Ed's Review Dot Com

Dimension Films, Intellectual Properties Worldwide (I), Aja / Levasseur Productions

Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Christopher Lloyd, Eli Roth, Jerry O’Connell, Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Kelly Brook

In the fictitious Lake Victoria (come on, it’s Lake Havasu….you can see the London Bridge a bunch of times!!!) there is a gang of kids arriving for Spring Break when a sudden earthquake under the lake opens a cavern to a Lake under the Lake releasing giant prehistoric Piranha’s that are very hungry and very happy to be in a lake full of delicious morsels. Meanwhile Derrick Jones (Jerry O’Connell) is in town filming another classic “Wild Wild Girls” video to sell on late night TV. Sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) gets the Sherrif Brody role from Jaws of trying to get the kids out of the water and trying to figure out where these hungry fish came from.

This is a solid gore fest horror film. I was pleasantly surprised at the stars in this film in minor roles, (Richard Dreyfus and Christopher Lloyd for example) and the fun this movie was. I would imagine this was fantastic in 3D, and if you have the chance to see the 3D version whether on Blu-Ray or what, be sure to take advantage of that, as many of the scares would be 3D enhanced. These fish are great characters in themselves. Mostly there’s lots of blood and body pieces, and lots of naked babes, just like the real Lake Havasu spring break. It’s not classic cinema, but it’s really FUN and there are a lot of “hide your eyes or look away” moments. There’s the typical Jaws story, with the Sherrif’s kids who disobey and go out on the lake while Sherrif Mom is at work. There’s lots of heroes trying to rescue the kids and a lot of cowards looking out for themselves just like real life. Jerry O’Connell’s Derrick is a sleaze bag just like real life too. He does a great job of being a jerk, so that we can all cheer when he gets what’s coming to him. He really doesn’t want to miss the big “Wet T-Shirt Contest” whatever the cost! 🙂

This is a simple fun horror film, and was a pleasant surprise. I expected cheese, but it was pretty well done. Furthermore, it was easy to tell that the folks making this movie were having a ball as well, so it added to the enjoyment. If you like blood and guts and lots of bikini babes (and less), then you probably won’t be disappointed in this film. This is a remake of the original Piranha movie from about 1978, and though it is the 3rd film named Piranha, it’s not a sequel, its a remake of the original. The film was originally known as Piranha 3D and the 3 relates to the 3D, not the 3rd in a series. People looking for class are not going to enjoy this, but those just wanting an escape will think it’s pretty funny, and scary.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog