PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING (1982)
Tagline: They bred the ultimate killing machine... Now you're not safe OUT of the water!
(Horror, Dramarama, Fish) [R]
That's it. If you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to... back on earth.
In this one, people start popping up dead all over in the bay near a Caribbean island resort. Now it’s up to Police Chief Steve Kimbrough and his wife who he is fighting with to figure out what the heck is going on. It becomes pretty clear once these crazy flying piranha’s start chomping up everyone in site on land as well. Also of course there is a biochemist who has arrived on the island they are on because he suspects he knows exactly what these fish are.
First off I love a good 80’s horror flick but this one takes itself way too seriously and it’s actually a detriment to the overall story. I mean, we’ve got flying man-eating fish here, this movie practically had a less “downer-drama” platter handed to it. The first hour drags on like a medical show where everyone got attacked by a runaway helicopter propeller. For horror fans, there are some gnarly mangled bodies here and there, but the slowness of the film is almost coma-inducing and I am normally pretty forgiving of “slow-burn” flicks. Every time the fish are about to show up, which is pretty seldom until the final few minutes, they sound like the sound you hear when someone vacuuming in the next-door apartment.
Acting-wise this one is has a ton of terrible acting. This in spite of the fact that Lance Henriksen who is a good actor known for being Bishop in the ALIEN movies and the 80’s horror flick PUMKINGHEAD. The main actress in this one is Tricia O'Neil who plays Anne Kimbrough (who is a scuba diving instructor) and is a good actress, but this just wasn’t a great script for her. Everyone else is iffy at best.
Tidbit – Apparently James Cameron was fired after just 2 and a half weeks on the film. For (insert reason here) his name is still attached to the film as director. He went to Rome for the post-production and ended up getting ill with a fever. He had a dream around that time that led to his idea for THE TERMINATOR.
Unfortunately, a ton of this movie is poorly lit and at night, so it’s hard to pick up on exactly what is going on in some of the late film action sequences. Outside of that, I just wasn’t impressed, but it’s not as terrible as 1978’s BARRACUDA, so there’s that.
I give this one a 3 out of 7. Not something I am feeling the need to see again.
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