Late last year, director James Cameron released his ninth film, “Avatar: The Way of Water.” If you’re counting his films on your fingers and forgetting one, it might be his very first, also a watery sequel: “Piranha II: The Spawning” (1981).
Despite being his directorial debut, “P2” is certainly his least-seen film, as it has a reputation for being horrible. Additionally, Cameron didn’t have total creative control. Although reports differ on how much of it he directed, most observers agree he was micromanaged by producer Ovidio G. Assonitis. It’s confirmed that Cameron was fired by the time of post-production.
Better than you’d guess
Perhaps because my expectations were so low, I found “P2” to be not half bad, and in fact I found it less dumb than the Roger Corman-produced 1978 original. It features a lot of Cameron tropes: underwater diving suspense, an estranged husband (Lance Henriksen as Steve) and wife (Tricia O’Neil as Anne) who might get back together, and a government agency that’s inept or corrupt.
“Piranha II: The Spawning” (1981)
Directors: James Cameron, Ovidio G. Assonitis, Miller Drake
Writers: Charles H. Eglee, James Cameron, Ovidio G. Assonitis
Stars: Tricia O’Neil, Steve Marachuk, Lance Henriksen
Government scientists created mutant piranhas in the first film, and in part two, we meet flying versions, thus solving the issue wherein if people stay out of the water, they’ll be fine. (The later sequels simply made people dumb enough to go into the water, but people were smarter in 1981, even in B-horror films.) One of them bursts from a corpse in the style of “Alien.” (Cameron’s next sequel project would be “Aliens.”)
The sound design is bad, bordering on annoying. As with the first film, the piranhas make electronic buzzing sounds as they feast. It’s like they are leisurely enjoying a meal more so than horrifyingly chowing down on a person. Somehow, these deaths are little tragedies rather than part of a full-blown horror show. Sound design is outright missing from some attack scenes.
But the characters border on well-written, in what is easily the most serious of the five “Piranha” films. Dive instructor Anne is driven to solve the piranha mystery, island sheriff Steve hopes to keep people safe and Tyler (suave Steve Marachuk, the third side of the love triangle) has secrets dating to the first film’s events.
We also meet a dynamite fisherman (Ancil Gloudon) whose local flavor suggests the Elysium resort is located on Jamaica in addition to being filmed there. And Steve’s and Anne’s teen son Chris (Ricky G. Paull) hits it off with cute Allison (Leslie Graves, who tragically died at 35), adding a “Jaws 2” flavor.
Cameron and Henriksen lend their stamp
Keeping with the schlock tradition, “P2” serves up a respectable amount of nudity and implied sex, but Cameron doesn’t let that overtake his storytelling. While the dark lighting by Roberto D’Ettorre Piazzoli hides the mediocre practical effects, it also suggests the sweaty grit Cameron would employ on “Terminator” and “Aliens.”
Longtime Cameron collaborator Charles H. Eglee (using the pseudonym H.A. Milton) wrote the screenplay. But it includes lines that very much belong in a Cameron film, including Gloudon’s Gabby calling the stuffed-shirt resort owner “bitch” under his breath and Henriksen’s sheriff biting out commands in the calm-gruff style we would later appreciate in Cameron films and TV’s “Millennium.”
While this has to rank as the weakest Cameron film, it’s not as bad as people say. It has a certain gravity, the performances are good, and the plot isn’t excessively idiotic. After 94 minutes, I feel like I’ve watched a sober exploration of flying piranhas attacking an island resort.
Maybe that’s not the right choice for a “Piranha” film – indeed, the absurdist romp “Piranha 3D” (2010) is the series’ best entry – but it feels like a Cameron choice. If nothing else, “Piranha II: The Spawning” is a fascinating launch to the oeuvre of one of the world’s most successful directors.