DVD: Piranha Still Fun Even with Jerry O'Connell's Severed Penis in Just Two Dimensions

One of my most entertaining moviegoing experiences had to be the full-on freak-out of Piranha 3D on the big screen, but I worried that the 2-D version of home video -- even on Blu-Ray -- wouldn't compare. As it turns out, Piranha (out this week from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) maintains its thrill-a-minute gonzo pace even on the small screen.

No one would have accused director Alexandre Aja of having much of a sense of humor based on his sadistic (and muddled) High Tension and his needless remake of The Hills Have Eyes, but here he dispatches topless gals and horny frat boys with real brio, resulting in a movie where the laughs and screams come in equal doses. And while the theatrical version -- and, presumably, the 3D DVD, for you early adopters -- shamelessly exploits the in-your-face-ness of the technology, it's still lots of fun sans glasses.

The DVD's deleted scenes include a moment whose absence was noted by some critics and viewers -- spoiler alert! -- the death of Paul Scheer's cameraman character, who simply disappears in the original version. Of course, since the scene was cut, no one went in and put the CG piranha into the sequence, so we get to see comedian Scheer flail about and scream in agony to nothing (except the words "piranha attack," which have been thoughtfully chyron-ed on screen).

Watching Scheer's death throes will make you appreciate the amount of pantomime that modern-day movie actors are forced to do on a daily basis, waiting for the post-production people to put in the killer fish or the sexy aliens or the avatars or whatever. And watching Piranha will whet your appetite for the upcoming sequel entitled, no kidding, Piranha 3DD.