Student Film Reviews

Film reviews from theaters, couches, and film festivals

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1. Ronald Christianson 02.25.11 / 10am

   I saw this movie awhile back. I really liked it, but thought the storyline lacked some interest, and gave the feeling they were trying to make a new “Jaws” like movie, which was unsuccessful. However this was a good movie. I liked your review, and the part where the girl goes underwater and come up half-way eaten.
2. Kyle Calbreath 02.25.11 / 9pm

   Of course. This would never be a new “Jaws.” I think the movie “Orca (1977)” about a killer, killer whale was a better “Jaws” attempt. But “Piranha” was definite great entertainment. Thanks for your comment.
3. Michelle Stenz 03.03.11 / 2pm

   I am not a big fan of stereotypical horror movie either and I have a similar story for watching this movie. My friend, Katie, dragged me to this film because she has recently changed her major to film. She is convinced that since she is a film major she needs to broaden her film knowledge by watching stereotypical [and often corny] horror films. It turned out to actually be a great source of entertainment for the both of us! We were ‘horrified’ at certain moments of the film but we were mainly filled with giggles and amusement from the interesting scenes and the lack of “script originality.” I also found the highlight of the film to be scene with the girl parasailing along the backside of the boat just to get eaten by the piranha a few seconds later!
4. Robert Skene 03.08.11 / 5pm

   I saw this movie in the theaters, and it was hard to not notice the energy the crowd had. Everyone was into the movie even if it went for cheap hooks, lines, and sinkers (haha). I enjoyed the not so complicated plot of people dying, especially after seeing, “Inception”. The actors were all good, the cameos were great, and the fish were blood hungry. All in all I thought that this was a movie made for entertainment, not for intellectual thought. The effects were great in the theater, and I thought that my extra bucks going for the 3-D were well spent after walking out, which is hard to say with most 3-D movies.
5. Jack Donovan 03.11.11 / 5pm

   I never got to see this movie but have heard good things about it. Your review pretty much hit it on the head; A horror film lacking on the killing and blood by focusing on the comedy and nudity. I have taken a look at some trailers for this movie, and it has the same feeling as “The Hills Have Eyes”. This is definitely a guy kind of movie and I don’t think my girlfriend would like the scene of the half naked girl getting eaten alive. I thought that your review was very straight forward and gave a good basic idea of this movie
6. Amy Katter 03.14.11 / 12pm

   I saw this movie a while back and thought it was the perfect mix of humor and horror. It is hard to take this movie seriously, and when I first saw the trailer for it on TV, they portrayed it as a serious drama/horror. That is what they were going for, but unfortunately all that my friends and I got out of it were laughs. Which I am not complaining about because who doesn’t enjoy tacky movies? I thought your review was good by the way, it does describe the movie very well. It seems as if you and I have the same thoughts on this ridiculous movie.
7. Daniel Riboh 03.14.11 / 5pm

   Even though I never saw this movie, it sounds interesting and quite entertaining. I enjoyed the movie The Hills Have Eyes, so if it is anything like that, then this movie must be good. Although Mr. Calbreath does not have that high of a regard to the movie, I feel as though it has the potential to become an exceptional horror film about piranhas. With the combination of nudity, suspense, and horror it is sure to attract teenagers and young adults across the nation.
8. Samantha Yanez 03.16.11 / 12pm

   I remember seeing the previews for this movie a while ago. All I could think was, “Did someone really green-light this production? Honestly, who agreed to produce this trash?” I find movies like this one to be painful to watch. The storyline is usually stolen from a previous movie and contains actors who either over act or are too one-dimensional. Let’s not forget the cheesy idea that there are man-hungry killer fish swimming about, eating teens with perfectly sculpted bodies. I just cannot get into a movie that is that ridiculous. If I’m going to spend $10.00 to see a film, I want it to make me think, question life, or feel something deep, not just watch a bunch of people get mauled viciously by fish. This movie just seems to mind-numbingly ferocious.
9. Ozan Alemdar 03.16.11 / 7pm

   Agreeing, this gruesome and hilarious film was the most fun I had while watching a horror flick in a while. I don’t know if I would have seen this movie, if I hadn’t happened to watch “The Hills Have Eyes” and read this review a couple of days before. I’m glad I did, or else I would have missed the movie that combined “Jaws” and “Hatchet”. Mainly because of Jerry O’Connell character and the two porn stars. Not to mention the drunken appearance of Richard Dreyfuss, however I would have liked to see a little more of him throughout the film. Besides that, as you mentioned this was a very entertaining film, I’m glad I read this review and saw this great horror movie.
10. Amanda Jacobson 03.17.11 / 9am

    I just recently saw this movie and I thought it was horrible. I am so glad that I rented it and did not pay $10.00 to see it in theaters. I surprised to see actors that are successful in shows on TV now to be apart of a film like this. Everything looked extremely fake and unrealistic. There was no horror in this movie at all, I laughed the entire time because it was so terrible. I would not recommend anyone to waste their time seeing this movie.
11. David Svensson 03.17.11 / 9pm

    I’ve seen this movie, not the greatest movie but I agree on that it is somewhat of a entertaining movie. However one thing that bottered me with your review was that you in the beginning called the piranhas “mutated piranhas” which isn’t correct. I know that you later called them prehistoric aquatic creatures which is the correct term. But still, you can’t say thay they were mutated. Other than that I enjoyed reading your review. I don’t think I would spend money watching this movie but if it’s free I’d watch it if I wouldn’t have anything better to do. It has some pretty nasty scenes.
12. Lauren Miller 03.18.11 / 9pm

    Even though I have not specifically viewed this film it it’s entirety, I have briefly seen images as well as the previews for the film. When I first saw the previews, I thought the film looked rather cliche and was not particularly interested in actually seeing this film. Even though the film is trying to portray a Jaws type of film which I very much enjoyed, I still was not completely convinced to sit down and view it. However, after hearing and reading some feedback from the film, I was actually very surprised with how much positive attention it received since my original thought was that it was going to be a complete flop. With this newly gained knowledge, I will soon view this film for myself and see what my initial reaction is.
13. Ashley Arfmann 03.18.11 / 11pm

    I believe this movie was trying to live up the movie “Jaws”, but didn’t quite make the cut. I thought this movie could have been a lot better in my opinion. Not to say it wasn’t good but it kind of lacked my ability to believe that this is real. I found myself laughing at parts because it just did not look real. The story line in my opinion is very cliche. I was surprised to hear people and read the reviews, a lot of positive feedback was given. However, when I saw the trailers for this movie to come out, it was a movie I knew I could skip and not watch. watch. Maybe it was not my kind of genre movie, I just did not like this film. I was expecting some kind of meaning or explanation to all of this, and was really trying to unravel the meaning and thought process of why this movie was made. If you like something that is cliche mixed with horror then this is a movie you would like.
14. Samantha Marmion 07.02.11 / 5pm

    I think this movie was a little bit cheesy at times. I kind of knew that going into it, but i got convinced by my best friend. Her uncle was the creature director of this film and designed the pirahna of this film. I was actually in his studio the other day and saw the real life replica of it.. way creepier in person. This movie did not please me, I can tell why it was a B-film. I agree that the script and story line lacked originality and was a little too similar to Jaws. The nudity in this film just made it worse in my opinion. It added distasteful images that were just unnecessary to the film, or at least to a female eye. So if you are the kind of person that gets scared easily at unrealistic creatures, then i suggest you rent Piranha.
15. Matt Sharma 07.04.11 / 9pm

    I have always been a fan of horror movies and even though this looked not one bit scary I decided to see it because I just needed a good laugh. This movie was the complete opposite of scary, the plot was not good the characters were worse and I thought that the animation was horrible as well. This was completely opposite from many scary movies that I have seen. This does not compare to Freddy, Jason, Chucky, or even Scream. Even though I did not expect for this to be good I did not expect it to be this horrible. I got a good laugh out of it but I was really expecting more. I hope they do not make a sequel.
16. Angie Byrd 07.15.11 / 10pm

    While I agree that the film Piranha harkens back to the B films of earlier Universal days, I can’t help but say that I wish they had stayed in the past. The gratuitous nudity and corny lines did not make it worth the wasted time spent watching (although my husband seemed to enjoy it). I am constantly amazed and somewhat incredulous that any actor with a recognizable name would grace such a project no matter what shape their career may be in at the time. I would almost prefer the film that receives the most jokes in our home, “Frankenfish” to this poor example of film making.
17. Emmanuel Casillas 07.21.11 / 10pm

    Although I was not looking forward to seeing this film, I found it incredibly exciting. I am not usually a fan of horror films, but my friends talked me in to watching it with them and it was pretty intersting. Some parts were quite “cheesy” and “far fetched”, however, I thought that the story line was well thought out. I didn’t think that the visual effects were the strongest, however, they were believeable, and did cause a few jumps from the audience. The film reviewer is correct when he states that there is plenty of gore. The director did not hesitate to show extreme amounts of blood and mutilated body parts, even though, it added to the suspense drawn from the audience.
18. Jesse Deason 01.27.12 / 11am

    This film was a pleasant surprise to say the least. It employed an amazing balance of sex and violence with several laugh out loud moments. I didn’t see me enjoying this nearly as much as I did. Definitely have to recommend this one.

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