The Film (3.5/5)

    When people ask what is James Cameron's worst film people frequently toss around the title Piranha II: The Spawning, which also happens to be the Italian produced sequel to the Joe Dante, Roger Corman classic. I have to wonder if the same people have watched the same film I just did, because Piranha II has man-eating flying fish, Avatar and Titanic do not.

I know which film I would rate more highly.

    Pirahna II takes place at a seaside resort a few days before a fish breeding event called the Spawning where fish come to the beach to breed once a year, and tourist use the occasion to have a fish fry (this would not happen now).  Into this situation comes the discovery that man-eating flying fish are responsible for some recent local deaths.  As such local police try to stop the fish fry from happening, but the local club owner that puts it on would rather, rake in the profits, then play it on the safe side.

    Piranha II was produced by Ovidio G Assonitis (Madhouse, The Visitor), and directed by James Cameron, though it has much more in common with Ovidio G Assonitis films then it would with James Cameron's later work as such it would feel that Ovidio G Assonitis was a more hands on producer with this film.

     As such it feels more like a trashy Italian horror film, then something in line with the original Corman, or something Cameron-esque though it does feature Lance Henriksen who would feature in many Cameron films throughout the director's career. If no one told you this was a Cameron film you could easily mistake this for an Umberto Lenzi or Bruno Mattei film.  However, I digress. I have always heard this one getting torn apart, and it's actually quite a fun film with flying fish, decent random nudity, and gore that are sure to please fans of Italian horror as the FX are listed as done by Fulci main man Giannetto De Rossi.

Audio/Video (4/5)

     Pirahna II is presented 1:85:1 in a 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. Everything here looks quite solid with detail coming through strong, and colors being nicely reproduced, grain also has a nice organic look to it.

    Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in English. The track is decent, but there are spots where I had to juggle my remote to hear dialogue. Overall though it's a solid presentation.

Extras (2.5/5)

    Scream provides 2 on-camera interviews one with SFX artist Brian Wade, and another with actor Paull Goldin. We also get a trailer.

Overall

    Piranha 2 has a less than stellar reputation, but it is really a fun piece of creature feature horror that feels more like an Italian horror film than a sequel to the original Corman. The Blu-ray looks and sounds solid, and Scream provides some interesting extras. RECOMMENDED.