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Five Things You Need To Know About 'Piranha 3D'

The schlocky, horror/comedy flick has more than just blood and boobs galore going for it.

The headline of this story is a tad misleading, because there's really only one thing you need to know about "Piranha 3D:" It's utterly insane.

Inspired by the schlocky, love-it-or-hate-it franchise, the new movie spins a story about what happens when thousands of prehistoric fishies go tooth-to-flesh with thousands of college kids enjoying a sun-and-booze-filled spring break. It's not spoiling anything to say that it doesn't end well for the great majority of those slacking students. No sooner have they donned their skimpy bikinis and tapped their kegs, then the piranha strike. And strike. And strike. Blood flows, screams fly, terror reigns.

So, know that. But, of course, that's not all there is to keep in mind about the movie, which stars Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Jessica Szohr, Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss. Here are five more things you need to know about "Piranha 3D."

There's Equal Opportunity Nudity

Much has been made of the film's abundant nudity. Heck, even Aja himself has been bragging about all those [article id="1635103"]"3-D double-D boobs."[/article] But the men of Piranha get their fair amount of exposure, too -- if not quite the same way.

"The piranha go for the one defining feature on each of us that seems to tell everything about our character," co-star Kelly Brook told us. [article id="1614678"]"Jerry O'Connell's character[/article] has a pretty unsightly situation with some piranhas and parts of his anatomy that will remain unspoken about on MTV."

We'll let you guess which part of his anatomy -- O'Connell's character makes his living in the adult-entertainment industry -- gets chomped on.

It's an Ode to the '80s

Sure, audiences have probably never seen anything that can be called a 3-D horror/comedy popcorn flick, but listen to anyone involved with "Piranha" and you'll hear them talk as much about the cinematic past as the technological present.

"It's an ode to the '80s," Aja said."I fell in love with the script for that reason. It's like 'Dead Alive' and 'Evil Dead.' It's 'Gremlins' for adults."

It Could be the Bloodiest Movie Ever

The folks over at Guinness might want to take note: The "Piranha" filmmakers are convinced their movie is the bloodiest movie in cinematic history.

"Over 600 gallons of blood were used in this movie so far, and we're not even done," co-star Paul Scheer told us when we visited the set. "This is gonna be the most boobs and blood in any motion picture of all time."

By the time the movie wrapped production, Aja bragged, "I think blood-wise, I have to get the final number, but we are beyond anything you can even imagine."

The 3-D Doesn't Suck

Who isn't sick of unnecessary 3-D -- a third dimension practically fastened on with glue and scotch tape? Here's the thing about "Piranha 3D": It looks pretty good. And that's not because they shot it with 3-D cameras (the technical challenges of shooting on and in the water were simply too great to film "Avatar"-style). Aja used a painstaking post-production conversion process, and the results are worthy of applause.

" 'Clash of the Titans' and that last-minute conversion, forget it," said Scheer. "['Piranha'] looks really rich and full."

Added O'Connell, "Alex Aja, who was our boss on this one, said, 'I'm going to make a 3-D movie and I'm going to make a really good 3-D movie. So from the get-go, all the bits, all the gags, all the drama, is designed around 3-D. So if you're a fan of 3-D, this is one you don't have to groan about."

It's Based on a True Story

What, you don't think a swarm of prehistoric piranhas ever chewed their way through a few thousand liquored-up college kids on spring break? Scheer will set you straight.

"It's based on a true story," he deadpanned.

So, um, add "biopic" to this delightful hodgepodge of genres, which include horror, comedy, date movie and nasty-marine-life-vs.-people flick.

"Richard Dreyfuss didn't even know he was shooting 'Piranha,' " laughed Scheer. "He thought he was in the new 'Jaws' movie!"

Check out everything we've got on "Piranha 3D."

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