when Alexandre Aja released his film 'Haute Tension aka High Tension' in 2003, i hailed him as one of the up and coming directors that was going to save horror.... he was part of an elite group of artists that had a unique vision and something fresh to contibute to a genre saturated with PG-13 crap fests.... he had something gritty, dark, original, well thought out, violent, and beautiful to watch (cinematography).... over the years he's released some good and some okay horror films.... i don't think he's done yet and i still have faith in what the future holds.... regardless of all of that, when i heard he was remaking the cult classic 'Piranha' from 1978 i was a little concerned.... and when i heard it was going to be yet another 3-D movie, i got a little more concerned.... i thought maybe i was wrong and that maybe he had bought into all of the recent trends in Hollywood filmmaking.... because of that, i stayed away from this for a bit.... the only thing that turned me around on watching this sooner than expected was some very glowing reviews.... not only did the press enjoy it, but a lot of my friends felt the same way.... no one said this was high art, however they all agreed that it was a damn fun ride worthy of an audience.... and that brings me to now.... this movie is about a spring break like scenario at Lake Havasu.... while all the young people are partying and getting drunk, an earthquake strikes the town.... some researchers are exploring the phenomenon and find an underwater lake beneath the lake.... what they discover there is killer piranha's from 1000's of years ago.... soon the killer fish begin to attack and kill everyone around the lake and chaos ensues.... only a few survivors remain to stop the attack.... 
i hesitantly gave this 3 out of 5 stars.... i think with another viewing of this movie, that i will probably raise it to 4 stars.... it's just such a fun little excursion from the average movie going experience.... it's big stupid fun with a silly script and storyline.... the fish are over the top.... the acting is over the top.... there's nothing small or half-assed about this movie.... it knew what it was going to be and relished in that fact instead of trying to pretend it was something other than a B-grade movie with a big budget.... this is not the defining moment of Alexandre Aja's career, but it's a nice little notch in his accomplishment belt.... if you want a silly little bloody getaway, this is the movie you need to see.... even the ending is funny.... the only thing is, before you watch this movie, grab some fish to eat.... before it eats you....!
some other Alexandre Aja films: 'Haute Tension aka High Tension', 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2006), and 'Mirrors'
How could anyone who watches this movie not like it? I mean, you know exactly what you're getting into and it's exactly what you think it's gonna be. If you think you might want to watch it, then yeah, you wanna watch it. But if you're not sure if you'll like it or not, chances are you won't.
ReplyDelete