Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

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 | 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:

In an interview, James Cameron said, "I believe 'The Spawning' was the finest flying piranha movie ever made."

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the nocturnal piranha beach attack, wires can clearly be seen in certain shots holding up the flying piranhas.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Half Baked (1998)

The Ultimate Weapon

In a Caribbean island, a couple is found dead inside a sunken ship. The scuba diving instructor of the local resort Anne Kimbrough (Tricia O'Neil) breaks in the morgue with her acquaintance Tyler Sherman (Steve Marachuk) and finds that the bodies have been eaten in many parts. They have one night stand and Tyler tells her that he is a biochemist that have developed a specimen of genetically modified piranha capable of flying to be the ultimate weapon. Unfortunately they had lost a cylinder full of the new breed in the water. During the fishing party promoted by the resort, the piranhas attack the guests. Anne and Tyler decide to explode the ship to destroy the nest of the predator.

This shameful rip-off of "Jaws" is simply awful. The saddest surprise is that this is practically the debut of director James Cameron, from "Terminator", "Aliens", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Titanic". The cheesy "Piranha Part Two: The Spawning" has a terrible story associated to bad acting, using all the typical clichés of this type of B-Movie and caricatures instead of characters. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Piranha II – Assassinas Voadoras" ("Piranha II – Flying Assassins")