Before Jaws, most beachgoers didn’t worry about getting chomped by sharks. After Jaws, it’s all anyone could think about—and Hollywood, as well as the international film industry, took notice, capitalizing with so many rip-offs a new genre was born. It gets its own spotlight in a new documentary: Sharksploitation.
Sharksploitation arrives on Shudder this week, just when you thought your freshly revived ocean-phobia after your annual July 4 re-watch of Jaws had subsided. Here’s the trailer:
According to a Shudder press release, Stephen Scarlata’s documentary “explores the weird, wild cinematic legacy of sharks on film and the world’s undying fascination” with them. The robust list of interviewees includes legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman; Piranha director Joe Dante; Carl Gottlieb, who co-scripted the first three Jaws movies; Johannes Roberts, who directed 2017 shark movie 47 Meters Down; Mario Van Pebbles, who starred in 1987’s Jaws: The Revenge (easily the most maligned Jaws sequel, so props to him for participating in this doc); and marine and environmental conservation advocate Wendy Benchley, who was married to Peter Benchley, author of the best-selling novel that Jaws was adapted from.
Sharksploitation swims onto Shudder July 21.
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