Sharksploitation

This was a blast to watch and time flew by. I'm not a massive shark movie fan but it was so well done I was instantly hooked. The documentary is very comprehensive too and it made me want to seek out some more obscure titles. I like how they covered shark films before Jaws and they showed the huge undeniable influence Spielberg's classic had on this niche but they didn't shy away from the dark side either, diving into the negative impact on real sharks. It was incredibly insightful even exploring the way some cultures worship sharks and treat them like gods. I really learned a lot from watching this.

This was a documentary that I originally started when staying at my in-laws' house during a visit. It was a long day, so I decided to put this on until I fell asleep. It was one that I then finished the next day that I was in the office, treating this like a podcast. Sharksploitation is a genre that I've dipped my toe into, but not one that I've fully explored. There were voices here that intrigued me since I know they're experts on the subject.

What I really like here is how in-depth this documentary goes. It pays homage first to the movie that made this all take off in Jaws. That movie wasn't the first though. It was the biggest blockbuster though. There were movies as far back as the 1930s like The Sea Bat, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas and Tiger Shark. Roger Corman, in all his low budget goodness, was even making his own in the late 1950s and early 60s. Mainstream movies even used them like James Bond villains.

After Jaws though, we saw the Italians ripping it off. There are also movies like Tentacles, Orca or Piranha, doing something different with it. There are even things like Grizzly or The Car that are taking the screenplay and just doing modifications from it. It would then lead to true sharksploitation that is over the top with Sharknado and Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurs. I could list more, but I won't to keep this brief.

The history is good. Hearing from experts like Peter Klimley, David Shiffman, Gregory Stone and Emily Zarka give realistic insight. Then you have important voices like Rebekah McKendry, Roger Corman, Joe Dante and other filmmakers adds a deeper look from the film industry side as well.

This is a well-made documentary. The research is there. I love all the clips that are edited in to show what they're saying and give a good visual representation. Not only that, I like that they start with the movie that truly made this take off. Then giving the history before and the state of cinema after is well done. This is an interesting documentary for horror fans. I highly recommend to fans of shark films, especially the lower budget variety.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

The documentary Sharksploitation casts a broad net in the surprisingly deep waters of Hollywood's fin-tastic obsession with sharks. From the blockbuster Jaws to the viral Sharknado, filmmaker Stephen Scarlata leaves no reef unturned. Even when the movie gets a little long in the tooth, Scarlata delivers interviews aplenty backing his thesis that when it comes to shark movies, you are gonna need a bigger boat.

Through the oversaturation of SyFy movie events and Asylum Films content bombing, Hollywood might have jumped the shark on originality (Ghost Shark, Sand Sharks, Avalanche Sharks anyone?) but the need for good laughs and overall escapism still exists. Sharksploitation reels in the continued mystique of these creatures even when the featured interviews begin churning up repetitive responses.

Scarlata's efforts prove that sharks are still mysterious and remain scary. Regardless if they are pets to a James Bond villain or drop from the sky in a storm cloud, once that circling fin dips into the deep below, anything can happen.

Whether you are a fan of Spielberg's stage-setter, prefer watching Ozark Sharks with a side of cheese, or go diving with great whites, Sharksploitation is perfect for anyone to sink their teeth into.

At the root of the 1975 Steven Spielberg's Jaws success, suddenly new cinema sub -genre emerged. The sharks became the most feared creature in the world and the genre ¨Sharkploitation¨ was born. This documental explores the strange and wild legacy cinematographic of sharks in the cinema and eternal fascination of the audience of these animals.

In the wake of the blockbuster classic Jaws (1975), Spielberg and his film Jaws changed the history of cinema forever, turning a film with a limited budget into a blockbuster. ¨Jaws¨ by Spielberg, in which the shark attacks images deliver emotion , united to a thrilling score by master John Williams, stars Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw; it was followed by ¨Jaws 2¨ by Jeannot Szwarc with Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Donna Willkes, Jeffrey Kramer and Jaws 3D by Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Louis Gossett Jr, John Putch and Lea Thompson Joe Alves, producer designer of the original film and ¨Jaws : The revenge¨directed by Joseph Sargent with Michael Caine, Lorraine Gary, Lance Guest and Mario Van Pebbles . Jaws hit created a completely new genre, these shark films can be classified into three categories: 1ª Those produced by the big companies like Jaws and its official sequels and films as: ¨Deep Blue Sea¨, ¨47 meter down and 47 meters down: uncaged¨ by Johannes Roberts ¨ ; 2ª those produced on a medium budget, usually by Sy Fy Channel , such as ¨Sharknado¨ series, Shark attack¨ by David Worth, ¨Shark attack 2¨, ¨Shark attack 3 Megalodon¨, ¨Sharks in Venice¨, ¨Raging Sharks¨and 3ª: those financed on a minimal budget, such as by companies as New Image, New World, Asylum, nicknamed as ¨Mockbusters¨such as: Zombie Shark, Santa Shark, Avalanche Shark, Atomic Shark, Two-headed shark, Six-headed shark, Sharkula, Sharkenstein.

On the other hand there is a sub-genre on shipwrecked, divers, or swimmers who are relentless besieged post by hungry sharks whose greatest success was Open Water, followed by¨The Reef¨ and ¨Reef II¨.

With the proliferation of films such as the ¨Sharknado saga of Anthony Ferrante, and developing everything throughout a cult of the sharks, Thus, low -encouraged productions took advantage of this Sharkmania to exploit the concept to the maximum, even when it seemed to nod for more.

This interesting documentary was by Stephen Scarlata, who also produced the film along with Kerry Deignan Roy and Josh Miller. Scarlata previouly wrote: Beyond the Gates (2016) and Final Girl (2015)