IMDb RATING
3.8/10
10K
YOUR RATING
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 freighte... Read allA 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.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.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Lance Henriksen
- Police Chief Steve Kimbrough
- (as Lance Henricksen)
Ricky Paull Goldin
- Chris Kimbrough
- (as Ricky G. Paull)
Tracey Berg
- Beverly
- (as Tracy Berg)
Ancile Gloudon
- Gabby
- (as Ancil Gloudon)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough this is the first official directing credit for James Cameron, most of the work was actually performed by Ovidio G. Assonitis, the film's producer and prolific film-maker. Assonitis had made a deal with a small label at Warner Bros. for a budget of $500,000 to produce the movie, provided that an American was credited as director. After considering Miller Drake as director but finding him unsuitable, he gave the job to Cameron after being impressed by his special effects on Galaxy of Terror (1981); but what he really wanted was a first-timer who he could easily side-step in order to take over as director, something he had already done on Beyond the Door (1974) and Madhouse (1981). According to "Dreaming Aloud," a biography of James Cameron by Christopher Heard, and "The Futurist" by Rebecca Keegan, Cameron worked on the film's special effects, re-wrote the script, created storyboards, did location scouting and actually filmed for four days. However, Assonitis called most of the shots, continuously questioned Cameron's decisions, did not allow him to watch his own footage, and finally fired him on the fifth day of shooting, reportedly because Cameron's footage wouldn't cut together. Later, Cameron was able to convince Assonitis to show him a rough cut of the film, which was horrible, but not because there was anything wrong with his footage: Assonitis had simply manipulated the situation to re-write half the movie (adding nudity that wasn't in the script originally). Cameron then broke into the editing room every night for weeks, and cut his own version. Unfortunately, Assonitis found out and re-cut it again. The most widely distributed version of the film that is available on DVD is Assonitis' version, although Cameron was later allowed to create a director's cut that saw a limited release in some markets.
- GoofsObvious dummy when Ann goes into the wreck and the supposedly dead diver floats down on top of her.
- Quotes
Tyler Sherman: Hey, come here. Do you go to asshole school or something?
- Alternate versionsThe original, 1988 laserdisc featured James Cameron's much better "director's cut", missing nearly 20 minutes of footage, and having many scene re-edited and reordered.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Beast Week: Piranha II: The Spawning (1989)
Featured review
This sequel to the 1978 Piranha completely loses the fun, campy spirit of the original and is a poorly conceived mess of a film. I'm sure James Cameron did not have the freedom or control that he has had on films that followed and that this is not a reflection of his talents as a director.
The premise of the film about flying Piranha at a Caribbean resort is just too ridiculous but it seems to take itself seriously rather than poking fun at itself.
Cameron's "The Terminator" would only come a few years later putting him on the map and making this early film debut, a little noticed footnote in the Academy Award winning director' career.
The premise of the film about flying Piranha at a Caribbean resort is just too ridiculous but it seems to take itself seriously rather than poking fun at itself.
Cameron's "The Terminator" would only come a few years later putting him on the map and making this early film debut, a little noticed footnote in the Academy Award winning director' career.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $145,786 (estimated)
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content