Piranha Women

Directed by beloved director Fred Olen Ray, Piranha Women is relatively a simple odd story with an interesting concept but it doesn't quite reach the heights that it possibly could have. It is very silly and not meant to be taken too serious.

With a run time of under one hour, this is quite a short film where everything does move quickly, yet things aren't exactly fully developed.

The lead protagonist is the standard generic likeable character we are to root for. The main problem with the film is there is too much focus on him, and not enough on these "Piranha women" (Keep Chambers, Carrie Overguaard). The acting is subpar to average as we would expect.

The ending is rushed and it gets a little silly and over the top, the transformations in that.

How does FOR keep getting assignments? He's barely better than Jim Wynorski, who admits he makes crap. This is just above the level of crap and, at under an hour in length, I have to wonder if they A)Ran out of Money or B) FOR got a better paying job and just ended it. Charles Band, another semi-schlockmeister who has produced a few good movies (Trancers, Zone Troopers) produced this waste of time. Basically, the direction is subpar, the acting is mostly bad, the topless women look good, but the 'pirhana' effects (sharp teeth and toothy breasts) are bad. This stuff would get someone kicked off Face/Off. The 'hero' is kind of a dunce and the cop is very much a moron. Guy couldn't find a clue if he tripped over it. The end has some of the worst creature effects (Think Creeping Terror level) and no explanation at all. If you have an hour to spare, you may laugh... or you may cry. Just bad all around.

Fred Olen Ray has spent the past 40+ years making exploitation movies. Often the titles identify them as very much not serious movies. Examples are "Beverly Hills Vamp" (starring Britt Ekland as a creature of the night in southern California) and "Evil Toons" (which is basically "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" as a comedy-horror).

So now we have "Piranha Women". The title pretty much explains the plot, and there's some nudity to keep things going. A previous reviewer complained that it focused too much on the boyfriend. I guess that's true, but the movie manages to be entertain the viewer enough so that the focus doesn't matter.

It's a reasonable choice if you're looking for some brain candy. It's probably not widely available; I watched it on Tubi (a streaming service that lets you watch for free).

Piranha Women is a good little short horror film from "Full Moon Pictures" by Fred Open Ray.

An island doctor is using piranha DNA to cure sick women. When Richard's girlfriend goes to the doctor, asks him to stay out all night, then leaves while he's at work the next day he decides to investigate what's going on.

The previous evening, Richard and his buddy/coworker, Jeffrey go to a small local bar. Jeffrey leaves with a woman from the bar, and ends up dead. This leaves Richard as the main suspect. He returns to the bar to try to figure out what happened and clear his name.

He learns about the piranha DNA and sets out to rescue his girlfriend.

The idea of "Piranha Women" is pretty cool. The effects aren't bad for this type of movie. Worth checking out 7/10.

Attempting to battle a cancer diagnosis, a woman's visit to a sketchy doctor for an experimental treatment causes her to drift away from her boyfriend, and when he finds himself involved in a series of murders around town has to solve the connection between them to save her.

This wasn't too bad of a genre effort but has a few drawbacks. The initial setup here is worthwhile enough, getting an idea of their relationship being strained by her condition and work issues while also meeting the experimental doctor with his treatments that turn out far more devious than expected. This leads to several intriguing storylines involving the miraculous recovery from her treatments and her subsequent escape into the underground, the murder mystery involving the co-worker, and the race to uncover the exploits of the doctor at the center. That ends up leading into the one issue with this one where, because it's so short and has so much going on, a lot of the horror here gets neutered. While the attacks are bloody enough and have some fine cheesy effects present, there's barely enough of them here with the film opting for a detective angle investigating everything rather than the idea of the flesh-eating women being involved. As this isn't all that logically carried out due to a series of cliches involving skepticism, ignoring clear evidence and failing to follow through on ideas makes it more problematic leading to its issues.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.