Piranha 3D (2010)

Piranha 3D parents guide

Strong sex and nudity, and extreme gore, which is more than most R titles carry. Beyond that, real scares and several jump scares.

Scare

Properly scary

Frightening, not just tense.

Jump scares

Several

More than a couple of sudden jolts.

Gore

Extreme gore

Our top level for gore.

Violence

Brutal violence

Our top level for violence.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.

Language

Strong

Frequent strong profanity or slurs.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Piranha 3D scary?

Yes, properly. Piranha 3D is the real thing without being an endurance test.

How gory is Piranha 3D?

Extreme gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.

What is Piranha 3D rated, and is it OK for kids?

No. It is rated R, with real scares, several jump scares, and strong sex and nudity.

What is Piranha 3D about?

Each year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria, Arizona explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 residents for the annual Spring Break celebration. But then, an earthquake opens an underwater chasm, releasing an enormous swarm of ancient Piranha that have been dormant for thousands of years, now with a taste for human flesh. This year, there's something more to worry about than the usual hangovers and complaints from locals, a new type of terror is about to be cut loose on Lake Victoria.

Cast and crew

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Piranha 3D is on our Horror on Paramount+ list.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “funny but not stupid, under two hours”
• “a fun halloween movie, not too scary”
• “a horror movie that's actually scary”

Lists with the same feel: Goriest and Most violent.