A horror film I actually like

Rating: 10/10 (19 August 2008)

Most horror films are just brutal or disgusting, with the whole movie just consisting of people being brutally attacked by the horrifying creatures. "Jaws" is an enormous exception. In this film, Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) who refuses to close down a New England beach over 4th of July weekend due to a recent shark attack. After more attacks, he, a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss), and the owner of a boat (Robert Shaw) set out to destroy the shark. The shark is not even really seen for over an hour into the film, making the concept of a shark rather than the shark the source of the horror, a sense of brilliance not found in most horror movies. Also, the film revolves more around the characters and the decisions they must make to deal with the situation, which really brings about a more interesting aspect of the film. Audiences don't want a film to dwell on the horrifying objects that can't communicate; they want to expand on characters and people. That's what makes this such a great film. It's intense, a bit scary, and has little bits of humor throughout that make it fun to watch. The ending proves to be a bit too intense for me, so I don't feel it's absolutely perfect, but very close.
**** out of ****