Is JAWS a Horror Movie? in '70s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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Is JAWS a Horror Movie?

Author	Comment
MikeTheMook	Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	Lead	[-]
May 15 07 8:00 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just wanted to get your opinions on this. I've always thought of it as such.
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Rakshasa	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#1	[-]
May 15 07 10:29 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ah, my favorite film of all time. I don't know, is there an actual definition of what is a "horror movie" and what isn't? I guess I would call JAWS a suspense/terror/adventure film? I think TV Guide used to list it as "adventure". Along the same lines, is KING KONG a "horror" film? That's another one TV Guide always listed as "adventure". Last Edited By: Rakshasa Sep 26 08 6:38 AM. Edited 2 times.
Squonkamatic	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#2	[-]
May 15 07 10:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes. Any film that makes you afraid of doing something like going for a swim even in the ole' swimmin' hole down by the barn is a horror movie.
blackbiped	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#3	[-]
May 15 07 10:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As "adventurous" as it is in some of the later scenes, the main purpose of JAWS is to terrify (and horrify) people. To me, it's as much a horror film as another non-supernatural horror film, PSYCHO. Of course, there's a long thread around here somewhere in which people argue vigorously that PSYCHO isn't a horror film, so... Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. My MySpace Page
Bill Warren	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#4	[-]
May 15 07 11:49 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's intermittently horror.
capmonte	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#5	[-]
May 15 07 12:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The first half is horror, the second half is adventure. It's Horrenture.
blackbiped	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#6	[-]
May 15 07 1:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, at least it isn't a thrillomedy. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. My MySpace Page
Bill Warren	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#7	[-]
May 15 07 1:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And yet it's often very funny. JAWS is all things to all people, although it doesn't seem to have any Musical, Film Noir or Western elements.
MikeTheMook	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#8	[-]
May 15 07 2:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I don't know Bill. On two of those points you may be a bit off. As far as musical elements, let's not forget the rendition of "Show me the way to go home" belted out by Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfus. And as far as film noir, heck, there have been alot of sharks in classic film noir films. Loan sharks, pool sharks.....
Rakshasa	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#9	[-]
May 15 07 2:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* it doesn't seem to have any Musical elements "Show me the way to go home...I'm tired and I wanna go to bed...." "Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies....Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain...." (: edit - Mook beat me to the gag!
Rakshasa	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#10	[-]
May 15 07 2:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts
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thebrainfollower	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#11	[-]
May 15 07 2:46 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Jaws is a horror movie IMO. It's the film that scared the heck out of me when I was a kid. It's about a giant shark that eats people for Cripes sakes. Having said that the reason you always find Jaws and Kong in the action sections of stores is cause people think horror is a niche market. And heck not calling some of the best and most famous horrors HORRORS (like Silence of the Lambs) is a great way to self fufill that prophecy.
blackbiped	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#12	[-]
May 15 07 2:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And it's got a Sheriff totin' a six-gun! Well, he's a "Chief", but that's the same thing. When that ornery, sidewindin' shark swims into town, Amityville ain't big enough fer the two of 'em! White Bart, they called him--the Great White Polecat who tried to run all them vacationin' city folks off'n his range till Sheriff Brody slapped leather with him in a rootin'-tootin' showdown! Yes, JAWS is one of my favorite Westerns. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. My MySpace Page
MikeTheMook	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#13	[-]
May 15 07 3:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And all great westerns end in a memorable shootout. Likewise in JAWS.
Zombie Dad	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#14	[-]
May 15 07 3:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Film critic Pauline Kael wrote: "It (JAWS) may be the most cheerfully perverse scare movie ever made. Even while you're convulsed with laughter you're still apprehensive, because the editing rhythms are very tricky, and the shock images loom up, right on top of you. This film belongs to the pulpiest sci-fi monster-movie tradition, yet it stands some of the old conventions on their head. Though JAWS has more zest than a Woody Allen picture, and a lot more electricity, it's funny in a Woody Allen way." That's very much the way I've always seen this movie. It's a very perverse horror comedy. ZD "Here's to swimmin' with bowlegged women!"
GhostofChaneysLiver	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#15	[-]
May 15 07 5:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The shark is a monster. It silently stalks its helpless victims and rips them apart. Yes, in my opinion JAWS is a horror film. Cromwell
Koukol 5	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#16	[-]
May 15 07 8:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Why not?
Count Karnstein	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#17	[-]
May 16 07 11:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Personally, I don't consider it a horror movie. To me, horror must have some sort of macabre or supernatural aspect. Jaws would be more a suspense adventure or almost a disaster movie. "Animal attacks" genre. When I hear the words "horror movie", I think of monsters that do not exist on earth - King Kong, Dracula, the Mummy, etc. I think of creepy old haunted houses and stuff like that. That's why I also never think of Alien/Aliens as horror. If it has an emphasis on science, it's sci-fi. Sure, Jaws terrified me - and to this day you'd need to put a gun to my head to get me to dip my toe into ocean water! But I still don't consider it horror because it's not supernatural, and sharks exist. Sharks eat people. So Jaws is just an incredibly intense drama based on real life stuff.
Koukol 5	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#18	[-]
May 17 07 5:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	So by using that logic Count...THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE would be an incredibly intense drama, and not Horror.
Dr Borgo	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#19	[-]
May 17 07 9:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* So by using that logic Count...THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE would be an incredibly intense drama, and not Horror. I agree with the Count on his definition of a Horror movie. While I love The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I really wouldn't call it horror because it lacks all the things Count pointed out. I find it a lot more frightning than say, The Wolf Man which I DO consider to be a horror movie. Yeah I know....weird, but thats just me I guess. Show a teenager a movie like Dracula or The Wolf Man and they would probably say they don't consider it horror because it doesn't have any gore or brutal violence. "The monster was the best friend I ever had." - -- Boris Karloff
emoore7	Re: Is JAWS a Horror Movie?	#20	[-]
May 17 07 9:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I never really thought of it as a horror movie. If Jaws is a horror movie, then is Moby Dick a horror movie too?
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