Piranha II: Assassinas Voadoras

This really isn't too bad a film, and is certainly a worthy sequel to the original. 'Piranha' worked because it was tongue-in-cheek, making fun of the films it was parodying. 'Piranha II' tries to be more serious, but is so cheesy that it manages, by default, to be just as effective.

This time round the Piranha have moved from the river and are in the sea, able to fly as a result of scientists crossing genes to make the ultimate killing machine. After the opening scene which is similar to the one in Jaws 2, (except here the two divers are lovers trying for some underwater coupling), the film introduces a variety of characters, most of which are surprisingly endearing in a 'B' movie kind of way; particularly two topless good-time girls who get provisions from a stuttering chef with the promise of a threesome.

Lance Henriksen, who continued a lucrative association with Cameron, plays the police chief, who is a hybrid of Brody from 'Jaws' and Colonel Kilgore from 'Apocalypse Now'. He valiantly plays a straight role as all around him descends into chaotic fun. The flying piranha attack like vampire bats, going for the throats of their luckless victims; whilst they also have Alien-like trends, one bursting out of a dead body to attack a nurse.

As can be gathered, I found this film great fun - most production values are of a reasonable standard, particularly the underwater photography. The piranha themselves are a disappointment, but they play second fiddle to the characters and storyline.

People who slate the film need to watch the likes of 'Barracuda' or 'Evil in the Deep', both of which are fathoms below 'Piranha II'. Any film with dialogue like "Do you dive on your first date?" gets the thumbs up from me.

Hard to believe it's Cameron, that's right. The directorial wizard who brought us such great films as "Terminator 2" produced this crap first time around. Well, not crap really. This film is okay. The piranhas looked OH! SO FAKE! And the storyline was average, which is BELOW AVERAGE for Cameron. But what kept this sinking ship afloat was Gabby. Gabby was the king of guy that would make you laugh on a rainy day. He's brave (standing up to Henriksen, for example), he's funny(without trying to be), and he's really, really wicked("I'm gonna kill 'em all, Anne!"). Gabby was a great addition to this barely average film. And if I ever watch it again. It would be just to see Gabby work his magic, in his very first film! However, unless you are a die hard Cameron fan, avoid this muddled mess! **out of****

This follow-up pretty much matches the first film for pacing and thrills, which isn't saying much. Seeing how the fishies are introduced in the opening scene (to devour a pair of underwater lovemakers!) but then disappear for 20 minutes to set up the bland characters. Despite what other IMDBers have said, I thought the cast looked fine. O'Neill is cute, the two cruel babes on the boat were NICE, and the busty, though never glimpsed, sea captain's daughter was good. She does the "dirty deed" with some dude in a waterfall, but the scene is so dark that you cant see squat. And there's actually a survivor so to speak of all these performers: veteran actor Henricksen, who went on to bigger and better, and is till working these days. As for the action, I liked the idea of the flying munchers. Though laughable, it gave them an extra dynamic to exploit on the victims. But even with that inventive idea, the effect of them taking flight is extremely cheap looking. Whenever they chew someone, its always done in close up, as if some stagehand was trying to stay out of the shot as he held the fish against the actors face/neck. I do have to give credit for the scene involving the nurse. If you don't get a jolt when that little sucker pops out of the dead body, I'd be surprised. As for superstar director Cameron, his first offering is what you'd expect out of a low budget horror film; cheaply made, dark and badly photographed nonsense. And that early "Titanic" influence is evident in a number of scenes that take place in the hulls of a sunken ship. But he manages to make you jump here and there, and I enjoyed the opening credits, that featured some good, creepy violin music and creatively done wavy, water-like effects as the names came on screen. As most have said, this may go into a lot of peoples "so bad, its funny" file, but it entertained me as much as the first film did, which was very little.

If you guessed Sidney Poitier you'd be wrong. So begins James Cameron's fascination with water. And what humble beginnings they are. Cameron would probably like to forget this one, because it is sadly less perfect than Dante's original. In Piranha II: The Spawning you're no longer safe outside the water. This time they can fly. Now, with a premise like that you expect certain things. Evil, flying, man-eating fish just begs for comedy. But I assure you, this film is never played for laughs; and that's its downfall. Dante's Piranha had elements of comedy in it and this one should have followed suit (especially with flying fish!!!). Make-up legend Giannetto De Rossi did the effects for the film, however, the picture quality on the VHS I was watching was so muddled I couldn't appreciate them. The fish themselves are still accompanied by that menacing sound effect, so they still have that going for them. Unless you're a hardcore Lance Henriksen/James Cameron fan, I'd say you can miss this one.

Ha well, Piranha 2 was actually entertaining primarily for its unique setting and creative usage of piranhas. It was hokey to see piranhas flying around (which they don't actually do, but this was due because of someone screwing around with their genetics) and gobbling like turkies underwater. There were beautiful women in this film (most of which weren't wearing bras at all) which, I hate to say, saved many scenes by putting them in. There were humorous moments (the stuttering loser-chef) and crazy settings (the running of the "grunions" and everyone saying "We want fish! We want fish!")

It was cool to kick back and watch this one. As cheesy as it seems, well, it was cheesy. But it was entertaining to see what the piranha might do and, like I said before, it had unique style as to where they were at and the characters involved. Check it out if there is nothing left to see at your local videostore. It gets a 4/10 from me.