Review of Jaws (1975) by Tommy H — 31 Mar 2015

I have to say I'm a tiny bit annoyed right now that Jaws isn't listed under the horror category. Horror is a very under-appreciated genre and it deserves this movie. With that said, Jaws is my favorite horror movie.

Just about every scene in this masterpiece can be taken apart and analyzed. You want to know how to scare an audience? Take a look at the scene where Brody is throwing chum in the water and Jaws pops up.

So many points can be raised about that scene to illustrate how to do a jump scare right. And there's enough praise to go around for every actor involved. From the concerned and feeling powerless expression on Brody's face, to the youthful energy of Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw was born to play Quint.

I like every movie Shaw has done, but this is his most noteworthy role. He plays it so well the first time I watched the movie I thought maybe they found a real fisherman who lived in Amity and they really paid him to hunt their shark.

Speaking of the shark, it looks very authentic. Roger Ebert once said Speilberg told him the secret to bring a puppet to life is by putting emphasis on the eyes, and he's right. Too many monster movies hide the eyes of their monster because the eyes are the hardest part to make look realistic, but they're the most important part, which Spielberg has proven with E.

T. and Jaws. Besides the great acting and special effects, the music is very important, too, maybe even more so than everything else. My opinion is with horror, and with all genres to some extent, the music is the key factor and many movies fail because of neglect in the music department.

Look at all the popular horror movies: Jaws, Halloween, Friday The 13th, The Exorcist, and so on. They all have soundtracks that are awesome, creepy and get stuck in your head. Now look at good horror movies that aren't so popular, like Child's Play and Hellraiser.

I would argue that Child's Play is a better horror movie than Friday The 13th, but it has no memorable music so the movie is forgettable. Look at how virtually all modern horror movies have lazy music and are forgettable.

Well, it's hard to make a good soundtrack when it's interrupted constantly by jump scares. Anyway, enough about my movie theories. Jaws is the Citizen Kane of horror movies and everyone should see it at least once.