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The National
33 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- The National
As Jaws turns 50, the 10 scariest shark movies ever made
The scariest films tap into something primal. Shark attack movies may have begun with Jaws in 1975, but the genre endures because Jaws was merely the first to articulate a fear that nearly all of us have felt – the dread of what may be lurking below our feet in the watery depths below. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jaws' release today, here are some of the most terrifying films – in no particular order – that tap into the age-old dynamic of man versus shark. 47 Meters Down (2017) 47 Meters Down is directed by Johannes Roberts, and stars Mandy Moore and Claire Holt as sisters. The film follows the two as they go on a shark-cage diving expedition off the coast of Mexico. During the dive, the winch snaps and the cage drops 47 metres to the ocean floor. As the oxygen depletes and panic ensues, sharks begin to circle the cage. Made on a modest budget of $5 million, the film grossed more than $60 million in box-office returns. The small budget allowed for a larger focus on creating a suspenseful and toe-curling experience without the need for bombastic effects. Open Water (2003) In 1998, Tom and Eileen Lonergan went out with a scuba diving group on the Great Barrier Reef, only to be accidentally left behind. They were never seen again. Open Water, from director Chris Kentis, imagines what may have happened to them into one of the bleakest films of the century thus far. And while it does eventually build to violent confrontations with the ocean's apex predators, Open Wate r is at its most chilling in anticipation of that fateful event. And because it was made on a low-budget in pseudo-documentary style, it's impossible to divorce this film from the reality that inspired it. Jaws (1975) Director Steven Spielberg has made a plethora of masterpieces in his decades-long career, but even if he'd stopped after Jaws, his reputation would have been sealed. Jaws remains a masterclass in suspense filmmaking and the birth of the modern blockbuster, all with richly rendered characters. But what's most surprising is, even 50 years later, it's still deeply unnerving. A true classic – and should remain a film each generation discovers at a young age when they're ready for something scary. Dangerous Animals (2025) Written by Nick Lepard and directed by Sean Byrne, Dangerous Animals may have had its premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, but this is no highbrow art film. The film follows Hassie Harrison's Zephyr, an American surfer kidnapped by a shark-obsessed psychopath Bruce Tucker, played by Jai Courtney, who holds her captive aboard his trawler for ritualistic shark-feeding sessions. The movie may be the latest shark-based horror flick in a long line to deliver nautical scares, but many are calling it the best in years. Combining the fear of sharks with the demented mind of a serial killer, Dangerous Animals, now in cinemas, delivers a truly new experience to the subgenre. The Shallows (2016) Less is more. Rarely is that more clear than in director Jaume Collet-Serra's The Shallows. There are only two main characters to be found here – one is a medical student named Nancy Adams (Blake Lively), who goes out surfing and is stranded on a rock 180 metres from shore, and the other is a great white shark. In the film's pulse-pounding 86-minute runtime, Adams must find a way back to safety. Jaws 2 (1978) While it's often dismissed because of the greatness of its predecessor, Jaws 2 deserves a second look. Sure, it may not reach the heights of the first, but it's a cracking horror film in its own right – revealing the monster far earlier and upping the body count. Ultimately, Jaws 2 is more comparable to Halloween or Friday the 13th, only the shark is the slasher picking off the core characters one by one instead of Jason or Michael Myers. Give it a shot, and you'll find it's one of the most underrated fright flicks of the 1970s. Deep Blue Sea (1999) The sci-fi horror directed by Finnish filmmaker Renny Harlin, who previously directed Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger may not be realistic, but it delivers the goods. Set in an isolated underwater research facility, the film follows a group of scientists who are genetically engineering mako sharks to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Things go horribly wrong when the sharks attain intelligence and turn on the scientists. Renowned for its fast-paced action, suspenseful atmosphere and surprising plot twists, Deep Blue Sea features a strong cast that includes Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J and Samuel L Jackson. The film has become a cult favourite for its mixture of CGI and animatronic effects, which were provided by Stan Winston Studios that previously worked on Jurassic Park and Aliens. The Reef (2010) Australian survival horror film The Reef is written, directed and produced by Andrew Traucki. The filmmaker specialises in survival thrillers, but this remains his best. Inspired by real-life events, the film follows five friends whose boat capsizes on the way to Indonesia after striking a coral reef, forcing them into shark-infested waters as they attempt a perilous swim to safety. The Reef is another stellar example of a shark attack film that delivers scares without a massive budget. Filmed on location in Queensland, the movie uses actual great white shark footage mixed with on-set scenes. If there is one true hidden gem to be discovered from this list, it's The Reef. Its sequel, however, is more of a mixed bag. Bait 3D (2012) While you may have to adjust your aesthetic expectations from Steven Spielberg to more of an old-school Roger Corman monster movie, Bait is an often-thrilling suspense film that follows a group of people who are being hunted by bloodthirsty great white shark while strapped in a grocery store during a freak tsunami. This is a good time if you don't set your expectations too high. Under Paris (2024) A global hit when it released on Netflix last summer, this French action-horror disaster film directed by Xavier Gens follows a grieving marine biologist who is compelled to face her tragic past to save Paris from a giant shark that appears in the Seine river. While it's more thrilling than scary, it does offer moments of claustrophobic tension that may have you gasping for air.
New York Post
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Inside the ‘Jaws' theme song creation 50 years ago: ‘Everyone's scared of those two notes'
They were the two notes of terror heard around the world. They were the two notes of terror heard around the world. But director Steven Spielberg initially laughed off composer John Williams' 'Jaws' theme that would become the signature sound — and sign — of the great white shark's attack in the summer blockbuster that opened 50 years ago on June 20, 1975. 'I expected to hear something kind of weird and melodic, something tonal, but eerie; something of another world, almost like outer space under the water,' said Spielberg in a 2012 Blu-ray featurette on the making of 'Jaws.' 7 'When everyone came out and said 'Jaws' scared them out of the water, it was Johnny who scared them out of the water,' said director Steven Spielberg of John Williams' 'Jaws' theme. Bettmann Archive 7 John Williams won the first of his four Oscars for Best Original Score for 'Jaws' in 1976. Bettmann Archive 'And what he played me instead, with two fingers on the lower keys, was 'dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun.' And at first, I began to laugh. He had a great sense of humor, and I thought he was putting me on.' But Williams was scaring up the menacing motif that would sink its teeth into moviegoers — and terrify beachgoers — for generations to come in the film classic that would launch his and Spielberg's careers into historic heights. While Spielberg might have first thought it was a joke, Williams was dead serious about the ominous ostinato of notes E and F played by tuba player Tommy Johnson. 'He said, 'You can't be serious?'' Williams — who had previously worked with Spielberg on 1974's 'The Sugarland Express' — told Classic FM in 2022 about his chilling riff to 'represent our primordial fear.' 'I think in Spielberg's mind … you want something really complicated and layered and, you know, atonal horror music or whatever,' film music historian Tim Greiving — who wrote the upcoming biography 'John Williams: A Composer's Life' — exclusively told The Post. 7 'You can almost think of it as, like, it is the shark,' said film historian Tim Greiving of the 'Jaws' theme. Courtesy Everett Collection 'But John Williams has such a great story instinct that he knew that the simpler, the better, that kind of economy and just, like, pure drive was what this movie needed. So, yeah, in this way he knew better than Spielberg.' To Greiving, Williams struck just the right note with the 'Jaws' theme. 'It so perfectly represents the mindless, just predatory instinct of a shark,' he said. 'You can almost think of it as, like, it is the shark.' But, he added, there's also a 'sense of a heartbeat' that captures 'you in the water with your heart rate kind of accelerating as the shark gets closer to you.' 7 'He said, 'You can't be serious?' ' said John Williams (left) of Steven Spielberg's initial reaction to his 'Jaws' theme. Courtesy Everett Collection The 'deceptively simple' phrase was just the right hook to harpoon the masses. 'It's just a very effective storytelling device,' said Greiving. 'I think anything more complicated than that wouldn't have been nearly as effective.' The 'Jaws' theme became a cultural touchstone in and of itself. 'Because 'Jaws' was such a huge phenomenon, it … just permeated everything,' said Greiving. 'And you had this musical signature, this musical brand to that phenomenon. So it's just an easy way to sort of shorthand reference 'Jaws' as a whole phenomenon.' 'I think it's like the opening of Beethoven's Fifth or the strings of 'Psycho.' It's just something so instantly recognizable that those kinds of things just catch on … and, you know, they just never go away, right? That's the brilliance of it.' 7 The shark in 'Jaws' had its own theme, which struck fear across generations. Getty Images However, Greiving notes that the two-note 'Jaws' theme that that has struck fear across generations is just a small part of the score that won Williams the first of his four Oscars for Best Original Score. 'I talked to [Oscar-winning composer] Hans Zimmer for my book, and he just said, 'You know, everyone's scared of those two notes, but for composers, we're scared of everything after those two notes, because the whole thing is so impressive,' ' he said. 'And I think John Williams, as he often does, takes a simple idea, a simple motif, and just expands it and develops it into basically a symphony.' Williams went on to score more than 100 films, including other classic Spielberg collaborations such as 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' 'E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,' 'Jurassic Park,' 'Schindler's List' and the 'Indiana Jones' franchise,' but he never imagined that the repeated pattern of 'Jaws' would never go away. 7 'He knew better than [Steven] Spielberg,' said Tim Greiving of John Williams (left) proposing the 'Jaws' theme. Getty Images 'At that time, I had no idea that it would have that kind of impact on people,' he told Classic FM. And Spielberg has credited the 'Jaws' theme as a major part of the movie's success. 'When everyone came out and said 'Jaws' scared them out of the water, it was Johnny who scared them out of the water,' Spielberg said in the Blu-ray featurette. 'His music was scarier than seeing the shark.' 7 Richard Dreyfuss (left) and Robert Shaw co-starred in the 1975 summer blockbuster 'Jaws.' Getty Images But for Greiving — whose Williams biography will be released on Sept. 2 — the 'Jaws' theme is even bigger than movies. 'I think the two-note theme in 'Jaws' is maybe the most famous musical unit in the history of music. I think you could argue that,' he said. 'I think more people around the world recognize these two notes played as the 'Jaws' theme more than almost any other piece of music.'
Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Long Island shark hunter may have inspired 'Jaws' character, whitewashing claims surface as film turns 50
As Jaws marks its 50th anniversary, attention is turning to Long Island's own Frank Mundus—the man many believe inspired the iconic character of Capt. Quint. Mundus, a larger-than-life shark hunter from Montauk, is said to have heavily influenced the role portrayed by Robert Shaw in the 1975 classic. 'Anybody who knows anything about fishing knows that it's based on him,' said Pat Mundus, Frank's daughter to New York Post, adding that locals long recognised his impact on the story that reshaped shark lore forever. Photo: NYP Known for hunting massive sharks and branding himself a 'monster fisherman,' Mundus often performed stunts to draw attention—including staging the discovery of a 'sea monster' in a waterproof casket. Though Spielberg's Jaws is set in the fictional Amity Island, it was Peter Benchley's encounter with Mundus aboard his boat, Cricket, that many credit as the source of the character's creation. However, Mundus was never officially recognised, which his family views as erasure. 'He crafted his image over decades, and then someone just used it without credit,' Pat said. Frank Mundus passed away in 2008, but his legacy endures. His 1986 capture of a 3,427-pound great white shark with Donnie Braddick remains legendary. A replica still draws crowds at Sam's Star Island Marina. Photo: NYP
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Make the magic happen.' Vineyard Museum opens 'Jaws' exhibition with local insights
VINEYARD HAVEN — In 1974, then 11-year-old A. Bowdoin 'Bow' Van Riper splashed in the waters off Joseph Sylvia State Beach in Oak Bluffs with dozens of others to serve as extras filling out an iconic moment in the movie "Jaws." The scene featured two children using a cardboard fin to spark panic about a shark in the water. Van Riper and a friend were there to watch the filming of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster, when an assistant used a bullhorn to put the call out for volunteers. Van Riper is now a Martha's Vineyard Museum research librarian and film scholar. As part of the museum's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the movie's premiere, he will give a talk about the elements, from his perspective, that make the movie a classic. 'Who'd have thought that 50 years later I'd still be talking about 'Jaws'?' Van Riper laughed during a phone interview on Sunday, May 18. "Jaws" was originally released on June 20, 1975, and was filmed on Martha's Vineyard from May through October 1974. The film depicts a fictional New England beach town Amity Island terrorized by a great white shark. Van Riper's sold-out talk will be held on June 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Through selected clips and stills, he will explore different aspects of the film, such as how Amity Island becomes a living, breathing character. 'Part of the reason why 'Jaws' has remained a classic when a lot of other 'nature runs amok' movies from the 70s have faded way into $1.99 DVD obscurity is that it does have that richness as a story. It's not just monster-eats-people and then eventually gets destroyed,' said Van Riper. 'It's multiple intertwined stories that gives it significantly more depth.' He pointed to Lynn Murphy as an example of a Vineyarder who helped bring the movie to life. Murphy was a Chilmark fisherman and master mechanic credited with inspiring the grizzled shark hunter Quint played by Robert Shaw. Murphy was hired by the production early on to keep much of the maritime hardware running. He helped to make two sea sled sharks functional and dragged them behind his boat during filming, according to the museum. His fingerprints on the film are apparent 'in 100 ways that show up on camera without him ever himself being present,' said Van Riper, including a scene where the shark pulls out the supports of a dock. 'He helped to make the magic happen,' said Van Riper. 'Although the guys from Hollywood knew how to make movies, how to frame shots, how to light things, how to design an electromechanical floating shark — they didn't necessarily know a lot about the ins and outs and nuts and bolts of operating boats and floating equipment on the water.' The museum, housed in the former 1895-built Marine Hospital, will also feature its biggest exhibition yet called Jaws at 50: A Deeper Dive. Curator of Exhibitions Anna Barber said staff have collected rare photographs, oral histories, original artwork, and authentic movie props to dive into the filming of "Jaws." For instance, visitors will see a series of illustrations done by the production designer and art director Joe Alves, who rendered the sketches to help pitch the film to Universal Studios before the Peter Benchley novel was even published. 'He was in charge of creating these action scenes around the shark because a lot of the people were (asking), 'How are you going to film a movie about a shark? You can't train a shark, you have to build a shark,'' said Barber. The exhibit also includes one of two original prop heads of the movie character Ben Gardner, an Amity Island fisherman who drowns after the shark attacks his boat. Oceanographer Matthew Hooper, another character in the movie, finds Gardner's boat before discovering a shark tooth wedged into the hull. While trying to remove it, Gardner's one-eyed head unexpectedly pops out. Spielberg, who has the other prop head, did not initially like the way the scene was shot, said Barber. They redid the sequence in "Jaws" editor Verna Fields' backyard pool, putting plastic black tarp over the pool. 'They poured a gallon of milk in the water to make it look a little murky … this is such an iconic movie moment that it's pretty cool to have this in here,' said Barber. The prop head at the museum is owned by Greg Nicotero, a special make-up effects creator and "Jaws" super fan. Also on display is a life-size replica of Bruce the Shark's head, the mechanical shark in "Jaws." Designed and built by Arcana Workshop, the re-creation has more than 80 handcrafted teeth. While the shark in "Jaws" is never named, Spielberg named the animatronic great white shark after his lawyer Bruce Ramer. The 1:1 replica — measuring 72 x 45 x 45 inches — is based on extensive research, behind-the-scenes photos, documentation, and another replica currently on display at the Atlantic White Shark Center in Chatham. The model traveled by truck and ferry to Martha's Vineyard before it was installed inside the museum's Linnemann Pavilion where fans can get an up-close look. Other highlights include a to-scale replica of the 'Amity Island Welcomes You' sign and a to-scale model of the interior of Quint's fishing boat Orca built by Cort Corino, which will be on display during Amity Homecoming Weekend, a five-day celebration of the movie from June 19 to 23. 'He's going to set it up in the barn so that people can come and sit down inside an exact replica of the Orca down to the books and the vintage bottles that are inside. It's really amazing,' said Barber. 'These things speak to the level of intensity and enthusiasm that fans have to go above and beyond to create something so life-like.' (This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.) Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@ Follow her on X @zanerazz. Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: 80 teeth, a mayor's blazer, a one-eyed bust: 'Jaws' at Vineyard museum
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Jaws' influenced filmmaking, Cape theater attendance. 'Seeing it, loving it'
Killer sharks, then killer bunnies. The movie "Jaws" started a "huge thing that we had never seen before," said film director John Waters. "It became a genre, and it got more and more ridiculous. First it was sharks, then it was killer bunnies." With the 50th anniversary of the premiere of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster on June 20 comes reflections on the movie's influence. It has spawned a genre. It has become a shared love across generations. It has moved viewers from extreme fear to curiosity, according to Cape Codders associated with three independent Cape cinemas. The movie has also revived and boosted cinema attendance 50 years later. "There aren't many movies that you can play again and again and it would still do business," Cape Cinema president Eric Hart said. The Chatham Orpheum Theater will be showing "Jaws" at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. daily from June 27 to July 1, and then at 9 p.m. from July 2 to July 6. The theater will also screen the documentary "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" from June 27 through July 1. Cape Cinema in Dennis intends to screen the movie as well. After seeing "Jaws," no one has ever gone swimming and not thought of it, Waters said. "Every time you go in the water you think DUH-nuh," he said, mimicking the famous movie theme in an interview on May 19. "The music's on their mind." Waters, a part-time Provincetown resident, is on the advisory board for the Provincetown Film Society, which is associated with Waters Edge Cinema. He directed films such as "Pink Flamingos" in 1972 and "Cry-Baby" in 1990. He was on the Cape when "Jaws" was released in 1975. "I remember seeing it, loving it and being like the rest of America," he said. Waters said he likes to be scared, but when asked if there was ever a push for him to create films like "Jaws" after the film's success, he said no. "I'm afraid Divine was my shark," he said, of the drag performer and star of "Pink Flamingos." "A lot of people in this community saw it in 1975 in the theater," said Kevin McLain, executive director of the Chatham Orpheum Theater, during a May 23 call. "Now they're bringing their children and grandchildren to the theater to see the movie." The Orpheum, which originally opened in 1916 and reopened in 2013 after more than 20 years of closure, has a close relationship to "Jaws" and director Steven Spielberg, McLain said. The first movie shown at the reopening was "Jaws," McLain said. "We said to the community, 'What do you want us to show first? It's your theater. What do you want to show first?" The answer was resounding. And, a fear of sharks has given way to curiosity, he said. In 1975 when "Jaws" came out and someone yelled "Shark!" on a beach, people ran away — but what's happened since then, "Jaws" has become socially acceptable as a character, McLain said referring to T-shirts and even plush toys for children. "It's kind of been kidified." "Now when you yell 'Shark!' on the beach, people run to the beach! They want to see them!" he said. A boy around seven or eight years old came to see the movie, McLain recalled. "He was a Jaws freak. He had a Jaws T-shirt on. He had a Jaws stuffed animal and he was going with his dad. There was no stopping him. And when he came out of that theater his face was ashen white." That experience of watching the film in theaters has also contributed to why the film is still so popular, according to McLain. "Experiencing the energy, experiencing the drama, experiencing other people's emotional connections to this, it creates an experience that is completely unlike one that you would have sitting in your house and watching 'Jaws.'" "It's an example of why theaters matter and why movies in movie theaters matter," he said. Agreed. The only real way to watch "Jaws" is in theaters, said Hart at the Cape Cinema in Dennis. Hart was also on the Cape when the film premiered in 1975. "It wasn't really something that sort of caught on, it was an instant hit," he said. Since the summer audiences were rotating every two weeks, the film played all summer long, according to Hart. "So it was an even bigger sensation because it stayed incredibly popular for a really long time." Of course, he added, because it was filmed so close to home — just a ferry ride away, to Martha's Vineyard — "Jaws" will always hold a special relationship to Cape Cod. Desiree Nikfardjam is a reporter covering breaking and trending news. She graduated from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. You can reach her at DNikfardjam@ Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Keeping cinema alive: 'Jaws' continues to be a Cape Cod favorite
