The return of the piranhas

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Movie
German title The return of the piranhas
Original title Piranha
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1995
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Scott P. Levy
script John Sayles ,
Alex Simon
production Mike Elliott ,
Chako van Leeuwen
music Christopher Lennertz
camera Christopher Baffa
cut John Gilbert
occupation

Return of the Piranhas is a 1995 American horror film directed by Scott P. Levy and commissioned for Showtime cable television . The film is a remake of the Roger Corman production Piranhas from 1978. In addition to Corman (as executive producer ), the then screenwriter John Sayles is also involved in the new version .

action

During the Cold War , American scientists from the company "Rasierzahn", a military project to breed highly aggressive piranhas as a weapon against the class enemy, were commissioned to create very resilient predatory fish that are viable in both fresh and salt water can also multiply very quickly. After the government stopped all grants, the frustrated researcher Dr. Baines continued the genetic experiments on the carnivorous piranhas on his own. The formerly secret research facility of the US Army has been forgotten over the years.

One day a young couple had a fatal accident while bathing at night in a breeding basin on the disused test site. The private detective Maggie McNamara is assigned to find the two missing teenagers. With the help of the local and hard-drinking hermit Paul Grogan, she succeeds in recording the traces of the missing. Unknowingly, the two of them drain not only water but also those predatory fish mutations from the breeding tank into a nearby river. They are observed by the angry scientist Dr. Leticia Baines trying in vain to stop the intruders. The catastrophe takes its course - the first deaths soon increase downstream.

To make matters worse, the Lost River runs through a popular tourist area that flows into a reservoir and attracts numerous bathers. There is also the pompous opening of a beach hotel, which could mean ruin for the financially troubled businessman J. R. Randolph.

Shortly before her death, the scientist informed Maggie and Paul of the deadly danger. From then on, the unlikely couple tried to reach the lake in time to evacuate the residents and summer guests and to close the dam before the swarm of piranhas reached the adjacent ocean. But their project turns out to be extremely difficult, because in addition to a military unit that tries to cover up the incidents by all means, the villain Randolph and the notables of the city also prove to be a hurdle.

At the end of the film, the injured Paul succeeds in killing the piranhas trapped in the reservoir , which occasionally caused a real bloodbath, with highly toxic waste water from a disused refinery . Property speculator Randolph, who ignored the impending threat for shady reasons, is ruined and committed suicide. In one of the last scenes of the film, the governor in charge reassures the local population in a speech without even knowing whether some of the predatory fish may have made it into the sea.

Reviews

"Speculative horror film, which in its ostensible moral understanding is reminiscent of the tradition of B-Pictures of the 50s, but is shaped too much by cheap effects, silly dialogues and stiff acting actors to function as genre entertainment."

- Lexicon of international film

publication

The return of the piranhas had its US television premiere on October 1, 1995. The work was first released on video on March 26, 1996 in Germany.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The return of the piranhas. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed September 15, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ The Return of the Piranhas. In: Zelluloid.de. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on September 15, 2018 .