Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)

Director:

James Cameron
(more)

Writers:

Ovidio G. Assonitis (screenplay) and
James Cameron (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

5 November 1982 (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 | Beach | Party

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
Sally Ricca	...	Cindy
Ward White	...	Mr. Dumont
Ancile Gloudon	...	Gabby (as Ancil Gloudon)
Paul Drummond	...	Frank
Dorothy Cunningham	...	Nurse April
Aston S. Young	...	Aaron
Paul Issa	...	Waiter
Gaetano Del Grande	...	Randy
Myra Weisler	...	Randy's Wife
Johnny Ralston	...	Randy's Son
Jim Pair	...	Robert Haywood
Captain Kidd Brewer Jr.	...	Lou (as Capt. Kidd Brewer Jr.)
Jan Eisner Mannon	...	Lisa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carolyn De Fonseca	...	Jai (voice) (uncredited)
Ted Rusoff	...	Opening Victim (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
James Cameron
Ovidio G. Assonitis		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Ovidio G. Assonitis		(screenplay) (as H.A Milton)
James Cameron		screenplay (as H.A. Milton)
Charles H. Eglee		screenplay (as H.A. Milton)

Produced by
Ovidio G. Assonitis	....	executive producer
Chako van Leeuwen	....	producer (as Chako van Leuwen)
Jeff Schechtman	....	producer

Original Music by
Stelvio Cipriani		(as Steve Powder)

Cinematography by
Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli

Film Editing by
Roberto Silvi		(as Robert Silvi)

Art Direction by
Vincenzo Medusa
Stefano Paltrinieri

Costume Design by
Nicoletta Ercole

Makeup Department
Mirella De Rossi	....	hair stylist (as Mirella Sforza)
Maurizio Trani	....	makeup artist
Brian Wade	....	piranaha sculptor
Brian Wade	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Giuliano Principato	....	unit manager
Umberto Sambuco	....	production manager
Peter Shepherd	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ruggero Salvadori	....	assistant director
Alessandro Vivarelli	....	assistant director

Art Department
Stephane Goulet	....	property master
Ronnie Lombard	....	greens foreman
Emilio Zamprioli	....	props

Sound Department
Roberto Arcangeli	....	special sound effects
Vito Catania	....	boom operator: second unit
Piero Fondi	....	sound
Roberto Edwin Forrest	....	boom operator
Giancarlo Laurenzi	....	sound: second unit
Alessandro Peticca	....	sound editor
Danilo Sternini	....	sound re-recordist

Special Effects by
Gilberto Carbonaro	....	special effects
Mario Cassar	....	special effects technician: Rome
Antonio Corridori	....	special effects
Giannetto De Rossi	....	prosthetics designer
Giannetto De Rossi	....	prosthetics supervisor
Giannetto De Rossi	....	special effects designer
Giannetto De Rossi	....	special effects supervisor
Gino De Rossi	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Ennio Brizzolari	....	chief grip
Gianni Caramanico	....	still photographer
Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli	....	director of photography: underwater unit
Roberto Di Palma	....	assistant camera
Roberto Forges Davanzati	....	camera operator: underwater unit
Roberto Forges Davanzati	....	photographer: second unit
Erich Heindl	....	camera operator: underwater unit
Gino Pasqualini	....	chief electrician
Carlo Tafani	....	camera operator
Fabrizio Vicari	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Serena Severini	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Ada Grimaldi	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Stelvio Cipriani	....	conductor (as Steve Powder)
Luca di Silverio	....	soundtrack album producer

Other crew
Renata Franceschi	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Brouwersgracht Investments
• Chako Film Company

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1983) (USA) (theatrical)
• Saturn International (1983) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Films (1982) (Finland) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Alliance Atlantis Video (1994) (Canada) (video)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Nelson Entertainment (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Nelson Entertainment (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• New Line Home Video (1994) (USA) (video)
• Nordisk Film (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• R-Video (1980s) (Finland) (video) (uncut)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video (1980s) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Video Tape Center (VTC) (1980s) (Finland) (video) (cut)

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"The Spawning" - USA (short title)

Runtime:

84 min | USA:94 min (extended version)

Country:

USA | Italy | Netherlands

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1982) | France:-12 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Iceland:L | Brazil:16 | Italy:T | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2003) | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

Brouwersgracht Investments

Trivia:

James Cameron's directorial debut, though due to reasons cited above, he personally does not consider it as such.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the wreck of the Earl Fitzgerald, the plastic dummy of the scuba diver floats up and bangs on the lens of the camera.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Superior Firepower: The Making of 'Aliens' (2003) (V)

on par with the original

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.