So, my ongoing game of Bad Movie Word Association led me from Richard Jaeckel in a rip-off of Jaws directed by William Girdler to Richard Jaeckel in a rip-off of Willard directed by William Grefé. I was expecting a bit of idiotic fun. Instead I got something horribly akin to a shark snuff film.
#1 by Professor Plum on April 8, 2008 - 9:57 am
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“At this point… I was as much in love as I’ve ever been in my life.”
That just about summed up my reaction after reading the first review I ever saw at AYCYAS. 😉
Lyz rules!
#2 by Blake on April 8, 2008 - 9:58 am
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Nice review. Now I feel bad for having asked you about this film several months ago. I always get this title confused with “Jaws of Satan”, which is about a snake who’s really the Devil.
#3 by lyzard on April 8, 2008 - 4:18 pm
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Awww…. (Hey, we don’t have a blush emoticon, either!)
#4 by Professor Plum on April 8, 2008 - 5:19 pm
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Lest you think me merely a stalker of intellectual film critics, I have to add that I remember so clearly the TV commercials for this movie, complete with shots of a toothless shark gumming Karen’s leg….
Speaking of commercials, and Liz’s comment in another thread about being scared by a newspaper ad, I can remember having the shite scared out of me by the TV ads for “Beyond the Door” and “House of Exorcism.” Years later, after seeing the movies, I can only smile at the memory.
#5 by lyzard on April 8, 2008 - 5:55 pm
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No need to feel silly; good, effective film advertising is a lost art, and we should hold onto our memories of when a clever bit of promotion could elicit a real emotional response (the quality of the film in question being an irrelevance, naturally). I have a number of friends who were traumatised by the TV spot ads for Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive; and of course, the s**tstorm surrounding the ads for Silent Night, Deadly Night is the stuff of legend.
#6 by Professor Plum on April 8, 2008 - 6:29 pm
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what is funny is how many of those old exploitation films in the pre-video era actually did advertise on local TV stations. It’s alive was a great example of drawing out the suspense of a simple scene… lullaby music, a bassinet… and then, a claw and a growl. A true lost art.
#7 by El Santo on April 8, 2008 - 8:38 pm
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Speaking of 70’s exploitation movies and broadcast television, reading this review made me remember that I saw The Jaws of Death (with the Mako: prefix) on TV when I was about eight or nine years old.
#8 by lyzard on April 8, 2008 - 10:14 pm
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It was never available here; in my ignorance, I’d been chasing it for years. I once picked up a used VHS copy and when I got it there was a horrible grindy crunch from the VCR and that was that. I’ve now got both the 4-film Brentwood set with it and the single film from Pro-Active Entertainment. (That’s right, I’ve now paid for this thing three times. Imagine how ticked off THAT is making me feel ’round about now.)
#9 by supersonic on April 9, 2008 - 12:41 am
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btw Lyz, yes I do truly and unironically miss the seventies.
#10 by The Rev. D.D. on April 9, 2008 - 10:27 am
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Now I understand your comment about your depression as to where you’d been led by your recent string of films. I know how much you love the sharkies. Poor Ms. Kingsley!
I’m glad I have fair warning on this now, in case I ever decide to watch it.
I remember a lot of our fun with Blood Freak was killed off by the headless turkey near the end, which comes out of nowhere. Even growing up in a family of hunters and farmers, and helping kill and clean various livestock and game over the years, it still hit me. I’m not sure any non-documentary film has the right to use a dying critter to make a point or correlation, and especially not a crap one.
Anyway. I find myself giddy with the volume of your output lately (the quality’s never an issue.) The fine tradition of excellent reviews continues from down Australia way. Long may they bring us joy.
#11 by lyzard on April 9, 2008 - 4:23 pm
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Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I miss its fashion statements….or its killing-for-entertainment attitude….but I must confess that lately I’ve been growing into a much greater appreciation of it as a film-making era.
#12 by lyzard on April 9, 2008 - 4:30 pm
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Yeah, Rev: having thought no further than, “Oh, goody, goody, a killer shark film I haven’t seen!”, this was a real downer. I haven’t seen Blood Freak either, for that reason; or Stanley uncut (I was forewarned about that one). I’m finding, too, that this stuff is affecting me more as I get older; I’m sure I used to be a lot more – indifferent? callous? sensible? – but these days I just seem to go to pieces over everything.
Thank you for all the lovely complements! I should probably give you fair warning, though, that the output is likely to drop away a bit over the next few weeks (sorry!). My next offering will be another collaboration, and those always take longer to organise.
#13 by supersonic on April 9, 2008 - 11:29 pm
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I miss them even on that level. Not for the official fashion trends, which sometimes did make shopping an ordeal, but for the clothes ordinary people actually wore.
And allow me to join in the compliments on the reliable excellence of your reviewmanship. Er. reviewwomanship.
#14 by Matthew Fudge on April 10, 2008 - 6:59 am
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Saw this a while ago, and while I did not consider the sharks welfare (now I feel guilty) it did prompt a new habit between me and my wife to spot scenes in films/tv where two characters are having a conversation and you can’t tell if they are supposed to be keeping secrets from eachother or that the actors simply don’t know how to convey normal human behavious.
#15 by The Rev. D.D. on April 10, 2008 - 10:25 am
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“I haven’t seen Blood Freak either, for that reason; or Stanley uncut (I was forewarned about that one).”
I have to say, other than that turkey, Blood Freak is a real hoot. I know it brought us down, but at the same time, the rest of the movie has so much to savor that I hesitate to tell people not to watch it due to that scene.
If you ever decide to watch it, just be ready when the turkey-man goes down on his knees to pray. Some random yahoo with a machete will come up behind him, and as he’s about to swing, close your eyes and don’t open them until you hear the sounds of a group of people chatting.
Haven’t seen Stanley (or even seen it available anywhere, come to think of it), but I guess I can now add it to the list “movies you better think looooong and hard about”, joining The Jaws of Death, Cannibal Holocaust, and “Turkish ET.”
“I’m finding, too, that this stuff is affecting me more as I get older; I’m sure I used to be a lot more – indifferent? callous? sensible? – but these days I just seem to go to pieces over everything.”
I never really saw movies with stuff like this until I was older, so I don’t know how I’d have reacted then. Probably more crying and less swearing.
I notice I’m much more on the lookout for it nowadays, though, ever since you pointed out the shark in Zombi 2. I always wondered why it seemed to be sluggish and swim so slowly, but my mind apparently refused to connect those dots until you brought up your theories on it.
So I guess I can blame you for this!
Expect to hear from my lawyer.
“Thank you for all the lovely complements!”
Thank you for all the lovely reviews!
“I should probably give you fair warning, though, that the output is likely to drop away a bit over the next few weeks (sorry!). My next offering will be another collaboration, and those always take longer to organise.”
Not a problem. I knew the feast had to end sometime. I can wait for the next course.
#16 by lyzard on April 10, 2008 - 4:21 pm
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I know, I know. Just call me Captain Bringdown. Fighting a neverending battle for truth, justice, and the ruination of everyone’s fun.
#17 by lyzard on April 10, 2008 - 4:26 pm
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Reviewpersonship??
And thank you very much!
#18 by lyzard on April 10, 2008 - 4:31 pm
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Huzzah!! Another victory for Captain Bringdown!!
YES!! I know, it’s unnerving, isn’t it?? You end up feeling that there are aliens among us….like they’re trying to copy normal normal human behaviour but haven’t quite got the knack yet.
#19 by Matthew Fudge on April 11, 2008 - 2:06 am
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The Pod people have won