The Best Jaws Knockoffs of the Past 50 Years

Jaws is still the best illustration of Steven Spielberg’s creative spirit today. He adapted a decent pulp fiction about a predator shark into a gripping adventure about masculinity and financial desperation. And to no one’s surprise, Jaws ‘ enormous success led to a lot of knockoffs, [ …].

The article The Best Jaws Replicas of the Past 50 Years appeared primary on Den of Geek.

To this day, Jaws remains the best indication of Steven Spielberg&#8216, s talent as a filmmaker. He adapted a decent pulp fiction about a predator shark into a gripping adventure about masculinity and financial desperation. And to the shock of no one, the huge success of Jaws spawned a lot of replicas, a glut of films about creatures terrorizing areas. Of course, none of them can match the magnificence of Jaws. But these &#8217, s the thing—none of them had to get Jaws. Sure, it &#8217, s great that Spielberg&#8217, s drama has beautifully designed set pieces and powerful figures, but that &#8217, s never the main reason people go to pet attack shows. We really only want to witness attacks on individuals. And eaten.

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With such criteria formally lowered, let&#8217, s take a look at the best dog strike films that came out in the previous half-century since Jaws initially scared us out of the ocean. Of course, this list doesn’t include every film that was influenced by Jaws ( such as Godzilla Minus One, which dedicates its middle act to a fantastic Jaws riff ), and some people may argue that these films were less influenced by Jaws than other nature revolts films like Alfred Hitchcock‘s adaptation of The Birds. But every one of these comedies owes a debt to Jaws, either in motivation or just getting people interested in movies about pets eating persons. Those warning away, lets produce like drunken parties on Amity Island and dive right in!

20. Sharknado ( 2013 )

Sharknado about doesn’t belong on this list because it’s more of a joke, a rehash of Vines and TikTok styles, and less of a movie. Well, some wonderful movies have been made off of an extremely large concept and a terribly low budget. Heck, that view made Roger Corman&#8217, s job. However, Sharknado &#8216, its great concept, which is a storm that sweeps over the sea and launch vicious fish into the mainland, arrives with a self-satisfied grin.

Apparently, Sharknado managed to capture the creativity of the people, making it popular enough to start five sequels. The audience at the time defended it as a so-bad it &#8217, a good-style video comparable to The Room. But today Sharknado &#8216, s visible efforts to be bizarre are merely awful, making the company one more embarrassing pattern, ready to be forgotten.

19. Orca ( 2007 )

For a long time, Orca had a reputation for being the most visible Jaws ripoff, and with great reason—Italian manufacturer Dino De Laurentiis, who would go on to help Flash Gordon, Manhunter, and really start David Lynch &#8216, s job with Blue Velvet, wanted his own version of the Spielberg hit. On paper, he had a stellar cast, including Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling, and another oceanic threat, this time a killer whale.

Orca boasts some impressive underwater cinematography, something that even Jaws largely lacks. But that &#8217, s the one thing Orca does better than Jaws. Orca plays more like an early Sharknado production company than it does a product from a future Hollywood player because of how haphazardly everything else is done: character-building, suspense and scare scenes, basic plotting and storytelling.

18. Tentacles ( 1977 )

Another Italian cheapie riding off the success of Jaws, Tentacles at least manages to be fun in its ineptitude. A giant octopus feature, Tentacles is directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis, a man whose greatest claim to fame is that he annoyed first-time director James Cameron so much on Piranha II: The Spawning that he activated the future legend&#8217, s infamous refusal to compromise with studios and producers.

Tentacles does manage to have a pretty impressive cast, with Henry Fonda, Shelly Winters, and John Huston all receiving pay raises. None of them really do any hard work in Tentacles, but there&#8217, s something fun about watching these greats shake the the octopus limbs that are supposed to be attacking them, as if they &#8217, re in an Ed Wood picture.

17. Kingdom of the Spiders ( 1977 )

Spielberg famously couldn&#8217, t get his mechanical shark to work, a happy accident that he overcame with incredibly tense scenes that merely suggested the monster&#8217, s presence. Director John &#8220, Bud &#8221, Cardos has an even more formative tool to make up for the lack of effects magic in his arachnids on the forgotten film Kingdom of the Spiders: William Shatner.

Shatner plays Rack Hansen, a veterinarian who discovers that the overuse of pesticides has killed off smaller insects and forced the tarantula population to seek larger prey, including humans. These late-1970s creature features frequently reverberate these kinds of ecological messages, which are typically filled with hollow self-righteousness. But in Kingdom of the Spiders, Shatner delivers his lines with such blown out conviction that we enjoy his bluster, even if we don&#8217, t quite buy it.

16. ( 2018 ) The Meg

The idea of Jason Statham fighting a giant prehistoric shark is an idea so awesome, it &#8217, s shocking that his character from Spy didn&#8217, t already pitch it. And The Meg certainly delivers when Statham’s character does engage in combat with the creature in the film’s climax. The problem is that moment of absurd heroism comes only after a lot of long sappy nonsense.

It&#8217, s hard to figure out who is to blame for The Meg&#8216, s failure. The film’s director, Jon Turteltaub, is a member of the well-known Disney classics Cool Runnings and National Treasure. But too often he forgets how to pace an adventure film and gives into his most saccharine instincts here. The Meg, one of the many Chinese/Hollywood co-produced blockbusters of the decade, also struggles to innocuously appeal to an excessive audience. Whatever the source, The Meg only fleetingly delivers on the promise of big time peril, wasting too much time on thin character beats.

15. Lake Placid ( 1999) )

I know already some people reading this are taking exception to Lake Placid &#8216, s low ranking, complaining that this list is n&#8217, t showing enough respect to what they consider a zippy, irreverent take on a creature feature, one written by Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley and co-starring Betty White. To those people, I can only say, &#8220, Please rewatch Lake Placid and then consider its ranking. &#8221,

Lake Placid certainly has its fun moments, helped along by White as a kindly grandmother who keeps feeding a giant croc, Bill Pullman as a dumbfounded simple sheriff, and Oliver Platt as a rich adventurer. Their various one-liners are memorable to remember. But within the context of a movie stuffed with late &#8217, 90s irony, the constant snark gets tiresome, sapping out all the fun of a killer crocodile film.

14. Open Water ( 2003 )

Like Sharknado, Open Water had its fans for a few years but has fallen in most moviegoers &#8217, esteem. In contrast to Sharknado, Open Water is a true film, just one that can’t keep its premise alive for the duration.

Writer and director Chris Kentis draws inspiration from a real-life story about a husband and wife who were accidentally abandoned in the middle of the ocean by their scuba excursion group. Susan Watkins ( Blanchard Ryan ) and Daniel Travis ( Daniel Kintner ), who are able to overcome their difficulties by venting their relationship grievances, even as sharks begin to surround them, do the same in the same way in the movie. Kentis commits to the reality of the couple&#8217, s bleak situation, which sets Open Water apart from the thrill-a-minute movies that mostly make up this list. But even with some shocking set pieces, Open Water feels too much like being stuck in car with a couple who hates each other and not enough like a shark attack thriller.

13. Eaten Alive ( 1976 )

Many of the filmmakers who followed attempted some degree of character development and prestige, even if done without enthusiasm ( see: Orca ). Not so with Tobe Hooper, who followed up the genre-defining The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Eaten Alive.

Then again, Hooper draws just as much from Psycho as he does Jaws. Neville Brand portrays Judd, the owner of a sleazy hotel on the bayou who abuses one another. Amity Island, this is not. However, Judd is fed to the back pet croc when one of the visitors irritates him. Eaten Alive is a nasty bit of work, but like most of Hooper&#8217, s oeuvre, it &#8217, s a lot of fun.

12. ( 2009 ) Peace

Directed by John Frankenheimer of The Manchurian Candidate and Grand Prix fame, Prophecy is easily the best of the more high-minded animal attack movies that followed Jaws. Robert Foxworth portrays Dr. Robert Verne, a veterinarian hired by the EPA to investigate bear attacks against loggers on a mountain in Maine in this landlocked movie, which was written by David Seltzer. Along with his wife Maggie ( Talia Shire ), Verne finds himself thrown into a conflict between the mining company and the local Indigenous population who resist them.

Prophecy drips with an American hippy mentality that reads as pretty conservative today ( &#8220, your body, your choice &#8221, one of Maggie&#8217, s friends tells her &#8230, to urge her against getting an abortion ), making its depictions of Native people, including the leader played by Italian American actor Armand Assante, pretty embarrassing. However, there is a mutant bear at large, and Frankenheimer is skilled at staging an exciting scene, which makes Prophecy a worthwhile movie.

11. Piranha 3D ( 2010 )

Piranha 3D begins with a denim-wearing fisherman named Matt, played by Richard Dreyfuss no less, falling into the water and immediately getting devoured by the titular flesh-eaters. This weird nod to Matt Hooper and Jaws instead of Joe Dante&#8217, s Piranha, the movie Piranha 3D is supposed to be remaking, is just one of the many oddities at play yhere. We’re not sure if we want to laugh or cry because director Alexandre Aja, a veteran of the French Extreme movement, includes so much nastiness in Piranha 3D that screenwriters Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg have some of the original film’s bizarre energy and social satire.

Still, there&#8217, s no denying the power of Piranha 3D&#8216, s set pieces, including a shocking sequence in which the titular beasties attack an MTV/Girls Gone Wild Spring Break party and chaos ensues. Additionally, Piranha 3D benefits from a strong cast that includes Ving Rhames, Adam Scott, and Elizabeth Shue.

10. Anaconda ( 1997 )

Anaconda clearly owes a debt to Jaws with its numerous scenes featuring an animal attacking a ragtag group on a boat. However, with its corny characters and shoddy late &#8217, 90s CGI, Anaconda feels today less like a Jaws knockoff and more like a forerunner to Sharknado and the boom of lazy Syfy and Redbox horror movies that followed.

No matter what its influences and legacy are, Anaconda is still a pretty good movie, in itself. Giant snakes make for good movie monsters, and the special effects have become dated in a way that feels charming. Moreover, Anaconda boasts a enjoyably unlikely cast, including Eric Stoltz as a scientist, Owen Wilson and Ice Cube as members of a documentary crew, and Jon Voight as what might be the most unhinged character of his career, second only to his crossbow enthusiast from Megalopolis.

9. The Shallows ( 2016 )

The Shallows isn’t the highest-ranking shark attack film on this list, but it’s unquestionably the most frightful shark attack thriller since Jaws. That&#8217, s high praise, indeed, but The Shallows benefits from a lean and mean premise and clear direction by Jaume Collet-Serra, who has made some solid modern thrillers. The Shallows focuses almost entirely on med student Nancy Adams ( Blake Lively ), who gets caught far from shore after the tide comes in and is hunted by a shark.

The Shallows is much enjoyed because of how Collet-Serra and screenwriter Anthony Jaswinski manage to avoid the issues that plague many of the films on this list. Adams is an incredibly competent character, and we pull for her even after the mistake that leaves her stranded. Additionally, The Shallows strikes a perfect balance between character and thrill-seeking moments, making it one of the most well-rounded creature features of the past ten years.

8. Razorback ( 1984 )

Of course, Jaws has a fantastic opening scene, a thrilling sequence in which the shark kills a drunken skinny dipper. Of the movies on this list, only Razorback comes close to matching the original&#8217, s power, and it does so because director Russell Mulcahy, who would make Highlander next, goes for glossy absurdity. In the first three minutes of The Razorback, a powerful wild boar drives away his young grandson from the elderly man’s rural home in the Australian outback. Over the sounds of a synth score, the old man stumbles away from his now-burning house, screaming up into the sky.

Sadly, the rest of Razorback cannot top that moment. Mulcahy directs the film in a lot of glossy style while still retaining the grit of the Australian New Wave movement. But budget restrictions keep the titular beast from really looking as cool as one would hope, and the movie&#8217, s loud, crazy tone can&#8217, t rely on Jaws-like power of suggestion.

7. Crawl ( 2019 )

Alexandre Aja&#8217, s second movie on this list earns its high rank precisely because it does away with the tonal inconsistencies that plagued Piranha 3D and leans into what the French filmmaker does so well: slicked down and mean horror. Crawl, which is set amid a Florida hurricane and stars Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper as the characters who are trapped in a flood basement threatened by alligators, is a warm-blooded comedy.

Yet as grimy as Crawl can get, Aja also executes the strong character work in the script by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen. Dave and Haley are real people, not just gator-bait, making their triumphs and perils even more authentic.

6. Piranha ( 1978 )

The only person on this list to receive a seal of approval from Stephen Spielberg, who praised the film even as Universal Pictures planned to sue the production and hired director Joe Dante to take over the Gremlins. It&#8217, s not hard to see why Piranha charmed Spielberg, a man who loves wacky comedy. Some of the best set pieces in the movie feature Dante’s Looney Tunes approach on full display.

But Piranha is special because it also comes from legendary screenwriter John Sayles, who infuses the story with social satire and cynicism that somehow blends with Dante&#8217, s approach. The result is a film about piranha developed by the U. S. military to kill the Vietnamese getting unleashed into an American river and making their way to a children&#8217, s summer camp, a horrifying idea that Dante turns into good clean fun.

5. Slugs ( 1988 )

Slugs belongs way below any other film on this list, somewhere between the illustrious earthworm film Squirm, if we’re talking about well-made movies. But if we&#8217, re thinking about pure enjoyable spectacle, it &#8217, s hard to top Slugs, a movie about, yes, flesh-eating slugs.

Yes, it &#8217, s very funny to think about people getting terrorized by creatures that are famous for moving very, very slowly. However, Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón pays just as little attention to realism as he does good taste, perhaps best known for his 1982-same giallo Pieces. Slugs is filled with insane and ghastly sequences of killer slugs ending up in unlikely places, swarming the floor of someone&#8217, s bedroom or inside a fancy restaurant, and then devouring people, one methodical bite at a time.

4. Deep Blue Sea ( 1999 )

When it comes to goofy &#8217, 90s CGI action, it &#8217, s hard to top Deep Blue Sea, directed by Renny Harlin and featuring sharks with genetically enhanced brains. Deep Blue Sea has a poor sense of pacing, lacks any sort of plausible character development, and the effects looked terrible even in 1999. But it &#8217, s also the only movie on this list that features LL Cool J as a cool chef who recites a violent version of the 23rd Psalm and almost gets cooked alive in an oven by a genius-level shark.

Despite its numerous, many flaws, it &#8217s scenes like the oven sequence that make Deep Blue Sea such a delight. The movie tries to do the most at every turn, whether that &#8217, s clearly reediting the movie in postproduction so that LL Cool J&#8217, s chef becomes a central character, stealing the spotlight form intended star Saffron Burrows, or a ridiculous Samuel L. Jackson monologue with a delightfully unexpected climax.

3. Throughout Alligator ( 1980 )

In many ways, Alligator feels like screenwriter John Sayles &#8217, rejoinder to Piranha. No director could dilate Alligator because of how cruelly sanded down Piranha‘s sharp edges by Joe Dante’s goofy humor. Not that Lewis Teague, a solid action helmer who we&#8217, ll talk about again shortly, would do that.

Alligator transports the old adage about gators in the sewers from New York to Chicago where the titular beast, the subject of experiments to increase its size, begins preying on the innocent. On the less innocent, too. Alligator shows no respect for the good or the bad, and the film is filled with scenes of people getting devoured, whether it &#8217, s a young boy who becomes a snack during a birthday party prank or an elderly mafioso who tries to abandon his family during the gator&#8217, s rampage.

2. Grizzly ( 1976 )

Grizzly stands as the greatest of the movies obviously ripping off Jaws precisely because it understands its limitations. It ignores what it can’t pull off, namely three-dimensional characters, while ignoring the general premise of an animal hunting in a tourist location from Spielberg’s masterpiece. This clear-eyed understanding of everyone&#8217, s abilities makes Grizzly a lean, mean, and satisfying thriller.

Grizzly stars &#8217, 70s low-budget king Christopher George as a park ranger investigating unusually vicious bear attacks on campers, directed by blaxploitation veteran William Girdler and written by Harvey Flaxman and David Sheldon. That&#8217, s not the richest concept in the world, but Girdler and co. execute their ideas with such precision, and George plays his character with just the right amount of machismo, that Grizzly manages to deliver on everything you want from an animal attack.

1. Cujo ( 1983 )

To some modern readers, it might seem absurd to put Cujo on a list of Jaws knockoffs. After all, Stephen King is a franchise by himself, and he doesn’t need another film’s success to be approved for any of his projects. But you have to remember that Cujo came out in 1983 and was just the third of his works to get adapted theatrically, which makes its Jaws connection more valid. After all, the main section of the film—in which mom ( Dee Wallace ) and her son Tad ( Danny Pintauro ) are trapped in their car and menaced by the titular St. Bernard—replicates the isolation on Quint&#8217, s fishing vessel, the Orca, better than any other film on this list.

However, it is not just director Lewis Teague’s ability to create tension that places Cujo at the top, but it is also their ability to do so. Writers Don Carlos Dunaway and Lauren Currier key into the complicated familial dynamics of King &#8217, s story, giving the characters surprising depth. It&#8217 ;s no wonder Spielberg chose Wallace to play another overwhelmed mother in E. T. The Extraterrestrial the following year, demonstrating that he still enjoys animal attack movies, even if none of them came close to surpassing Jaws ‘ power.

The article The Best Jaws Replicas of the Past 50 Years appeared primary on Den of Geek.