Editorials
I Introduced My Best Friend to ‘Jaws: The Revenge’ to Celebrate Its 30th Anniversary
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Joseph Sargent’s 1987 sequel Jaws: The Revenge, I thought it would be fun to revisit the much-maligned movie with the intent of finding something redeemable about it. With its famously rushed production, head-scratching plot, questionable special effects, and a surprisingly low body count, it’s no wonder to many that this final entry in the Jaws franchise is considered one of the worst films of all time, horror or otherwise. Though it made $51.9M on a $23M budget, the film was a dud with franchise fans and critics alike; it was ultimately nominated for seven Razzies–including a nod for Bruce the Shark as Worst Actor–and sits at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews.
I have always had fond memories of the Jaws series growing up. As a child, I actually recall watching The Revenge and Jaws 2 (which is still holds up as an extremely fun sequel, mind you) far more than Spielberg’s more markedly paced original. Having re-watched The Revenge as an adult a few years back, however, I was dumbfounded by how poorly written and executed the film actually is. Not even my heavily influential nostalgia blinders could elevate that viewing experience, and I was left wondering how I ever sat through it as a kid as often as I did.
For those who are unfamiliar (SPOILERS AHEAD), Jaws: The Revenge follows a now-widowed Ellen Brody (franchise staple Lorraine Gary) after her youngest son Sean (Mitchell Anderson) is killed by a great white shark on Amity Island–the site of Martin Brody’s (Roy Scheider) two previous run-ins with great whites. After some convincing by her eldest son Michael (portrayed this go-round by Halloween II’s Lance Guest), Ellen steals away to the Bahamas with Michael’s family to escape the painful memories on Amity Island. However, it turns out that the shark that killed Sean is not quite finished with Ellen, and it somehow follows the Brody family over a 1000 miles to paradise to wreak more havoc. What follows is a film in which sense and franchise continuity are thrown out the window, scares are nonexistent, and sharks roar. Oh, and Michael Caine inexplicably co-stars as Ellen’s love interest, a carefree pilot named Hoagie.
To its credit, Jaws: The Revenge tries its hardest to hark back to the character-building family drama that added a truly human element to Spielberg’s original chiller, even featuring a nod to the famous father-son dinner table scene in the original. For a drama-fueled sequel, however, the film is not nearly as emotionally engaging as it sets out to be. The clunky editing and rush-job script centered on a shark with a personal vendetta against the Brody family certainly don’t aid in eliciting much genuine sympathy in the wake of Sean’s death, even for long-standing series regulars like Ellen and Michael, who at times appear to forget it ever happened mere days later. In its greatest misstep though, it is simply far too boring to be an effective horror film. Even despite the laughable fact that the film suggests Ellen has some kind of telepathic connection with the shark who killed her son, Jaws: The Revenge never takes advantage of such wild notions to any entertaining effect (although the film’s novelization did explain this connection as having magical roots).
Still, as I have found time and again with my best friend (to whom I will refer here as “LL”), even the most mediocre films can provide for the best kind of entertainment with some strong drinks and laughs. LL and I have time and again enjoyed some of the most laughably bad films while throwing back a few–from Verhoeven’s Showgirls to Tommy Wiseau’s The Room to Dark Floors, an insanely silly vehicle for Finish heavy metal band Lordi. My hope was that by introducing LL to Jaws: The Revenge, I might be able to find some so-bad-its-good-level redeeming qualities in its bumbling execution.
For the most part, that wasn’t the case. LL actually hated the film, and I still found myself quite frustrated with its pacing and script issues. In any case, I actually still had a blast revisiting it, mostly because I advised LL to keep her first-time-viewer commentary coming. During our screening, I collected a few entertaining sound bites from this first-time audience member… naturally, after a few glasses of champagne and some beers.
Here are some highlights…
- “So… is this shark… targeting this family?
–A valid question posed very early after Sean’s death. - “How are you?! Your brother was just killed… remember? You used to work at SeaWorld together.”
–When Michael doesn’t seem quite as phased by his brother’s death as Ellen. - “What?! Get away from the water and this won’t happen anymore!”
-After Michael suggests that Ellen spend some time in the Bahamas to, you know… get away from the dangers of the ocean… - “They should have come up with some explanation… like that it got into toxic sludge or something and now it’s telepathic…”
-After Ellen first “senses” the shark.
- “Why is it made of cloth?!? They didn’t even try to make it look like skin. Looks like they went to Jo-ann’s with a coupon.”
–It does not look great… - “Are they trying to make this woman crazy?”
-After Michael’s wife Carla (Karen Young) shows Ellen a piece of artwork that looks suspiciously shark-like. - “This makes me want to go to the beach… so it’s not doing its job.”
-Admiring the shots of the Bahamas. - “Oh my god, this is just like The Little Mermaid.”
-During Michael’s chase scene with the shark, which does bear some interesting similarities to a scene in the Disney classic. Interestingly enough, The Little Mermaid came out 2 years later.
- “So how is this shark related to the other sharks… and didn’t they die?”
-No one knows, and yes, they sure did. - “They needed to talk to Jim Henson. He could have made them the best shark.”
–In a clearly unrelated note, LL’s favorite movie is Labyrinth… - “This movie is so… boring.”
-I did not disagree.
- “STOP. No way… *laughs*”
-When Mario van Peebles’ Jake is revealed to still be alive, even despite being pretty visibly chomped on by the shark just moments before. In the version cut for television, his character remains dead. - “I’m not kidding… I hate this movie so much. I feel nothing for these characters… I don’t care who dies… I just want them all to die now.”
-When Hoagie crash lands the plane into the water so he and the others can save Ellen. - “I’m legitimately pissed off.”
–When the shark’s exploding death happened quickly and didn’t quite make sense.
So while Jaws: The Revenge is certainly not my cup o’ tea, I have found that, with the right priming, some fun can be had from revisiting it in all of its messy glory.
What are your thoughts, folks? Love the film? Love hate-watching it? Just outright hate it? Sound off!
Expectations can run high whenever a buzzworthy filmmaker makes the leap from indie to mainstream. And Radio Silence — Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Chad Villella and former member Justin Martinez — certainly had a lot to live up to after V/H/S. This production collective’s rousing contribution to the 2012 anthology film not only impressed audiences and critics, the same segment also caught the attention of 20th Century. This led to the studio recruiting the rising talent for a hush-hush found-footage project later titled Devil’s Due.
However, as soon as Radio Silence’s anticipated first film was released into the wild, the reactions were mostly negative. Devil’s Due was dismissed as a Rosemary’s Baby rehash but dressed in different clothes; almost all initial reviews were sure to make — as well as dwell on — that comparison. Of course, significant changes were made to Lindsay Devlin’s pre-existing script; directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett offered up more energy and action than what was originally found in the source material, which they called a “creepy mood piece.” Nevertheless, too many folks focused on the surface similarities to the 1968 pregnancy-horror classic and ignored much of everything else.
Almost exactly two years before Devil’s Due hit theaters in January of 2014, The Devil Inside came out. The divisive POV technique was already in the early stages of disappearing from the big screen and William Brent Bell’s film essentially sped up the process. And although The Devil Inside was a massive hit at the box office, it ended up doing more harm than good for the entire found-footage genre. Perhaps worse for Radio Silence’s debut was the strange timing of Devil’s Due; the better-received Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones was released earlier that same month. Despite only a superficial resemblance, the newer film might have come across as redundant and negligible to wary audiences.
Image: Allison Miller in Devil’s Due.
The trailers for Devil’s Due spelled everything out quite clearly: a couple unknowingly conceives a diabolical child, and before that momentous birth, the mother experiences horrifying symptoms. There is an unshakable sense of been-there-done-that to the film’s basic pitch, however, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett knew that from the beginning. To compensate for the lack of novelty, they focused on the execution. There was no point in hiding the obvious — in the original script, the revelation of a demonic pregnancy was delayed — and the film instead gives the game away early on. This proved to be a benefit, seeing as the directors could now play around with the characters’ unholy situation sooner and without being tied down by the act of surprise.
At the time, it made sense for Radio Silence’s first long feature to be shot in the same style that got them noticed in the first place, even if this kind of story does not require it. Still and all, the first-person slant makes Devil’s Due stand out. The urgency and terror of these expectant parents’ ordeal is more considerable now with a dose of verisimilitude in the presentation. The faux realism makes the wilder events of the film — namely those times the evil fetus fears its vessel is in danger — more effective as well. Obviously the set-pieces, such as Samantha pulling a Carrie White on three unlucky teens, are the work of movie magic, but these scenes hit harder after watching tedious but convincing stretches of ordinariness. Radio Silence found a solid balance between the normal and abnormal.
Another facet overlooked upon the film’s initial release was its performances. Booking legitimate actors is not always an option for found-footage auteurs, yet Devil’s Due was a big-studio production with resources. Putting trained actors in the roles of Samantha and Zach McCall, respectively Allison Miller and Zach Gilford, was desirable when needing the audience to care about these first-time parents. The leads managed to make their cursory characters both likable and vulnerable. Miller was particularly able to tap into Samantha’s distress and make it feel real, regardless of the supernatural origin. And with Gilford’s character stuck behind the camera for most of the time, the film often relied on Miller to deliver the story’s emotional element.
Image: Allison Miller in Devil’s Due.
Back then, Radio Silence went from making viral web clips to a full-length theatrical feature in a relatively short amount of time. The outcome very much reflected that tricky transition. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett indeed knew how to create these attention-grabbing scenes — mainly using practical effects — but they were still learning their way around a continuous narrative. The technical limitations of found footage hindered the story from time to time, such as this routine need to keep the camera on the main characters (or see things from their perspective) as opposed to cutting away to a subplot. There is also no explanation of who exactly compiled all this random footage into a film. Then again, that is an example of how the filmmakers strove for entertainment as opposed to maintaining every tradition of found footage. In the end, the directors drew from a place of comfort and familiarity as they, more or less, used 10/31/98 as the blueprint for Devil’s Due’s chaotic conclusion. That is not to say the film’s ending does not supply a satisfying jolt or two, but surely there were hopes for something different and atypical.
Like other big film studios at that time, 20th Century wanted a piece of the found-footage pie. What distinguished their endeavor from those of their peers, though, was the surprising hiring of Radio Silence. Needless to say, the gamble did not totally pay off, yet putting the right guys in charge was a bold decision. Radio Silence’s wings were not completely clipped here, and in spite of how things turned out, there are flashes of creativity in Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s unconventional approach to such a conventional concept.
Radio Silence has since bounced back after a shaky start; they participated in another anthology, Southbound, before making another go at commercial horror. The second time, as everyone knows, was far more fruitful. In hindsight, Devil’s Due is regarded as a hiccup in this collective’s body of work, and it is usually brought up to help emphasize their newfound success. Even so, this early film of theirs is not all bad or deserving of its unmentionable status. With some distance between then and now, plus a forgiving attitude, Devil’s Due can be seen as a fun, if not flawed first exposure to the abilities of Radio Silence. And, hopefully, somewhere down the line they can revisit the found-footage format.
Image: Allison Miller and Zach Gilford in Devil’s Due.
‘Flesh of the Gods’ – Kristen Stewart & Oscar Isaac Starring in ’80s Vampire Movie from Panos Cosmatos!
Original Classic ‘The Crow’ Returning to Theaters for 30th Anniversary
“Chucky” Season 4? Call This Number and Let the Executives Know You Want It!
‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Heads Home to Digital Next Week
Two New Images from ‘Alien: Romulus’ Spotlight the Heroes and the Giger-Faithful Monster
You must be logged in to post a comment.