“That was. The most amazingly horrible film I have. EVER. Seen.”

My friend was staring at me, his face bearing not only a huge grin, but also eyes full of wonder and shock. The credits were rolling, and I could hear spattered applause throughout the rest of the audience. What does one do after watching a film as gloriously bad, as terribly enjoyable and hilarious as Mega Piranha? Does one clap? Does one congratulate the director on creating a film that is so utterly bad? Does one say thank you for inciting such uproarious laughter? In this case, I’m going to say yes.

Mega Piranha is the work of The Asylum, an American production company dedicated to the churning out of direct-to-TV/DVD/VHS movies. More often than not they coincide with (and piggy-back off) the release of a Hollywood blockbuster, they’re always low-budget, and they never lose money. Previous titles include Snakes on a Train, Transmorphers: Fall of Man, Vampires vs. Zombies and Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. In this case, The Asylum and director Eric Forsberg turn their sights to piranhas. Namely, genetically modified piranhas rampaging their way through Venezuela, growing and multiplying with alarming speed, hell-bent on reaching the coast of Florida.

I’m not even kidding.

The mutated, angry and genetically enhanced piranhas turn out to be the mistake of an American research team stationed on the Orinoco River, led by Sarah Monroe (Tiffany, that 80s pop star). When the piranhas kill a US Senator, the very serious and very fit Special Agent Fitch (Paul Logan) is sent to find out what happened. Was it murder? Was it terrorists? He and his steely gaze are on a mission to get to the bottom of it. He’s met with resistance however from the Venezuelan Colonel Diaz, and his ever-yelling second-in-command. Upon discovering the existence of the sharp-toothed fish, Fitch soon decides to change his game plan to “punch first, ask questions later”. With the help of Sarah Monroe and her team, as well as Barry Williams as Secretary Bob Grady (Get it? He was GREG BRADY!), it’s a race against the clock to win in the race against giant gnashing teeth and fins. Obviously, all manner of hilarity and helicopter battles ensue.

Funnily enough, what immediately struck me about Mega Piranha turned out not to be the wooden acting or the horrible special effects. Nor was it the truly awful script. It was the attention to detail. Although I’m not sure “attention to detail” is the correct way of putting it. Perhaps I’ll rephrase. It was the little things that made me chortle with laughter. The subtle continuity errors. A hamburger in one shot, gone the next. A chase vehicle changing back and forth between a GMC Jimmy, Chevrolet Suburban, and Ford Explorer. It was the flashing, loud titles announcing characters and locations multiple times, especially if the information is exceedingly obvious. The always-moving camera, the overly colour graded visuals, it was the same shots being used over and over and over again throughout the film. I was in stitches.

Of course, that isn’t to say that the rest of the ingredients that make up Mega Piranha aren’t truly ridiculous and worthy of laughing at.

The dialogue is ridiculous. The acting is wooden, serious, played deadly straight. Paul Logan is all muscles and fists, armed with a monotone and one facial expression. Tiffany too, plays it straight, but is rather more highly strung. Barry Williams spends every scene on his phone, providing valuable exposition and information. A particular delight is Colonel Diaz’s right hand man, a character whose sole purpose it seems, is to repeat every line his superior gives, only louder. The true star of the film however, are without a doubt the titular fish. Their beady little eyes are angry, their mouths always spiky grimaces. They swarm all over the boats, the tails flapping, leaving the most glorious trail of destruction in their wake. Hell, even in death they provide amusement, seemingly hovering above the surface of the water thanks to those atrocious special effects.

The plot (which is being generous, of course) barrels throughout the 90 minute running time from stupid to completely absurd. At one point the piranha begin launching themselves out of the water and into the surrounding buildings. Said buildings explode. The film cuts to a wide shot, and we’re greeted with the image of tails flapping in roofs of buildings, of giant fish impaled on lighthouses. The piranhas constantly fluctuate in size (are they man-size or building-size?), leaping down the Orinoco and surviving countless warheads. They destroy a giant warship. It’s pure quick-cut Michael Bay-esque chaos, starring fish.

These ingredients however, made not for a night of ridiculing a terrible film. The idiotic statements, the over-the-top set pieces, the underwater commando team armed with nerf guns painted black, the sight of giant bus-sized piranha tails flapping from the sides of buildings, they all made for a truly hilarious cinema experience. Like The Room, Black Dynamite and fellow Asylum production Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Mega Piranha revels in the joy that comes from watching an utterly terrible film. It seems clear that audiences are embracing, in ever growing numbers, the sheer hilarity of films that are “so bad they’re good”. Low-budget, starring Z-grade stars and possessing paper-thin idiotic premises, it seems as if the worse the film is, the better. Whether they be overtly tongue in cheek or played straight, I don’t believe it matters much. The only requisite seems to be that it be fun.

Mega Piranha is. If you like your fish huge, your acting wooden and your explosions tacky, you’re in luck.

Mega Piranha is now playing at Melbourne’s Cinema Nova as part of their weekend Cult Cravings screenings.

Follow the author Rebecca Mery on Twitter.