Piranha 3D is a movie that, by the end, you’ll either love or loathe; a hard-R romp like a Playboy party on repeat or the story you’d hear a famous celebrity had taken to before waking up drunk as anything or doing something that’d haunt them the rest of their career. Then again, it’s also dangerously indulgent and its tongue seems to be too far up its ass to ever be placed in cheek. Yes, Piranha bites hard and never looks back. For some it’ll be a cinematic catastrophe. Others who know what they’re getting into, it’s too good to be true.

For those unaware, there are two official Piranha flicks: the original in 1978 and its sequel The Spawning in 1981. The latter of those titles ranked the directing debut of James Cameron, who’d next to go on to make The Terminator. In all honesty I’m not too familiar with either of these movies and you should know if you don’t already, you don’t need to be to enjoy the whimsical greatness of Piranha 3D. It’s loud, over-the-top, and somewhere in the middle the brutality bordering on serious. Because this isn’t necessarily trying to be a bad movie, yet a hugely mediocre one. A tribute in the vein of Sharkoctopus Saturday-night flicks on the SyFy channel; a movie you’d come across on cable one bored weekend afternoon and can’t help but to at least sneak a peek at what you’d be getting into had you continued to watch.

With Piranha 3D the jokes come at you from point A, when a laid-back fisherman is…look, there’s no sophisticated way to say the man was eaten by a school of piranhas. Soon enough it’s spring break, and the amount of booze nearly matches that of tops being willingly taken off. Elisabeth Shue plays Julie Forester, the town sheriff, and Ving Rhames her deputy. They’re the ones who uncover the fisherman’s body and realize the incoming disaster ready to take place. Then there’s Jake (played by Steve McQueen’s grandson Steven R. McQueen), daughter to Julie, who’s stuck with babysitting while the partying takes place. This is fine and all, but who steals the show? Jerry O’Connell as Derrick Jones, a Joe Francis stand-in, always the encouragement for unsuspecting girls to further undress. He’s wild, he’s hammered; most of all he’s what you’d expect from an actor aware he’s pretty much above all this. Everyone here is fully in on the joke, and I know that’s not saying much. But it’s enough just to see comedian Paul Scheer in a feature-length movie. The same can be said of Piranha 3D.

Up until the 80-minute movie’s climax anyone could be a fan of watching Christopher Lloyd play marine biologist Mr. Goodman, who has enough of a kick in his step to be a stand-in for Christopher Lloyd himself. Upon witnessing Shue and Rhames, and piranhas galore preying upon innocent teenage youth, you’ll recognize whether you’re in or you’re out. The cool thing about Piranha 3D is the willingness and craving it enhances within you by the time it’s over. That’s both a good and bad thing: some part of you still craves more. Hell, I’m thankful director Alexandre Aja (High Tension) even attempted to make a movie that’s sole purpose seems to be how much blood and boobs he could fit in a single shot. It’s ambitious, most of that due to Aja, director of the 2006 remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. Piranha is easily his best work, harboring an odd obsession and passion for this stuff, that isn’t so much of a joke.

And the 3D? For the first time I can say it fully immerses you. Character development is the least likely charm a movie like Piranha would be worried about (because again, the movie’s a stand-in for senseless violence) though the glasses and I were on the same wavelength, and toward the end I felt something for the people I was seeing on screen. So will you. Even if that feeling is just for another headshot or piranha kill, here’s a horror flick perfect for its youthful target audience and ages 20 and above to get a thrill off of.

One complaint: needed more of Party Down’s Adam Scott. His one-liners spoken through clenched teeth are worth the price of admission alone.

SEE IT.