3) Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)
James Cameron’s directorial debut (yep, let that one sink in) shifts the fish-centric shenanigans to the Caribbean, making it more of a spiritual sequel since it doesn’t have much to do with the events of the first film, though they do get a passing mention. The action centers around a resort hotel whose guests are targeted by perpetually hungry, recently escaped mutant piranhas—much like the first film, only these critters can freaking fly. Future Aliens star Lance Henriksen plays a boat-riding local cop whose estranged wife (Tricia O’Neil) is a scuba instructor. Their jobs, combined with the fact that their teenaged son works as a deckhand, puts them in the line of fire when you-know-which fish start to bite… and burst out of corpses Alien-style, rip the throat out of whoever’s unfortunate enough to be nearby, then soar out of a window chirping like a bat, an actual thing that happens in Piranha II: The Spawning! Ridiculous? Yes. Hilarious? Also yes.
