Capsule Film Review: Piranha 3D (2010)

Remake of Piranha, Joe Dante’s 1978 low budget Jaws rip-off, has the plot set on the Arizona lake which, due to a freak earthquake, becomes connected with a larger, ancient subterranean lake populated by schools of prehistoric piranhas. All this happens during the spring break when the lake is popular destination for legions of rowdy students, unaware that they are going to end like fish fodder. Directed by talented French horor film director Alexandre Aja, Piranha 3D features many stylish and ingeniously morbid death scenes, with some that, in grand tradtion of old exploitation cinema, add dark humour and even some explicit eroticism to the mix. New film also tries to put 3D technology with good use, with couple of scenes featuring floating body parts or scene of nude underwater ballet. The plot that connects scenes of carnage is weak, and the one-dimentional characters are bland, with an exception of sleazy porn producer played by Jerry O’Donnell. Aja, aware of the content limitations, wisely keeps running time under 90 minutes, allowing Piranha 3D to remain guilty pleasure for the fans of the genre.

RATING: 6/10