I will be honest, when I heard there was going to be a documentary about the popular sub-genre of sharksploitation, it was like catnip for me.
Director Stephen Scarlata doesn’t just focus on the era of post-Jaws ripoffs, he also goes back to the start of the shark being used in films and its appearances within ancient mythologies.
The contributors list is stacked with appearances from the likes of Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Joe Alves, Johannes Roberts and Mario Van Peebles, to name a few.
We see how the shark became prevalent in films about treasure hunts in the ocean plus as a foil for Bond villains but how Jaws really did change it all.
It would be rude if Scarlata didn’t chart the Jaws series, but he also pays mind to the Sharknado series plus more serious and intense shark movies such as Open Water and a personal favourite The Reef.
In terms of the ripoffs, films like Grizzly, Tremors, Tentacles, Piranha and Alligator all get airtime, plus what could have been with Dante’s comedy version of Jaws 3, entitled Jaws 3 People 0.
Low-tier shark movies from SyFy and The Asylum really give you a wider look at the sheer scope of the sharksploitation sub-genre.
Sharksploitation streams exclusively on Shudder on 21 July 2023.
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