When James Cameron took potshots at the horror flick Piranha 3-D in a recent Vanity Fair article, it left us scratching our heads. Why pick on a pic that clearly delivers what’s expected of it?

Cameron was quoted with saying that Piranha 3D “is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3-D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3-D horror films from the ‘70s and ‘80s, like Friday the 13th 3-D. When movies got to the bottom of the barrel of their creativity and at the last gasp of their financial lifespan, they did a 3-D version to get the last few drops of blood out of the turnip.”

Aren’t films subjective? It must be nice to be the self-appointed judge of art. We happen to love horror films at HollywoodOutbreak.com and just because Piranha 3-D insults Cameron’s personal vision doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its place in the industry. After all, the Saw and Final Destination installments have built a franchise off of dismembering limbs.

Besides, there were many who thought the story in Titanic was a sappy with ridiculous dialogue and that Avatar would be uneventful were it not for the technology.

We are, of course, in no way comparing slasher films to either of those box office behemoths, but we do take exception to the snobbery of Cameron’s comments.

Gimmicky films are nothing new in Hollywood. Remember The Tingler (buzzers under the seats), Thirteen Ghosts (ghost only visable through 3D glasses) and Earthquake (in Sensaround no less, where the theater vibrated)? Those films are still thought of fondly as cult classics.

Perhaps Cameron has a Piranha axe to grind. He’s credited with co-writing the screenplay and directing Piranha II: The Spawning, but was supposedly dumped for un-credited director and co-writer Ovidio G. Assonitis.

Let it go, Jim.

And when Piranha 3-D comes out on DVD, we’ll be there to pick up our copy - and we hope the studio includes plenty of extras – especially those 3D glasses.