The thing in October (part V).

Something I really wish would come back are the days of Roger Corman. In addition to making movies in a variety of genres, he'd give a start to an actor or director looking to get into the business. It's astounding how many names started under his aegis. (The Academy seems to recognize his contribution, as he is to receive an Honorary Oscar next year.) Among the projects he produced was Piranha.

Private eye Maggie (Heather Menzies) enlists the help of hermit Paul (Bradford Dillman) in locating a young girl. Unfortunately, draining a pool at a test facility unleashes a voracious strain of piranha that make their way to a summer camp and a resort. This is an amusing, exciting (and, at times, affecting) piss-take of Jaws, well-directed by Joe Dante and scripted by John Sayles.

After the somewhat higher-profile horror films Don't Look Now and Carrie, it must've been a surprise to see Pino Donaggio working on this film. Still, his music is quite lush and intense.

About halfway through "Lost River Theme", we get one of, to me, the composer's loveliest (and most durable) themes, representing the beauty and danger of the water, based in solo piano and strings. Sometimes, Donaggio will change it up and give the theme an arrangement for flute and electronics ("Fatal Rescue") or eerie strings ("Empty Tubes").

In "Summer Dreams", Donaggio takes the Lost River theme and, with flute and acoustic guitar, turns it into a laid-back soft rock melody; a song cue for which someone clearly neglected the vocal track. (If I may..."Piranhas are in the lake"/"Piranhas eat flesh like steak"...I never fancied myself a Sondheim, okay?)

The piranha get their own motif: a wavering string figure leading up to rolling piano and stabbing, Herrmannesque strings ("Piranha Among Us", "No Trespassing"). The harp prelude in "Fatal Rescue" is particularly noteworthy. A tense sub-motif for strings characterizes "Dr. Hoak" and "Homoncules".

Independent of his themes, Donaggio creates some engaging moments, like the tongue-in-cheek militarism of "Operation Razorteeth", the jubilant classicism of "Aquarena", the twinkling electronics/strings combo of "Nightmare in the Sun" and the nervous flute work in "Escape in the Night".

As Paul hits upon the idea to "pollute the bastards to death!", "Beyond the Darkness" plays out with a strange melancholy that, combined with the visuals and the squealing of the piranha (more on that in a bit) actually made me feel genuinely sad the last time I saw the movie.

As a weird sort of bonus (or a way to pad the soundtrack past the half-hour mark), "Yes, We Have No Piranha" finishes the album off with sound effects from the laboratory scene before jumping into a sound sample of the titular menace. It's a strange touch, but an interesting one.

Varese's LP was reissued on the label's CD Club some years ago and is impossible to find. Best of luck, though. It's worth the search.