Forgotten Sequels: Piranha 2- The Spawning

 Everyone has to start somewhere in any Industry.
In this case, it is James Cameron getting his first gig as a Director on today's Film- Piranha 2: The Spawning, the 1981 Sequel to the Cult Classic.

There are many caveats here, but I'll get to that.

This is a Sequel made in Italy by a man named Ovidio G. Assonitis.  And yes, that is his real last name.
He Produced many Films that only true connoisseurs of foreign nonsense have seen and sometimes love like Beyond the Door, Tentacles and The Iron Warrior.

In this case, he needed an American name on his Sequel (to a Film that he didn't make) and ultimately settled on James Cameron, fresh off working on Roger Corman's Productions.

The Plot involves those damn Piranhas back for more in a Plot that actually mirrors some future Jurassic Park Films.  

Is this Euro Trash with an American Title?  To find out, read on...

My version has a different Subtitle.

A Cold Open (literally) has a Couple diving down to have sex in a shipwreck.  Take note, Kash Patel!
They die.

The nearby Island is full of Tourists and overseen by a single Sheriff/Law Figure- Lance Henriksen.

There's a Jaws-like Mayor figure in the form of the Resort Owner.

He does all of the usual stuff you'd expect.

Our Heroine- who would reunite with Cameron for Titanic- is the Diving Instructor/Tour Guide.

She's this Film's Hooper, but she's also the ex-Wife of Henriksen (this Film's Brody).
As a bonus, their Son is in peril for the climax, giving us a taste of Jaws 2.

While this is officially directed by Cameron, he only claims credit for 2 Scenes.  

In the first one, the guy who kept hitting on 'Hooper' goes with her to check out the body of a victim.

They used a real Morgue btw!

They are chased off by a Local Worker, who sticks around with the corpse uncovered long enough for one of the Piranha to fly out of an open wound!

We later learn from the guy above that they were crossbred with a bunch of other species as some sort of military weapon (or something), but escaped.

Yes, this is oddly similar to Jurassic World in that regard.

One of the Fishermen- Gabby- finds his son killed by one of the Piranhas.

He plans revenge, using the dynamite that he and the son were fishing with when Lance first met them.

That night, all of the warnings are ignored and the beach is opened...but at night.

The Tourists act out a ritual where they march to the Sea...and the Piranhas fly at them, killing many!

Gabby shows up after the survivors are behind a door and plans his revenge...only to be killed instantly.

My...arc...was pointless.

The Son and a girl he likes snuck away earlier, setting up the Jaws 2 bit I mentioned.

In the other bit that Cameron Directed, Lance finds them in his Helicopter and, instead of landing, jumps out and it explodes.

Helicopters famously explode upon contact with water.

They take a boat to get away as 'Hooper' and the guy try to set up bombs made by Gabby to blow up the eggs in the wreck.

The guy is killed by the fish- as Story Law demands- and they save the day via a giant explosion.

The End (until the 1995 Remake).

A pretty forgettable 'Sequel,' save for a few minutes throughout.

This one was supposedly going to try and get Kevin McCarthy to make a Cameo as his Piranha character and die off.  That never happened.

What we're left with is a Film that very, very much feels like an Italian Monster Movie.
It has all of the benchmarks, including much superfluous nudity and sleazy people.

There is also LOTS of stuff ripped off of/inspired by Jaws, which is pretty damn common in Italian Cinema between 1976 and 1996.

The FX work also led to what made the Face Huggers in Cameron's Aliens, so some good came of this.

I'd love to say more about this being a 'hidden gem' or something, but...nah.
It has some moments, at least.

Speaking of moments, now is the right one to bring this back...

Next time, Roger Moore is back in his (arguably) most maligned Bond Film.  Is this Sci-Fi premise too much for the Series?  Stay tuned...