''Mega Piranha'' (also known as ''Megapiranha'') is a 2010

science fiction action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

produced by

The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company based in Burbank, California, known for producing low-budget, direct-to-video films, in particular mockbusters, which capitalize on the popularity of major studio f ...

. It was directed by

Eric Forsberg Eric Forsberg (born December 16, 1959) is an American writer. He wrote and directed the feature film ''Mega Piranha'', as well as the writer of the feature film ''Snakes on a Train'', one of the first mockbusters produced and released by The A ...

and Stuart Gillard and stars Tiffany, Paul Logan and Barry Williams. In the tradition of The Asylum's catalog, this film is a

mockbuster A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to maxi ...

of ''

Piranha 3D ''Piranha 3D'' is a 2010 American 3D horror comedy film that serves as a remake of the comedy horror film '' Piranha'' (1978) and an entry in the ''Piranha'' film series. Directed by Alexandre Aja and written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Sto ...

''. It was filmed in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, Central America.

Plot

The film focuses on the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, where a strain of

genetically modified Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including th ...

piranha A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...

have escaped into an isolated tributary of the river. Through human interference of the local environment, the megapiranha manage to escape from their isolated spot and swim downstream, killing all that cross their path. The megapiranha gradually make their way towards

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

at the height of the tourist season. After the outbreak, a team including Special Agent Fitch and Sarah Monroe, work to contain the megapiranhas within Venezuela. They begin to get into trouble with the authorities when they attempt to cross over the Venezuelan border. Not having proper clearance and documentation, Special Agent Fitch resorts to using the diplomacy of his fist and drives off. He is pursued by Colonel Antonio Diaz in a high-speed chase through the jungle. Throughout the chase, Fitch alternates driving a

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Cam ...

and

Hyundai Elantra The Hyundai Elantra (), also known as the Hyundai Avante (), is a compact car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai since 1990. The Elantra was initially marketed as the ''Lantra'' in Australia and some European markets. In Austra ...

while Diaz is seen at different points in a

GMC Jimmy The Chevrolet (S-10) Blazer and its badge engineered GMC (S-15) Jimmy counterpart are Compact car, compact/mid-size SUVs manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet and GMC (automobile), GMC from the 1983 through 2005 model years, over two generation ...

Chevrolet Suburban The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of SUVs built by Chevrolet since the 1935 model year. The longest-used automobile nameplate in the world, the Chevrolet Suburban is currently in its twelfth generation, introduced for 2021. Beginning life a ...

Suzuki XL-7 The Suzuki XL-7 (styled as XL7 for the second generation) is a mid-size SUV sold by Suzuki from 1998 to 2009, over two generations. Slotted above the Grand Vitara in Suzuki's lineup, the XL-7 offered three-row seating. XL-7 stands for "Xtra Lar ...

, and

Ford Explorer The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

. Fitch escapes by stealing a helicopter and heads to the International Super Bunker (ISB). During the journey, the helicopter runs out of fuel and Sarah Monroe rigs the emergency oxygen tank to the fuel line to make it to the ISB safely. The megapiranhas continue to move north, consuming two battleships and a nuclear submarine. They eventually reach south Florida, where they kill at least five Puerto Ricans on a beach and manage to blow up two hotels. Meanwhile, the only force that can stop them is located at the ISB. After the megapiranhas prove impervious to both torpedoes and depth charges—and even a nuclear torpedo fails to stop them—Special Agent Fitch and Professor Sarah Monroe conclude that the only way to stop the megapiranhas is to face them in their own terrain: underwater. An army of

SCUBA Scuba, originally SCUBA, often expanded to scuba set, is any self contained underwater breathing apparatus, a source of breathing gas used for underwater diving which is carried by the diver. Scuba may also refer to: * Scuba diving, swimming unde ...

divers armed with guns would make the huge fish bleed, causing them to enter a feeding frenzy and kill each other. If this were to fail, then a massive nuclear strike would be used to destroy the megapiranha, as well as most of Florida. In the middle of the operation, Colonel Diaz arrives in a helicopter, presumably using multiple fuel tanks to do this journey. The Colonel aims to get revenge on Agent Fitch and throws a rope into the water to trick him into climbing up into the enemy helicopter. Fitch, upon his arrival, shoots the pilot in the mouth with a flare gun, which causes the pilot's head to explode. Fitch then uses a homing beacon (which is actually a canister of CO₂) to attract a megapiranha, jumping out of the helicopter shortly before it is consumed by the fishy behemoth. Fitch is pursued by the megapiranha that ate the helicopter, eventually hiding in a reef where the megapiranha is unable to follow. When the piranha opens its mouth, Fitch shoots his gun at the helicopter still in the beast's jaws. The helicopter explodes, killing the fish. The other megapiranha converge on the bloodshed and Fitch is able to escape as the piranha enters a feeding frenzy and begin tearing each other to pieces, seemingly resulting in them wiping themselves out. Sarah and Fitch make out and all is well.

Cast

* Tiffany as Sarah Monroe * Paul Logan as Jason Fitch * Barry Williams as Bob Grady *

David Labiosa David Labiosa (born October 4, 1961) is an American actor in film and on television. Career In film, Labiosa starred in the 1981 horror film ''The Entity'' as Billy, the son of Carla Moran. Labiosa has appeared on television in series such as ...

as Colonel Antonio Diaz * Jude Gerard Prest as Dr. Higgins * Jesse Daly as Gordon * Alessandro Tierno as Sargento Ayudante * Jay Beyers as Seaman Toby * Cooper Harris as Lieutenant Julia * Gregory Paul Smith as Greg, The Submarine Navigator * Jonathan Nation as Mort *

as US Ambassador Arnold Regis * William Morse as Lieutenant Stritch * Clint Browning as Captain Jonas * Lola Forsberg as Stephanie "Steph" * Robert Don as Rodriguez * David Dustin Kenyon as Lieutenant Baker * Sex Henderson as Submarine Crewman * Jillian Easton as Jane Fisher / Jane, The Reporter * Matt Lagan as Submarine Captain Jim * Anthony Wemyss as Bernie * John P. Napoleon as Lieutenant Miller * Sally Elphick as ISB Tech * Carl Watts as Captain Decker * Myles Cranford as Sy * Ryan Sherman as Jim, The Tech * Ashley Carr as Half Dead Person * Fernando Huc as Jose, The Driver * Natalie Nastulczykova as Technician

Production

The

was produced to capitalise on the 2010 film ''

''. On March 29, 2010, the '' SyFy'' Channel released an exclusive sneak peek of a scene from the film in anticipation of its April 10 premiere of the film. On the April 7, 2010 The Asylum released the official trailer online. Usual Asylum audience may notice the film recycles short clips from other Asylum films, likely due to low production costs and a limited filming schedule. Such clips come from films like '' Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus'', '' Journey to Middle Earth'', ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel wa ...

'' and '' Transmorphers: Fall of Man''.

Reception

''Dread Central'' wrote about the film: "Now, the question becomes whether ''Mega Piranha'' means we should expect a super-sized piranha a la Asylum's ''

Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus ''Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus'' is a 2009 American-British Monster movie, monster disaster film distributed by The Asylum, released on May 19, 2009, in the United States and on August 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom. It was directed by Ace Han ...

'' or if they are basing their film around the prehistoric

Megapiranha ''Megapiranha'' is an extinct serrasalmid characin fish from the Late Miocene (8–10 million years ago) Ituzaingó Formation of Argentina, described in 2009. The type species is ''M. paranensis''.Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on thirteen reviews.

Soundtrack

The score was composed by Chris Ridenhour and featured the song "Frozen Skies" by Tiffany.

Spinoff

A Mega Piranha appears in the 2022 film ''

2025 Armageddon ''2025 Armageddon'' is a 2022 American science-fiction monster film directed by Michael Su and produced by The Asylum. Released in celebration of The Asylum's 25th anniversary, it is a crossover film featuring monsters from various other films by ...

'', released to celebrate The Asylum's twenty-fifth anniversary. It is one of the first monsters sent by a hostile alien race who believe The Asylum's films are based on real creatures.

References

External links

* {{Piranha 2010s American films 2010 comedy horror films 2010s English-language films 2010 films 2010 horror films 2010 independent films 2010 science fiction horror films 2010 science fiction action films 2010 television films American comedy horror films American horror television films American natural horror films American science fiction action films Films about piranhas Films directed by Eric Forsberg Films set in Belize Films set in Florida Films set in Venezuela Films shot in Belize Films with screenplays by Eric Forsberg American mockbuster films Syfy original films The Asylum films Piranha (film series) English-language comedy horror films English-language science fiction horror films English-language science fiction action films English-language independent films