RENFIELD'S BIG BLOG O' FUN

PIRANHA is directed this time around by french director Alex Aja, and while many know him as the guy who remade Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES, we take our fishing caps off to him again here because he crafted, probably the most interesting entry of the summer. Aja accomplishes mixing lampooning with suspense, for example by having Richard Dreyfuss come on board for an amusing cameo as JAWS character Matt Hooper, although now dressed similarly and named Matt Boyd, this is most likely one of the big crowd pleasers. He does it all from drinking "Amity Beer" to singing the classic Quint, Brody, and Hooper crooner, "Show Me The Way To Go Home". Again, nothing but a cameo, but Dreyfuss' appearance, although of course only for that fat check, is appreciated by older members of the audience who remember fondly the big shark flick of 1975.

We jump straight from an old friend and into the lake known as Victoria and watch the carnage ensue. Of course we must meet up with many of the main players which include 1980's teen queen Elizabeth Shue, who plays the lead sheriff of the small town and keeps a close eye on her wayward son and his two younger siblings. The son, played by the grandson of Steve McQueen, is excited by the possibilities of the upcoming Spring Break, as he is lured onto a sleazy nudie shoot by Jerry O Connell's character (A "Girls Gone Wild" type director) and a duo of models that perform a bizarre underwater ballet early in the film. Shue's son is so distracted by his new duties, that he has no time to babysit his brother and sister, who leave the house to further the suspense (Some die hards could see the JAWS 2 references).

Also, there is a huge deputy played by Ving Rhames, playing Ving Rhames, and a certain pet shop curator who surprisingly looks a lot like the doc from BACK TO THE FUTURE. Yes, I think it IS the doc from that movie. Christopher Lloyd is on hand to solve the mystery of why prehistoric piranhas survived 2 million years and were able to leave their domain by way of an earthquake that shook up the lake. Yes, the plot no longer uses political metaphors, which was what the first film worked with by means of a mutant fish facility. In 1978, the fish were orchestrated by mad scientists as a biological war weapon, bringing to the scene classic genre stars such as Kevin McCarthy and Barbara Steele, who sadly have no presence here.

We can't wait for the gore scenes and they arrive very quickly, promising a death every 15 or so minutes, leading up to one of the most memorable water massacres in recent movie history. Blood pours out of every faucet and body parts aren't spared, including a scene involving a male member, which is enough to give audiences a huge laugh. This film doesn't skimp.....believe me. If you want to see 3d gore alive and well, it is a good idea to catch this one before it swims away into the DVD sales department. It's a good choice that won't be appreciated by many mainstream viewers (Obviously they are all drooling over VAMPIRES SUCK---?!!!!), but fans of GRINDHOUSE and cult film lovers will undoubtedly eat it alive.

Watch the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkF5VMRJGek