Ever since Steven Spielberg's 1975 hit thriller Jaws, sharks have become a reliable source of terror within the film world. There's something so terrifying about being stranded out in the deep dark ocean, but we can't help but feel drawn to the movies where people are being eaten in that deep dark ocean. Jaws might have kickstarted our love for shark movies and is still the ultimate summer horror film, but there has been an array of exciting, terrifying films with giant sharks constantly hitting our screens, with classics like Deep Blue Sea and the endlessly popular Shark Week keeping the underwater creatures in the cultural consciousness.
This year, there's a surprising variety of brand-new movies where the sharks get bigger, better, or just more ridiculous. Recent films include Shark Bait, Beneath the Surface, the very good sequel The Reef: Stalked, the utterly silly Sharkula, the upcoming Maneater and next year's Meg 2: The Trench, proving that these bloodthirsty sharks are still box office favorite. There's even a goofy Jaws meets Children of the Corn movie, Sharks of the Corn. So, why is it that sharks remain one of our favorite movie monsters even 47 years after the iconic and once terrifying classic Jaws, and why are they having such a huge moment?
Sharks Are Still A Real Life Danger
Unlike some of our other beloved thriller/horror movies, from paranormal entities and possessed dolls to haunted houses, sharks are still something that everyone knows is real, and is something most of us are scared of interacting too closely with. Seeing as sharks actually exist (and happen to live happily in a place where we feel slightly out of control), we have a pretty good reason to be terrified of them, not to mention that they sit in the food chain at a place that means they don't have a problem with eating us.
With their bloodthirsty nature and those giant teeth, when we watch a shark movie, deep down we know that could happen to anyone, anywhere — and it has happened, many times. When we allow ourselves to get into that water, we can never be sure what is lurking beneath us, and it seems realistic to think that there might be a big human-eating Megalodon that might just grab our foot as revenge for entering its territory, and is something that we could legitimately experience, rather than being possessed by a spirit.
Better Technology and Better Sharks
Horror is becoming an even more beloved genre, and we've recently seen a plethora of new horror movies, so it makes sense that sharks have to sit comfortably in there somewhere. Especially with the benefit of modern technology and highly developed CGI, sharks have become more realistic on our screens, in comparison to 1975's robot shark of Jaws, which for its time did provide the perfect 'man against nature' movie and became the highest-grossing film of its era.
However, as much as we still value Jaws, modern cinema now remains more compelling than ever. The sharks are bigger (like The Meg) and more intimidating, with sharper teeth that give us more blood, gore, and death than ever before. This was something that turned The Meg into such a beloved film, its impressive cinematography and horror movie elements brought us some genuinely scary jump scares and one extra large, very dangerous shark (and although we know the Megaladon is extinct, the fear transfers to the natural world of real sharks). The kind of horror jump scares that we are receiving in modern shark movies are more intense and give us fans such a buzz that we might never get in the water again.
The Suspense Brings Genuine Fear
Realistically, sharks aren't that dangerous; the worldwide total of shark attacks was 73 in 2021, while over 100 million sharks were killed by humans, with a third of shark species on the brink of extinction. As always, humans are the ones to fear. Nonetheless, sharks have mainly been conveyed as ruthless, dangerous, human-eating monsters in movies, so a large part of why shark movies might still be such a huge hit is the way that they are filmed.
Jaws was a masterpiece well known for its suspense, the unavoidable and impending threat of the shark. It was filmed in a way that we very rarely actually saw the shark, which kept the audience waiting and guessing when it will next attack - most recognized by the iconic shark fin on the tip of the water and John Williams' suspenseful music (essentially a horror movie rip-off of Dvorak's New World symphony). The fear in the film is mostly generated by the slow, creeping dread, which hasn't changed throughout the years and is something that even now people love, not just in Jaws but in the myriad shark movies being released this year and next; it creates goosebumps and heart-pounding terror.
Whether you watch an old classic or a higher-budgeted and more realistic movie, sharks are always going to be a real life fear that many people have (however improbable), and no matter the movie, we know we're in for a scary, bloody ride. Shark movies are a way for us to tune into our deep fears of the uncertainty and unknown, the vast darkness of the oceans (which are less explored than the moon).
Even if we attempt to escape our fears in a horror movie, where we try to convince ourselves that it's not real, the deep-seated threat of seeing that fin surface and swim closer is never going away, but with each film, we tend to swim a little closer to feel that rush. Keep an eye out for new, bigger and scarier sharks soon as there's no doubt we'll be seeing more of those great sharp teeth; oh, and watch where you're swimming, you don't know what's underneath you.
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July 28, 2022 at 12:54AM
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Why Are Shark Movies Having Such a Big Moment? - MovieWeb
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