JAWS (1975) d. Steven Spielberg (USA)
JAWS 2 (1978) d. Jeannot Szwarc (USA)
JAWS 3D (1983) d. Joe Alves (USA)
JAWS: THE REVENGE (1987) d. Joseph Sargent (USA)

From its harrowing opening sequence to the breathtaking climax, Steven Spielberg’s hugely successful masterpiece of suspense and thrills, JAWS (1975), scared audiences out of the water and into theaters in record-breaking numbers. On the surface, the plot is simplicity itself: The locals of the northeastern island town of Amity start turning up as fish food when an enormous great white shark materializes, leaving fear and body parts in its wake.

Peter Benchley’s adaptation (with able help from Carl Gottlieb) of his own bestseller charts the wise course of creating vivid characters that are as memorable as the scenes of teeth-chomping terror. Armed with a top-notch cast of Roy Scheider as the local sheriff with a healthy fear of water, Richard Dreyfuss as a feisty oceanic expert, and the brilliant Robert Shaw as the gnarled shark hunter Quint, there is nary a wasted onscreen moment.

Despite being plagued with endless technical problems during production, the 26-year-old Spielberg ratchets up the tension time and again, each sequence more nail-biting than the last. And his efforts are made all the more effective by John Williams’ Oscar-winning score, one of the most famous in movie history.

By focusing equally between its engaging, likable human protagonists and the monster shark’s mayhem, a modern horror classic emerged, one that still commands our respect and enthusiasm a half-century later.

Join AC and his crew of landlubbing enthusiasts (Fraser Coffeen, Katie McLean Hainsworth, Anish Jethmalani, Kevin Matthews, Ryan Olson) as we celebrate 50 years of JAWS!!
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FRASER COFFEEN is the co-host of Creepy History, a podcast dedicated to all the creepy stuff you wish they taught you in High School. He’s been published in Horror Homeroom magazine and How to Analyze and Review Comics.

KATIE MCLEAN HAINSWORTH is a Chicago-based performer/writer, whom you can regularly find on both the DARK NEXUS and FAWX & STALLION podcasts. She’s happily guested on HORROR 101 a few times as well as on Roll For Impact’s THE STRANGER.

ANISH JETHMALANI is Chicago Actor who has been on stages and screens for 30 years. You may recognize him from the horror flick Girl on the Third Floor with CM Punk. He is passionate Cinephile who contributed an essay on The Omen for the original HORROR 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies. You can find him on letterboxed at https://letterboxd.com/ajet/ 

KEVIN MATTHEWS posts a movie review daily on the For It Is Man's Number blog, and is one quarter of the Raiders of the Podcast team who have been putting out weekly episodes for over six years. https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast 

RYAN OLSON (aka S. Ravenlord of The Cold Beyond music group) is the owner of Deadspeak Design and Night World Records, as well as a member of the Synapse Films street team and a regular on the Synapse Films podcast. His work has been featured in Liquid Cheese, Horrorhound, & Evilspeak Magazines.
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