Piranha II: The Spawning | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by |
Ovidio G. Assonitis James Cameron |
Produced by | Chako van Leeuwen Jeff Schechtman |
Written by | Ovidio G. Assonitis James Cameron Charles H. Eglee all credited as: H.A. Milton |
Based on | Characters by John Sayles |
Starring |
Tricia O'Neil Steve Marachuk Lance Henriksen |
Music by |
Stelvio Cipriani credited as: Steve Powder |
Cinematography | Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli |
Edited by | Roberto Silvi credited as: Robert Silvi |
Distributed by |
Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment) |
Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
Country | United States Netherlands Italy |
Language | English |
Budget | $145,786 |
Piranha II: The Spawning, also known as The Spawning and Piranha II: Flying Killers, is a 1981 Italian-American horror film, the sequel to the 1978 Piranha, directed by James Cameron in his theatrical feature film directorial debut.
Shortly after the conclusion of the first film, the piranhas from the military camp have in fact reached the ocean, and have somehow mutated into winged creatures. Meanwhile, off the coast of a Caribbean island, a young couple flee a hotel to have sex in the sea. But they swim into a sunken wreck which is also a piranha lair and they are both killed and eaten by the unseen piranha.
The next day, a group of tourists, including Tyler Sherman, are taking the diving courses provided by Anne Kimbrough, an employee of the Hotel Elysium. One of her divers swims into the wreck, which she has strictly forbidden to her divers. Leaving Tyler to take over and lead the others to the surface, she discovers almost immediately that her 'missing' student has swum into the wreck and been killed there when his badly chewed up body is found.
Anne's estranged husband, Steve, a police officer, refuses to listen to Anne about her wanting to have a look at the body, because she needs to know what happened. The death does not seem to match the attack pattern by any of the marine life in this area, which she knows better than anyone. For her not to know what killed a diver is a dangerous sign. Steve intercepts Gabby, a dynamite fisherman, and his son, and threatens to confiscate their boat, but as Gabby explains, Steve, Anne, and he, are old friends.
Meanwhile, as the guests begin to flirt with each other, Jai and Loretta, a pair of women, arrive on a large boat. By their own admission, they are sea bandits. Jai sneaks into the kitchen to steal food, but is intercepted by Mel, a cook. She flirts with him, and he offers instead to make her a wonderful dinner. But as he goes to their boat with the meal, they take the meal and then unlock, letting the boat drift. Jai and Loretta try to convince Mel to jump, and he tries, and fails, so they mock him and sail off. They sail too far out, and are attacked and killed by the piranha, who have developed the ability to fly.
Worried about what is going on, Anne finds that she is being frequently bothered by Tyler Sherman, so she takes him with her to the morgue to get a look at the body. It is revealed there that she became a marine biologist before she married Steve, and so she begins taking pictures. There, she finds that the bodies have been eaten in many parts. A nurse comes in and kicks them out, unaware that a piranha was hiding in the body and escaped it. Armed with the power to fly, it kills the nurse and escapes out a window.