"Jaws" is a crackerjack thriller though not really a monster movie nor is it really horror. Real-life horror, for sure, because the prospect of a great white shark attacking and chomping humans near the beach or in the ocean is a strong reality. B-Movie Producer Roger Corman would've made this type of picture in 2 days and with a tight low-budget for sure. Only this is based on a best-selling novel by Peter Benchley and it is directed by a young wunderkind of a movie director, Steven Spielberg, who famously went overbudget and had a mechanical shark nicknamed Bruce failing to work properly. Little did he know that he made a movie that would shake the world.
The secret to "Jaws" is how little we see of the shark and when we do see it, it is a frightening presence of a creature - it just looks too real. That is the idea and why people were afraid to go near the water after witnessing this marvelous movie. First, 15 years earlier, "Psycho" made people afraid to take a shower. In 1975, "Jaws" made people afraid, very afraid, of the ocean. Scenes of gruesome deaths of a child swimming and Mr. salty Quint (Robert Shaw) attacked by the shark were more than enough to make people take pause (the unseen death of a dog chasing a stick with the stick only visible in the water while the owner calls for him is naturally horrific). A severed head that comes out of the inside of a cracked boat will make you scream without question. Of course, I remember all these screams too well when I first saw it in theaters in either 1975 or 76 - this movie made a huge impression on this 5 year-old.
The other notable secret to "Jaws" is Spielberg's humanity and focus on the three principal characters - the aforementioned Quint who wishes to capture the shark and kill it for ten grand, the empathetic Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) who wants to close the beaches on July 4th weekend despite the business owners of Amity Island wishing otherwise, and the trained oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) who loves sharks and knows the difference of a bite size between a great white and a tiger shark. When these three are on the boat for the last half of the film, we are with them though it never feels claustrophobic on that small Orca boat. We see enough of the vast ocean and their noble attempts to kill the shark. They use barrels, they shoot at the shark, shoot a harpoon at it yet that carnivorous fish finds a way to barrel onto their boat and practically tear it to pieces. Yet such rigid action outside the boat with this seemingly unstoppable shark doesn't compare to the trio's own tensions about themselves. Brody calls for help and Quint destroys the transmission equipment, seeking to get the shark himself ("You're going to need a bigger boat" says Brody in a classic, misquoted line). Hooper is at odds with the demanding Quint yet a mutual respect floats to the surface when Quint describes in vivid detail his USS Indianapolis survival story involving sharks. It is gripping stuff.
"Jaws" also has some divinely fantastic scenes between Brody and his wife, Ellen (Lorraine Gary), and the kids. Their history is that they lived once in New York City with omnipresent crime and Brody has moved his family to this island where nothing much happens, except for the shark and his random dinner outings. I love Brody's scenes with Ellen and their love for each other ("You want to fool around and get drunk.") and how they relieve their tension over this dire island matter (everyone drinks and smokes). I only wish there were more intimate scenes between them - they are the ideal married couple and, aside from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," one of the last times we would see such a sweetly-natured, loving couple in a Spielberg picture.
Amidst the chaos, the sense of urgent adventure out in the ocean, the classic musical theme of impending doom by John Williams and the occasional and infrequent blood and gore deaths (Quint's death is probably the goriest ever seen in a PG-rated movie), "Jaws" also thrives on its characters and their human impulses, mostly driven by fear of death and the unknown. Even the small role of the Mayor of Amity Island (Murray Hamilton) makes it clear that he sees the danger inherent in the waters ("My kids were also on that beach.") "Jaws" was the first biggest moneymaker of the summer season ever, a monster hit that redefined (or perhaps defined) the blockbuster model forever. Scores of imitators and dull, addle-brained sequels followed yet, to this day, "Jaws" still holds the benchmark of a truly scary thriller that gives you goosebumps done with class and distinction. It established the intense and magical style of director Steven Spielberg and how to play the audience like a piano - you know, a laugh followed by a scream like good old Hitchcock. We are all better for it. 
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