Piranahconda - DVD

Film: When Prof. Robert Lovegrove (Michael Madsen) sets out in the deep jungle of a Pacific island to search for a rare species of reptile, his team must quickly pay for it with their lives. A huge mixture of piranha and anaconda draws a bloody trail through the jungle and also makes itself over the film crew of director Milo (Chris De Christopher). Only the filmmaker, his assistant Rose (Terri Ivens) and stuntman Jack (Rib Hillis) manage to escape - only to fall into the hands of gangster Pike's (Michael Swan) nasty posse, who already have the reptile researcher in their grip as well. Lovegrove's warning that there's a giant piranahconda in the jungle is initially disbelieved by Pike - until the critter feasts on his men too. And for the prisoners, the question soon becomes who is the more dangerous enemy for them - the gangsters, or the piranahconda...

Piranhaconda is the latest work from director Jim Wynorski, who has directed such memorable films as Dinocroc vs. Supergator and Busty Cops go Hawaiian. The client is the SyFy Channel, which is known for its very trashy monster movies like Sharktopus or most recently Sharknado. It doesn't really need to be mentioned that no particularly high quality should be expected. The acting is only rudimentarily recognizable, the effects quite cheap and the dialogues to run away bad (It looks like an unholy mixture of piranha and anaconda.- You mean it's a piranhaconda? - I can't believe what you just said). But at least the makers aren't cheating on the label. The viewer gets exactly what should be expected from a film with that title.

Wynorski, who in his audio commentary refers to the silicone breasts of his scantily clad supporting cast as Hollywood's cheapest special effect, knows exactly what SyFy audiences expect from a monster movie like this: the bloodthirsty critter must be on display within the first few minutes and, if possible, should be given something to eat at regular intervals. This, in turn, should be as bloody as possible, with scantily clad bikini beauties being the preferred food source. The plot is clearly a minor matter, which is also quickly made clear here by countless logic holes.

Why Piranhaconda works quite well for its audience in the end, however, is the fact that none of the people involved really takes the whole thing seriously. They all, most especially Wynorski himself, know that the TV production shot on a Hawaiian island is pure B-movie trash, and then they want to present it to their viewers in at least as fun a way as possible. If you know what you're in for and you like the very special animal crossings of the SyFy channel, you'll get 80 very entertaining minutes. These are not particularly qualitatively valuable or intellectually stimulating, but the whole thing is still entertaining. And therefore applies - even if only for fans: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: That Piranhaconda is not really a very expensive production, the film is also noticeable in technical terms. True, the picture is clean, has good coloration and decent overall sharpness. However, the visuals simply can't stand up to comparison with current theatrical productions. The audio is well mixed, with some nice surround effects to be heard every now and then alongside the very centrally mixed dialogue.

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has a good-humoured audio commentary from the director to offer, in which he shares some interesting anecdotes. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles to the commentary, so this can only be recommended to interested viewers with a good knowledge of English. Actress Yasmin Yeganeh, who plays a small supporting role in the film, delivers a short intro to the film in German (approx. 2 min.) and can be seen in a small YouTube video afterwards (approx. 2 min.). In addition, there is the trailer, a picture gallery and a DVD-Rom part with the script, which also contains cut scenes.

Conclusion: As the title suggests, Piranhaconda is unrestrained trashy entertainment that doesn't exactly shine with great dialogue, quality effects or impressive acting performances. But if you like other SyFy Channel productions like Sharktopus, you'll get just under 80 minutes of no-holds-barred B-movie fun here. Well worth watching for fans of these very special animal crossbreeds!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp