Piranha 2: The Spawning (1982) Directed by James Cameron
Am I the only one who thoroughly enjoys this sort of raunchy kitschy horror comedy of murderous flying piranhas on the attack more than Joe Dante’s simplistic pulpy knock-off of Jaws? If you’re also among that minority with refined tastes, then you’ll understand why this trashy sequel is so much more jocular and enjoyable than Joe Dante’s film.
To begin with, this is the film of Ovidio G. Assonitis, not James Cameron; I think that’s more than obvious. The then greenhorn filmmaker James Cameron is credited with helming this Piranha sequel, but in reality, his directorial input was only practical and mechanical, as his direction was predicated solely on obeying the uncompromising instructions of the Greek-Italian director and producer. The only Cameron thing about this film is perhaps the water – and the underwater cinematography – everything else is a grand, stupefyingly grotesque Anglo-Saxon exploitation film made by Italians. The garish, over-the-top graphic gore is unmistakably the artistry of Giannetto De Rossi – the man behind the putrescent, eerie zombie and ghoulish aesthetic of Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy and the delightfully nasty Zombi 2 – the rich, baroque score is unquestionably the brainchild of prolific Italian genre film composer Stelvio Cipriani – his musical prowess here sounds like a disjointed piece from a Spaghetti Western lost in the ocean of Piranha 2 – the rustic, unctuous cinematography is the work of Roberto D’Ettorre – the seasoned cinematographer behind many Italian exploitation pictures. And last but not least, the executive producer (and director, though not credited as such) of Piranha 2, Ovidio G. Assonitis leaves such blatant traces of his crude exploitation flair in this sequel that his directorial involvement is palpable – he’s not as sleazy and abrasive as in his hardcore horror efforts, but it’s evident that the director of a Video Nasty and producer of the very first Italian cannibal flick, another Video Nasty, is the creative mastermind behind this rollicking adventure of ravenous, flying piranhas.
The daft plot of this monster feature is composed – or rather decomposed – of an outrageously soapy theatrical non-sequitur; a plethora of dissimilar genres narrating disjointed subplots that go nowhere. This madcap romp takes place at a seaside Caribbean resort, the Elysium Hotel, where the revelry is ruined by frenetic, aggressive, genetically modified piranhas attacking their victims on both land and sea. Lance Henriksen plays the local cop and father of a teenage boy, and husband of the boy’s mother Anne (Tricia O’Neil), though the two are estranged. James Cameron dutifully aims his camera at this tawdry Italian-style horror-comedy with some diffidence and modesty, I don’t blame him. But when the bawdy gags have a greater conspicuousness than the bestial violence of the piranhas, the film is unaccountably funny within the ironic lens of tastelessness. However, as much as I laughed and relished its ribald humor, that’s not really the main reason why I consider James Cameron’s -in theory- film debut superior to Joe Dante’s film. The reason lies in its enjoyable, classic B-movie textures. Just think about it, if this movie -taking away all its obscene fixation and sexual jokes of course- had been made in Hollywood in the 50’s -the decade par excellence of monster B movies- the story would be different, it would be a classic of the genre. But since it was made in the 80’s, the movie is judged by the trashiest context of low-budget genre cinema.
Piranha 2 is ludicrous in the same spirit that Roger Corman’s The Wasp Woman is, and if viewed from the far-fetched, cartoonish perspective of a voracious mutant creature feature from the 50’s, the movie and its disastrous plot does wonders. Okay, maybe it doesn’t do wonders, but it does offer the good stuff; it revives the fun puerility of a B-movie where everything is evidently too phony to be taken seriously, but you have a good time because the movie doesn’t try to contradict its cheap ontology. Piranhas fly and bite your throat with such ferocity that even vampires would be frightened to death! The movie opens with underwater sex! If that’s not freaking awesome then I don’t know what is. Cameron and Assonitis’ Piranha 2 is another one of the many rip-offs of Jaws that have been made in America, but this is the most Italianized one ever made, which sets it apart from the rest. Not entirely good, but entirely cool.