Jaws: Remembering My First Horror Movie

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."
-Martin Brody

The horror genre is one that is much maligned in the film industry. Some people just don't like being scared. That's their opinion, but here's mine. Being scared is very primal and relatable, which is why several horror movies have such a great effect on the viewer. I can remember my first real horror film, which I watched when I was 5 years old. I was familiar with Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," but had never seen the film. As I sat in front of my TV set, I had no clue what I was getting into. What followed was a life-long fear of going to the beach. "Jaws" has been dissected many times. This review will describe my undying passion for this film, and how great it is.

The plot takes us to Amity Long Island, a New England resort that brings happiness and joy to many islanders. Police chief Martin Brody, his wife Ellen, and their sons Michael and Sean are fairly new to Amity, and are liking it immensely. Then, along comes Martin's next job when he discovers the mutilated body of a teenage girl on the beach. Could it have been an axe murderer or a boating accident? No. Martin can tell right away that this was a shark attack, and it is important that he closes the beaches. But thanks to the idiotic mayor, things take a turn for the worse when islanders are attacked by a shark on July 4th. With the help of marine biologist Matt Hooper and the strange fisherman Quint, Martin takes a boat out into the middle of the ocean to kill the fish. But it turns out that their problem is much bigger than expected. This predator is a 25-foot long, 3-ton Great White, and it's ready for its next meal.

I feel that "Jaws" is a film that we can all relate to. We want to know what is in the depths of the ocean below us as we swim, but many people know that as common as shark attacks are, they are at times accidental. But this movie portrays the ultimate fear of a Great White shark that just won't go away. I think this is one of the reasons why "Jaws" holds up 35 years later.

The film is based on a best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, which I frankly believe has nothing on the movie. It's a good book, but certainly a flawed one as it focuses more on Martin and Ellen's marriage than it does on the attacks. Carl Gottlieb's script holds the viewer on the edge of their seat, waiting for the creature to strike.

Thanks to production failures, keeping the beast in the dark until the final act was the best way to go. Spielberg's mechanical shark, nicknamed Bruce, didn't work at times during filming, which led to the idea of not showing the shark. Instead, most of the film gives us POV shots from the shark's perspective, placing the viewer right smack in the middle of the action. When we aren't seeing things from the shark's point of view, we are in suspense for the rest of the movie until the shark finally appears, a classic scene that takes us completely by surprise.

The first scene in the film, the death of Chrissie Watkins, is still terrifying as we are thrust into the first attack. I remember watching that scene for the first time and being so shocked that my jaw was dropped for at least 10 minutes. I still get scared of that moment all these years later.

Another of my favorite moments in the film is when Quint recounts his experience on the U.S.S. Indianappolis. Written by Robert Shaw himself, this monologue is the most unnerving and creepy soliloquy I have ever heard. Hearing it brings chills down my spine each time I watch the film, and I'm sure it has the same effect on every other viewer.

Unlike many of the inferior follow-ups, the cast in "Jaws" is absolutely perfect. Every performance is never cheesy and every character is written three-dimensionally. We care about what happens to Martin and everyone else. Roy Scheider does a great job as Martin, and the same goes for Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper. Robert Shaw's performance as Quint is at times funny and odd and other times very memorable. Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton also do very well with their roles as Ellen Brody and Mayor Larry Vaughn.

The standout part of the film, other than the cast and Spielberg's direction, is John William's undeniably haunting score, signalling the coming of the shark. It brings tremendous dread to the viewer, and it didn't win an Oscar for nothing.

"Jaws" is, was, and ever shall be the classic shark movie. For a PG-rating, it is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen and it has the guts to avoid the gore and predictability that only a few other horror movies suffer from. When it comes to the 70's, Spielberg was a modern-day Hitchcock. Boasting a delightful cast, psychologically unnerving suspense and terror, and one of the greatest musical scores of all time, "Jaws" is not only a perfect horror film, but simply a perfect film all the way. I will never forget that fin gliding across the water, the terrifying music crescendoing.