleteHi Ron
DeleteWell, I might have been a little tough on Lee Majors here, but I appreciate your having a sense of humor about my barbs. In fact, your easygoing take speaks very well of you given that you were a fan of his TV show and you actually saw THE NORSEMEN in a theater! Although I remember its release, I don't know a soul who saw it.
For KILLER FISH to be a film he produced, no one can accuse Majors of hogging the spotlight. Karen Black has far much more camera time, and I think you could fit all of Majors' dialogue on a couple of pages...if that. Like Charles Bronson, I don't suppose anybody likes Lee Majors for his acting chops, he's charismatic, and it's always appealing when an actor of limited range doesn't seem to take himself all that seriously.
Thanks for reading this, Ron. And I'm as happy to hear you enjoyed as I am grateful that you took the time to share your comments here.
Killer Fish looks indeed like pure MST3K fodder; what piqued my interest were the two Marisa Berenson magazine covers - the Newsweek because she looks so stunningly beautiful and the Time because a cover story on Barry Lyndon means it was one of those multi-page in-depth reviews with interviews and sidebars. It can be fun to look back on reviews of now-classic films when they were brand spanking new.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe I'll give Killer Fish a shot too one of these days - the wonderful Karen Black alone is always worth a look-see.
I can see why those covers piqued your interest. I always find it fascinating how models can often convey a great deal of drama and mystery in a still image, but the medium of film can be brutal for them. Berenson has been fortunate (by taking on small roles in good films...at least up until this one). Given how effective Margaux Hemingway can be in small roles (like in 1984s OVER THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE) one wishes someone steered her toward declining that sizable lead role in a LIPSTICK.
DeleteAnd you're right about how enjoyable it is to read about a now-classic film from the vantage point of it being a undiscovered commodity. I need to look through my old magazine collection. I had that issue for the longest, now I wonder if I sold it on Ebay a while back.
KILLER FISH is a good film for Karen Black completists or fans of action-glam (I think Giallo enthusiasts would like it). If you think you might like it, there's a good chance you will. Thanks for reading and commenting, Mark!
"Given how effective Margaux Hemingway can be in small roles (like in 1984s OVER THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE) one wishes someone steered her toward declining that sizable lead role in a LIPSTICK."
DeleteAnd miss the spectacle of Margaux tearing across the parking lot in that red dress to retrieve her rifle from the trunk of her car? ;)
As another reader who actually saw this stinker in its initial release, your review was a lot more fun to read than was to sit through. We always assumed these "all star" foreign productions were money laundering operations for some drug cartel or another, like some streaming services are rumored to be today. Now, that might make an interesting movie.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to think this movie was more widely-seen on release than I'd initially assumed. Like you, few seem particularly overjoyed by the experience, but for someone like me who came to it late and (inexplicably) fell in love with it, I can't help but be a little envious.
DeleteAnd I think you're 100% right the dubious financing of these exotic locale actioners with the affordable international casts. Oddities like KILLER FISH make ca compelling case. (I hadn't heard that about contemporary streaming sites!) Thanks very much for reading and contributing a comment confirming there WAS an audience for KILLER FISH despite my being unaware of its release at the time.
Hi rigs-in-gear -
DeleteThe link to the site mentioning the weird connection Lee Majors has to the song "Midnight train to Georgia" didn't work. Feel free to repost it if you wish, or I've included this link to a similar Rolling Stone article in its place:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jim-weatherly-midnight-train-to-georgia-songwriter-dead-1123630/
Sorry, I guess I couldn't figure out how to paste the link so it would be clickable. The obit you included has the gist of it, it's just the link I attached had a more detailed account. It just surprises me this classic track was originally about Lee and Farrah.
DeleteIt was an eye opener for me, too! And such a random one given how popular the song has become. The Majors/Farrah connection doesn't enrich the song's legacy, it makes it stranger...like those TV shows where celebrities hunt down their ancestry and find uncomfortable skeletons in the closet.
DeleteI love a good wardrobe driven movie, particularly when it comes to the fashion of the disco era. I had originally swerved this particular film for being a bit too classy for the likes of me....but you've sold me on giving it a try. Karen Black is always a treasure, doubly so in a Beverley Garland, poor way too much energy into trying to elevate sub basement material kind of mode.
ReplyDeleteHi GG
DeleteWhat a marvelous reference to Beverly Garland! She is actually a more apt comparison to Karen Black's energy than Joan Crawford. And your comment reminds me of the many B-movies that have indeed been enlivened by Garland going full bore in a role that simply doesn't warrant such a heated expenditure of energy.
Also, I'm crazy about the designation "wardrobe-diven movie"...as nonexistent genre subgenres go, I wouldn't mind if this became a real thing.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting, GG!
Just a note that "Anthony M. Dawson" is the prolific Antonio Margheriti. I'm not sure whether or not he spoke English, but he usually brought 'em in on time and on budget.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing that up, MDG. I'm not sure what was hoped to be achieved by that Anthony M. Dawson name (to Anglicize a foreign production? To hide?) but now that Antonio Margheriti's gained a popularity of sorts among Quentin Tarantino fans (his name is dropped in a couple of his film, and "Cannibal Apocalypse is said to be a QT favorite) he deserves the (dis)credit.
DeleteI've only seen one other Margheriti film, 1983's "Yor, the Hunter from the Future" (thank you MST3K) so I can only guess his films didn't exactly get better over time.
OMG Roy Brocksmith was (very briefly) young once! I only knew him as the middle-aged guy in Total Recall and Hudsucker Proxy. Seems he died at 56, having made his mark (on me, anyway).
ReplyDeleteLee Majors' best acting may be his voice acting in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, in which he is joined by many other greats, including Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, William Fichtner, Philip Michael Thomas, and Luis Guzman.
I wasn't aware Brocksmith died so young. Apparently he made his film debut in yet another heist film THE SQUEEZE, but I only remember him from THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. Any time a character actor can be remembered, they really HAVE made their mark.
DeleteAnd its surprising how many so-so scren actors turn out to be wonderful voice actors (Adam West comes to mind). Although I'm not familiar with Grand Theft Auto (what a cas!t) perhaps, like with West, it allowed Majors to engage in a bit of a parody of his own "style."
"Now Showing at theaters and drive-ins near you!" "Near you?" It must have missed San Jose, because I was already a steady customer of all the local cheap seats places by then and I have no memory at all of this one. It looks like it would have been a real hoot, though-I'll have to see if it's available on line somewhere
ReplyDeleteI wonder how broad a release it had? A surprising number of people here have seen it, but no one I know had even heard of it before. My guess is that in most venues it didn't play more than two weeks...if that.
DeleteHope you can find it online in its entirety, but if not, the edited MST3K version certainly increases it's entertainment value.
Thank you for commenting!
It's an absolute insult that Michael Caine or George Kennedy was not cast in this film. Shameful!
ReplyDeleteSo true! Caine was making "The Swarm" at the time, so he was still doing his part for trash cinema. But how could they overlook Kennedy?
DeleteKen ....hello and greetings from your HRTH obsessed friend James. Peach Moonshine fueled comments to follow.. 1Love that no bras were involved in this production. Unofficial count of Miss Black's wardrobe change is 14. As for Miss Hemingway....couple of "Disco Bisquits" in her and I could be all over that sexy amazon. Funny that the piranhas were still hungry after munching on Ollie who was the highlight of this entire show. Ken let's get down to it!! This is where you shine (in my obviously possibly intoxicated state) and so let's get to it. We (your demanding fans) NEED!!! and implore that for Halloween (or sooner) you bless upon us all a "SUPER SPECTACULAR HORROR FEST " commentary on ....wait for it............."HORROR OF PARTY BEACH"....."THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE"!!!!! and "CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE" Ken we beg and need this from you,!! We beseech (not sure what this means) and command (you can not disobey) that you obey. You are helpless and under our control!! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!!!! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi James
DeleteFriends don't let friends drink and post blog comments! But for being in an intoxicated state, you still have a pretty good head for the pertinent details of "Killer Fish" - 14 costume changes for Ms. Black! We're approaching Faye Dunaway territory there.
And I must say your idea of a Halloween-themed look at some minor classics of horror (accent on minor) isn’t a bad one. I own the first two titles on your suggestion list (Horror of Party Beach has been a favorite since I was a kid) but I've never seen Swamp Creature. Got some catching up to do.
Thanks, James…I appreciate your shared enthusiasm for schlock films and for your return visits and comments to the blog.
(And for my readers: HRTH refers to "Hot Rods to Hell" an earlier post of mine and a pretty groovy movie.)
Hi Ken-
ReplyDeleteI've been away from your blog too long (back to working up a storm) but for my first return read I certainly picked a hilarious one! Your photo captions were/are on fire.
Your timing is also coincidentally perfect, as my partner and I just had a viewing of another Jaws-ripoff classic "Tintorera" (partly due to Poseidon's blog post about it) and "Killer Fish" appears that it would make an ideal second half of a double feature with that. That cast, tight 70s fashions AND a fabulous Amii Stewart disco theme? Can't wait.
PS. Thanks for including the sexy Dan Pastorini pic!
PPS. Special shoutout also to finding out in the comments there was a Lee & Farrah connection to "Midnight Train To Georgia"?!? This blog continues to endlessly entertain AND inform.
Best, Pete
Hi Pete
DeleteGlad to hear your pre-COVID work life has resumed. Thanks for stopping by. I have to check out Poseidon's post of that other killer piranha flick "Tintorera"...maybe it will inspire me to give it a look. It certainly is a more well-known entry in the piranha sweepstakes, and sound like it would make a dandy drive-in double bill pair up with "Killer Fish." Looks like there might be bad killer fish moves in both of our futures.
And indeed, isn't that the weirdest bit of trivia? I learn quite a lot in these comments sections, too.
Thanks for reading this and for the very kind words, Pete!
I just watched a German Blu Ray of this movie today and I enjoyed it a lot. I originally saw it as a B picture with Saturn 3 at the cinema many years ago. I think the model work is superb. People have criticised this aspect on a number of sites but I think that is mainly because people are so much more used to seeing CGI now. For when it was made the effects are incredibly realistic especially when you consider that so many use water or fire which are impossible to miniaturise. The dam sequence for example is better than the one Derek Meddings did in Superman.
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed you saw this in a theater! Even if "Saturn 3" was the price you had to pay.
DeleteI think "Killer Fish" is a very entertaining movie, as well. And I agree with you about the quality of the model work. That tornado is pretty laugh-inducing, but the boat, the storm, the explosions at the plant, the dam bursting...they all are better than average and work very well. And using the model work in "Superman" as an example is a good one. Pre-CGI special effects technology (especially in the late '70s) was changing so fast. Movies made just a year before Star Wars had effects that looked so primitive in comparison. For a film that appears to not to have had a sizeable budget, I think the model effects are pretty good. At least they don't look as primitive as the work in "Earthquake" does now.
Thanks for visiting the site and for taking the time to comment.
This is priceless. As a connoisseur of cinema de junk this is right up my alley. What a cast: Karen Black, Lee "Col. Steve Austin/Colt Seavers" Majors, James Franciscus, Roy Brocksmith, and Marisa Berenson! Golly. One of these is not like the others and her initials are K.B. (Not that I don't like Majors, Franciscus of the styling beard-and-glasses, or Marisa but you know what I mean.)
ReplyDelete"Ollie evokes the spirit of producer Allen Carr possessed by the spirit of Bruce Vilanch." Hilarious and horrifying.
Oh-ho-ho, Lee Majors in that hat. #releasetheunfinishedtrumancapotethemotionpicturewithleemajors Best of all the bandaid on the side of his face looks like he forgot to take the pricetag off. (Perhaps it's some Lady Gagaesque/hip hop couture fashion statement.
Love the "I'm a Little Teapot" crack. How could the director/D.P. not see how goofy they look.
I do just want you to tell me that Karen's diving suit has nothing to do with any diving to meet any murderous piscines but is, instead, simply one of her outfits. Sitting in a chi-chi restaurant with a pair of goggles on her head. At the next table: Kim Novak in a snorkel. Table after that: Joan Collins in an antique diving suit. (Or, I don't know, Tony Randall in a jester's cap and bells and Richard Chamberlain in his Three/Four Musketeers Aramis costume. Of course, he looked good in that!)
I second the comment that Margaux looks good in that newsboy cap.
Ms Black had the ability to look like different people in the same film, even pictures not entitled Trilogy of Terror. Perennially underrated. (Hitchcock's Family Plot is a difficult one because Karen's in it but the other female lead is Barbara Harris so Karen loses. Ach, I'm so fickle but I absolutely love Barbara with her big blonde head and her great Barbara Harrisness.)
The "Where's Waldo?" image: untouchable. Thank you for the amusement.
Robert
Greetings, Robert -
DeleteOh, if you enjoy epically enjoyable bad movies, this is a must. The plot is unremarkable, but every moment staring at this mixed-bag vast is loaded with subtext. The constant collision of acting styles alone is enough to make it worth your while.
However, based on your often hilarious observations here, I think the DVD company is missing out on your not providing a running commentary track. I’m certain it would be better than MST3K.
And you’re so right about Karen Black often looking like different people in the same film. Here she was simply given too much free rein in the costume department, leading me to suspect that having former models Hemingway & Berenson in the cast perhaps worked against her usual sense of realism.
Lastly, what a keen take on Barbara Harris. I feel much the same. Karen Black is aces in my book, but it’s a good thing they shared only the briefest of scenes in “Family Plot” for I find it difficult to watch anyone else (even the imminently watchable Ms. Black) when the luminous Harris is onscreen (My mind goes to that great scene in NASHVILLE when Albuquerque corners Connie White).
Per usual, I derived a great deal of pleasure from reading your comment, Robert. Your generosity in citing quotes or points made in my essay and overall engagement in what I write is very much appreciated. Thank you. Your contribution here is so informed and cheery and full of comic vitriol (Lee Majors as Truman Capote!) of the sort that only a true lover of film can muster.
Thank you, Ken. That made my day. I think if the quality of a person's writing is of a high standard - and is entertaining - then it strikes sparks, associations, inspirations. I read quite a lot now that just leaves me feeling sad or, worse, annoys beyond reason; what a relief to read stimulating.
ReplyDeleteAh, Barbara Harris... I caught a bit of her in Freaky Friday (!) last Christmas, and even in those surrounds she glows. It's interesting, some people simply have the ability to capture your interest/heart with their talent, with their very screen presence even. In relation to that, Nashville is one of those movies in which each viewing sees a different actor or selection of actors grab the attention. In one viewing it might be Henry Gibson's Haven Hamilton with his peculiar hair and his blowhard "patriotic" anthem, Shelley Duvall's gawky spacecase L.A. Joan, and Keith Carradine's smooth creep (and his *great* hair); on another it might be Barbara as Albuquerque, Gwen Welles's Sueleen and the nauseating strip scene (the shower scene featuring the naked Sally Kellerman's humiliation is a blackmark against M*A*S*H but the shocking "bottle" scene in The Long Goodbye and this excruciating scene here are about the horrifying behaviour of some men toward women; Altman was a complex character but I wonder how much Joan Tewkesbury and Leigh Bracket had to do with those scenes?) and Lily Tomlin's Linnea. You've really got me thinking. You also shame me, as I was writing about Barbara and Karen's appearances in Family Plot ("There no BODY in the family plot!") off the top of my head, I had totally forgotten they also share the screen in Nashville. I haven't seen it for a few years, so I should dig out my Criterion Collection DVD!
Watching those ensemble movies from the 1970s often gives me a rush just from the great or interesting casts, Nashville alone gives us - at random, and aside from those previously mentioned - Geraldine Chaplin, Scott Glenn, Michael Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Robert DoQui, Ronee Blakley (later scene dragged through a door's window in Nightmare on Elm Street's nasty studio-mandated "twist" ending; shot by a loon, wrenched by Robert England - the lady could not catch a break), Ned Beatty. Fantastic casting. Even guilty pleasure trashics such as Airport '77 give us an embarrassed Jack Lennon, the indomitable Lee Grant, Donald Pleasance, Brenda Vaccaro (the eyes and the voice!), and crazy-eyed Robert Foxworth (Lee and Robert were reunited in Damien: Omen II - as Satan-worshippers! - Lee should have guested on Falcon Crest to make it a trifecta), it goes without saying this is catnip to me. The varying quality of the performances combined with the ludicrous writing give that one a - 'ow you say? - piquant quality. Don't worry, I won't bring up the highest height of low lunacy: The Swarm with its killer bees who are not only able to cause a nuclear power plant to explode (freeing Richard Chamberlain - and José Ferrer, I seem to recall - from the film) but also to cause Henry Fonda to hallucinate giant versions of themselves opening doors. Oh, no, too late! I blame Irwin Allen.
Dear Ken,
ReplyDeleteI caught Killer Fish when it turned up on Talking Pictures TV a couple of weeks ago (or last week, whichever), it was just as absurd as could be hoped. Jimmy Franciscus and his evil beard, Lee Majors and his apparently piranha-proof body, the "twist" ending (enjoyable if apparently parachuted in from another film entirely), Margaux Hemingway bestriding the movie like a glamorous Amazon Colossus, and - of course - Ms Karen Black yelling "You bastard" (at Brent from Beneath the Planet of the Apes) in the campest most melodramatic way possible. Oy gevalt! Karen's "bastard!"ing would have made her a natural for '80s supersoaps.
There was more hysterical screaming in this movie than from me being forced to watch Avatar:The Way of Water.
Margaux and Marisa did a good job swanning around looking Seventies-stylish while Karen enjoyed a splendid meal of scenery throughout. Lee appeared not to have been wound up fully, he had less reaction to flesh-to-teeth with those predatory piscine pricks than most do to stubbing their toes. Truly bionic. Luckily, he would redeem himself with The Fall Guy... Okay, just to me: "The Unknown Stuntman"! Doug Barr's Howie! Colt Seavers! Jo Ann Pflug! Markie Post! And, obviously, the face, hair, and smile of Heather Thomas! Young me ate all that up. Enjoyable trash, you can't beat it. And that goes for Killer Fish too.
Ever,
Robert
P.S. RIP James Franciscus's beard, last scene in the stomachs of several piranha.
Greetings, Robert!
DeleteI’m pleased to hear you watched KILLER FISH, though I feel guilty about being a bad influence. Perhaps it’s a movie you would have come to of your own volition had you known of its existence.
In any event, it’s clear you give the film all the respect it deserves, showing appreciation for the women in the cast (I love the word “swanning”!) and enjoying Franciscus and Majors finding their level in the Made-for-TV quality of the material.
I’m with you in finding Majors in much better form in the slightly self-parodic tone of THE FALL GUY. It’s like when Brooke Shields and Candice Bergen revealed themselves to be very accomplished light comediennes once they stopped being expected to deliver as serious actors.
And your perfect observation that Karen Black would have been a natural in ‘80s supersoaps (my mind goes to Faye Dunaway in 1986’s BEVERLY HILLS MADAM) makes me wonder if she was ever approached for any. Given the kinds of films she was saying YES to in the late 80s, I can’t imagine her turning down any TV work of any kind.
Kudos to you for braving this film (now you need to check out the MST3K cut of KILLER FISH…if that show airs in the UK), and as always, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts by contributing so amusingly to this post