Wait. Jaws isn’t technically a horror movie?

Historically, horror movies get a bad rap. Granted, some deserve it. (Just like any other substellar movie.) But horror movies usually have questionable plot lines that beg us to stretch our imaginations and abandon disbelief. Often that’s not done well. And just as often, the storyline isn’t the only thing to blame. Awful acting doesn’t help.

However, when they’re done right, horror movies can be game-changing. Like Jaws. It’s not a “B” movie, but a lot of “Bs” are associated with it, including being Steven Speilberg’s big breakthrough movie and being the first summer blockbuster.

As a horror movie lover, I’ve always felt a certain affinity for Jaws. I’ve also always thought it’s pretty cool that a film from the genre I love most was considered the first summer blockbuster. Maybe because I remember waiting in line with my parents to see it. It definitely made an impression because they were grumbling about the line.

Jaws Memories

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” my dad said.

“It can’t be that good, can it?” my mom questioned.

“Must be,” my dad said.

Sadly, it sold out before we could get tickets. My parents decided not to waste any more time in line, so it was a few more years before I saw it. (Thankfully. It was intense for me by the time I finally saw it, but I was just shy of five years old the summer it came out. Looking back, it wasn’t age-appropriate. And maybe my parents figured that out and that also factored into why we never saw it in the theater.)

Still, up until that point, I’d never had to wait in a long line that stretched into the parking lot either. It definitely created a memory.

The Thing About Jaws

What made Jaws so great?

As Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz put it, “It was a blockbuster about summer, set in summer, about things that we totally associate with summer.”

And it was terrifying. No wonder so many associate it with the horror genre. Especially since it sparked a whole sharksploitation horror sub-genre, one that’s still thriving nearly 50 years later.

Well, that and it’s often listed near the top of best horror movies lists. Rotten Tomatoes ranks it #4 out of 200, IGN places it #7 out of 100, and Time Out puts it at #10 out of 100.

However, horror isn’t one of the genres Jaws is technically classed under. The top three are adventure, thriller, and drama, followed closely by suspense with a little comedy thrown in. But the emphasis is on adventure and suspense-thriller.

Why? It clearly falls under horror, too. Doesn’t it?

It does. It’s a mixture of genres really. But Screen Rant pointed out something I alluded to earlier: horror movies often get bad raps.

It’s understandable enough why studio Universal Pictures might want to avoid the horror label, as…the genre often gets dumped on and pushed aside by those without a taste for it…Universal may want Jaws to continue to be seen as a prestige picture, and calling it horror might unfairly undermine that.

Sad. Especially considering horror movies saved Universal Studios from financial ruin in the 1930s. They’ve gone on to produce some of the most iconic scary films ever, ones that these days often inspire Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses in their theme parks.

But Nightmare Toys put it best: “Regardless of its categorization, Jaws remains a timeless classic.”

Amen!

Check-In

Which camp do you fall in: Jaws is a horror movie or Jaws is not a horror movie?