Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)

Director:

James Cameron

Writer:

H.A. Milton (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Terror Is Back....But This Time It Flies!

Plot:

A scuba diving instructor, her biochemist boyfriend, and her police chief ex-husband try to link a series of bizarre deaths to a mutant strain of piranha fish whose lair is a sunken freighter ship off a Caribbean island resort.

Plot Keywords:

Piranha | Fish | Death | Party | Beach

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tricia O'Neil	...	Anne Kimbrough
Steve Marachuk	...	Tyler Sherman
Lance Henriksen	...	Police Chief Steve Kimbrough (as Lance Henricksen)
Ricky Paull Goldin	...	Chris Kimbrough (as Ricky G. Paull)
Ted Richert	...	Raoul, Hotel Manager
Leslie Graves	...	Allison Dumont
Carole Davis	...	Jai
Connie Lynn Hadden	...	Loretta
Arnie Ross	...	Mal the Cook
Tracey Berg	...	Beverly (as Tracy Berg)
Albert Sanders	...	Leo Bell, D.D.S.
Anne Pollack	...	Mrs. Wilson
Hildy Magnasun	...	Myrna Benotti
Phil Colby	...	Ralph Benotti
Lee Krug	...	Ron 'Ronny', the Lifeguard

Also Known As:

Piranha II: Flying Killers (Australia)
Piranha paura (Italy)
The Spawning (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

84 min | USA:94 min (extended version)

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Brazil:16 | Italy:T | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

Brouwersgracht Investments

Trivia:

Credit for directing this film was given to James Cameron. Most of the work was actually performed by Ovidio G. Assonitis, the film's producer and prolific film-maker. Assonitis was dissatisfied with Cameron's progress after the first week and took over. According to "Dreaming Aloud," a biography of James Cameron by Christopher Heard, Cameron did do the shooting for this movie, but was not allowed to see his footage and was not involved in editing. He broke into the editing room and cut his own version, but was caught and Assonitis re-cut it again.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Steve goes to search for his son, he starts up the helicopter twice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Skeleton Crew (2009) (V)

Muddled Mess...But Then There Was Gabby!

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****