Piranha II: The Spawning
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| Piranha II: The Spawning | |
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 French film poster. |
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| Directed by | James Cameron |
| Written by | James Cameron |
| Starring | Tricia O'Neil Steve Marachuk Lance Henriksen Ricky G. Paull Ted Richert Leslie Graves |
| Music by | Steve Powder |
| Cinematography | Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli |
| Editing by | Roberto Silvi |
| Release date(s) | 1981 |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Country |  United States Italy |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Piranha |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Piranha II: The Spawning is a 1981 horror movie, the sequel to the 1978 low-budget movie Piranha, and the feature-film directorial debut of James Cameron.
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[edit] Plot
In a Caribbean island, a couple is found dead inside a sunken ship. The scuba diving instructor of the local resort Anne Kimbrough breaks in the morgue with her acquaintance Tyler Sherman and finds that the bodies have been eaten in many parts. They have one night stand and Tyler tells her that he is a biochemist that have developed a specimen of genetically modified piranha capable of flying to be the ultimate weapon. Unfortunately they had lost a cylinder full of the new breed in the water. During the fishing party promoted by the resort, the piranhas attack the guests. Anne and Tyler decide to explode the ship to destroy the nest of the predators.
[edit] Production history
James Cameron was originally hired as the special effects director for this film and took over the direction when the original director left (his hand in story-writing can be suspected under the H. A. Milton pseudonym on the original script). Due to budget limitations the crew was composed essentially by Italians, none of whom spoke English. Some however did have prior experience on horror/fantasy movies so they were, to some extent, able to satisfy Cameron's requirements.
After the first week of shooting, the set harmony was disturbed by some discussions about the work between the director and the producers (the executive producer, Ovidio G. Assonitis, asked to verify the day-to-day activities, arguing most of Cameron's choices), so whilst Cameron was just responsible for the shooting, most of the decisions are under Assonitis' authority. According to "Dreaming Aloud," a biography of James Cameron by Christopher Heard, Cameron was not allowed to see his footage and was not involved in editing. He broke into the editing room in Rome and cut his own version while the film's producers were at Cannes, but was caught and Assonitis re-cut it again.
As in the first film, which was one of many horror films inspired by the success of Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws, piranhas act as the antagonist monsters harming human life, and have developed the ability to fly, which they did not have in the first film. Cameron has defended the film by saying that it's the finest flying piranha movie ever made. He would later employ some of the same mechanisms used to make the piranhas fly in the facehugger animatronics for Aliens.
Most of the underwater scenes were filmed off Grand Cayman Island, and the stand-in for the Club Elysium is the Mallard Beach Hyatt. Interior scenes were filmed on a soundstage in Rome.[1]
[edit] Cast
- Tricia O'Neil - Anne Kimbrough
- Steve Marachuk - Tyler
- Lance Henriksen - Steve Kimbrough
- Ricky G. Paull - Chris Kimbrough
- Ted Richert - Raoul
- Leslie Graves - Allison
- Captain Kidd Brewer Jr. - Lou
- Jan Eisner Mannon - Lisa
- Carole Davis - Jai
- Arnie Ross - Mal the Cook
- Tracy Berg - Beverly
- Albert Sanders - Leo Bell, D.D.S.
- Anne Pollack - Mrs. Wilson
- Dorothy Cunningham - Nurse April
[edit] Credits
- James Cameron - Director
- James Cameron - Screenwriter
- Ovidio G. Assonitis - Executive Producer
- Giovanni Corridori - Special Effects
- Giannetto De Rossi - Makeup Special Effects
- Giannetto De Rossi - Special Effects
- Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli - Cinematographer
- Lee Reynolds - Screenwriter
- Roberto Silvi - Editor
- Antonio Corridori - Special Effects
- Chako van Leuwen - Producer
- Jeff Schechtman - Producer
- H.A. Milton - Screenwriter
- Steve Powder - Composer (Music Score)
- Medusa Paltrinieri - Art Director
- Carbonaro - Special Effects
- Chako VanLeeuwen - Producer
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Piranha II features some well-known Cameron hallmarks, such as the dangers presented by an alien environment, a nemesis or conflict instigated by man's technological hubris, and the presence at the center of the story of a seemingly average woman who finds herself thrown into a situation utterly outside of her experience, yet who shows great courage and resourcefulness in coping with it.[2]
- The 2002 DVD release adds some additional scenes that were cut out of the theatrical and VHS releases. The beginning of the film, for example, restores a scene of the doomed scuba couple Lou and Lisa conversing aboard their small boat prior to their fatal dive to the Dwight Fitzgerald. It endeavors to put their attempt at underwater lovemaking in some sort of context.
- Cameron became ill during the making of Piranha II, and in a fever-nightmare conceived of his trademark film, The Terminator.
- This film became the first of four collaborations between Cameron and actor Lance Henriksen who later went onto co-starring in Cameron's The Terminator, Aliens and narrated Expedition: Bismarck.
- In the Terminator 2: Judgement Day DVD Special Features, director James Cameron claims Piranha II is the best "flying killer fish horror comedy" ever made.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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