Swimming with the Man-Eaters: The Making of Piranha 2: The Spawning
I. OVERVIEW
Without a doubt, the plot of Piranha 2: The Spawning is ridiculous, even by B-movie standards. A man-eating school of piranha terrorizes the inhabitants of an unnamed Caribbean island resort. Not only are these piranhas extraordinarily vicious, they’re also amphibious and can fly! Naturally, these ferocious flying fiends are intent upon killing any islander foolhardy enough to cross paths with them. The main thrust of the plot finds the fish feeding upon the island’s unsuspecting vacationers while a local scuba instructor, Anne Kimbrough (Tricia O’Neil), and her estranged husband, Steve (Lance Henriksen), attempt to end the evil school’s feedings, once and for all.
Tricia O’Neil in “Piranha 2: The Spawning.”
The special effects in the film are downright pathetic, even by the standards of the time. The scenes where the piranha are “flying” play as unintentionally hysterical. In many shots, the strings holding the fish aloft are plainly obvious, and in others it’s clear that the piranha are simply being lobbed at some unfortunate actor by someone off-screen. Piranha 2‘s flying killers are perhaps the least convincing thing shown on a movie screen since Ed Wood swung flaming paper plates from strings to simulate burning UFOs in his infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959).
Sadly, these shots of the film’s flying fish are few and far between. The rest of the movie is so bad that it’s not even remotely funny, it’s just boring. In fact, Piranha 2: The Spawning would be completely lost in the back alleys of cinematic oblivion if it wasn’t for one key fact. It was the first film that James Cameron directed.
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Nathan Sanders
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- Swimming with the Man-Eaters: The Making of Piranha 2: The Spawning - January 16, 2018
