Piranha 3D (2010) is three dimensions of awesome sauce

A seismic disruption allows a fleet of prehistoric man-eating piranha loose into a small-town lake right in time for Spring Break. That means lots of wild teens in the lake, which equals a human buffet for the scaly predators. Kids go in the water…piranha in the water…our piranha...Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies.

After an incredible cameo by Richard Dreyfuss, parodying his role of Matt Hooper from the original Jaws, the piranha are set free from their cavernous environment to start the carnage right away. Two members of local law enforcement, Sheriff Foster and Deputy Fallon (Elizabeth Shue and Ving Rhames), discover that something is making mince meat out of lakesiders, but that does not stop the unaware locals from participating the biggest lake bash this side of Meatballs 3. Do you like that obscure reference?



Director Alexandre Aja plays the film with more camp and comedy than the 1978 original (I’ll disregard the 90’s made-for-TV remake), which makes this one of the most energetic seas creature features to date. The 3D effects are phenomenal and well executed during certain scenes, but this film would be just as fun without them..

Even with the excessive gore and violence, the film is a successful mish-mash of horror, comedy, gore, and major sex appeal. Besides Shue, who is still easy on the eyes, Jessica Szchor (Gossip Girl), who portrays Kelly, and Kelly Brook (who has finally broken into the U.S. market) as the sexpot Danni, provide plenty of pop for the male audience.



Meanwhile. the ladies are not left out in the cold either with Steven R. McQueen (Vampire Dairies) as Forester's son Jake and Jerry O’Connell portraying Derrick Jones, in a hilarious and obvious send-up of Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild). His performance is effectively over-the-top which makes for a baddie you can’t help but love.

The question should not be who is in this film, but the better question would be who is not in the film. Recognizable faces are aplenty. Besides the aforementioned names, Christopher Lloyd appears as a zany scientist not too far removed from his Doc Brown persona, Paul Scheer (The League) plays O’Connell’s sidekick and Richard Chavira (Desperate Housewives) and Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers and the Saw franchise) are cast as divers investigating the opened cave. I think the casting department has a keen eye on television talent and hired a star from every major television network. Let's also point out the fact that Eli Roth shows up in a ridiculous cameo that must be seen to be believed.

The fun aspect aside, the gore is delivered early and often. Without giving anything away, let’s just say that this film can go toe-to-toe with Saw for gore any day of the week. If you have not already, I implore you NOT to watch the leaked piranha feast scene and save the surprise for when you see the film in its' entirety. Words cannot describe the brutal, yet inventive, slaughter that takes place. But at the same time, I dare state that the violence is almost done in a comical light without being very comical. It's confusing to explain, so again, you must see it to understand my point.

Piranha 3D is the ultimate summer popcorn flick that must be ingested with the theater experience. I always hear a mixed bag when it comes to Aja’s Mirrors, but he has created a crazy horror flick here that will soon not be forgotten. Never have I seen so many different genres thrown into a blender and puréed into an excellent concoction. Between this film and the very different The Last Exorcism, it looks like horror has had a few weeks of success and cinematic victories to brag about before Halloween.