An underwater quake awakens a vicious prehistoric race
​of piranhas that attacks lake vacationers during Spring Break.

HORROR

Piranha (2010)

Directed by Alexandre Aja

Written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg

Starring Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Adam Scott, Kelly Brook, Riley Steele,
​Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss

Remake of 1978's Piranha

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Connor Eyzaguirre

February 14, 2019

7/10

Piranha is an ultra gory, ultra sexy lesson in how to remake an already super cheesy horror movie. Step one, never take yourself seriously. Embrace the fact that you're making a crazy flick starring at least three pornstars. Step two, double down on the gore and go absolutely nuts with makeup effects. Step three, profit. It's actually kind of amazing how this movie ended up being as good as it was. It's actually certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 73%. That's higher than Bohemian Rhapsody, which is up for Best Picture this year. But I digress. My point is that Piranha knows exactly what it is, and that puts it a degree higher than most blatant Jaws ripoffs.

The cast is made up of unknown teens and wash-ups, but the characters are mostly likable and easy to root for, apart from Jerry O'Connell's sketchy porn director, but he's supposed to be scum anyway. We also get an awesome cameo from Richard Dreyfuss, who basically plays his character Hooper from Jaws sitting in a rowboat singing "Show Me the Way to Go Home." Right off the bat, I knew this was going to be irreverent and ridiculous in all the right ways. The piranhas aren't exactly rendered all that well, and that's where the movie loses a lot of points. This was back in 2010, a year after Avatar. They could've done better. But Greg Nicotero's bloody makeup effects and death scenes help make up for it.

Piranha is a fun watch for anybody looking for a wildly gory movie with tons of gratuitous nudity and violence. The monsters are somewhat underwhelming, but the viciousness they bring to the table is not. Frankly, it's a guilty pleasure movie that represents everything great about the horror genre. Wild, crazy, sexy, gory, bloody, and everything in between.