Editorials
‘Jaws 3D’: Why We’re Still Enjoying This 3D Shark Attack 40 Years Later
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is a tough act to follow. Not only has it come to define the entire shark horror subgenre, but this aquatic adventure movie also revolutionized the concept of the summer blockbuster as we know it today. It’s difficult to understate the film’s legacy. From archetypal characterization, iconic kills, ubiquitous catch phrases, and an incredible score, Jaws is a nearly flawless film that continues to terrify new audiences to this day. The same cannot be said for its sequels, however.
The underrated Jaws 2 feels a bit more like a slasher with its cadre of teens stranded in deadly water. The fourth installment, Jaws: The Revenge, is known for its implausible plot and Michael Caine’s hilarious yet dismissive comments. While the aforementioned sequels have their merits–and fair share of ardent supporters–when it comes time to defend Jaws 3D, few rise to the occasion. Widely considered the low point of the franchise, the story of a great white shark at SeaWorld features pointless 3-D effects and a nearly bloodless plot. However, despite these glaring flaws, Jaws 3D is a mostly joyful and progressive approach to the shark film that deserves more than a watery death in the scrap pile of cinematic history.
Years after surviving infamous shark attacks in the waters off of Amity Island, Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) has grown up to be an aquatic engineer completing the design for now controversial SeaWorld Orlando. His girlfriend Dr. Kathryn “Kay” Morgan (Bess Armstrong) is a marine biologist for the park, responsible for overseeing the training and care of the facility’s oceanic mammals. Visiting for the grand opening, Mike’s brother Sean (John Putch) attempts to overcome his fear of the water in order to woo a professional water-skier named Kelly Ann Bukowski (Lea Thompson). When plans for the opening day celebrations are disrupted by a 10-foot great white, Kay lobbies to capture the fish and study it in captivity. However, corporate greed leads to the poor animal’s untimely death and the baby shark’s 35-foot mother emerges to seek revenge on the humans who took her baby.
While Jaws 3D has moments of unintentional humor, the original concept was a National Lampoons-style comedy. Jaws 3, People 0 would have been a spoof of the original film, reportedly beginning with Peter Benchley (author of Jaws) becoming shark food in his own swimming pool. These plans were eventually scrapped and the film sifted through several hands before finally making it to the big screen. With original star Roy Scheider adamantly opposed to reprising his role as Chief Brody, the film follows his two adult sons who coincidentally cross paths with yet another gigantic great white. Joe Alves directed the film after serving as a production designer on the first two sets. Credited with designing the infamous special effects shark, nicknamed Bruce, Alves took his one and only turn in the director’s chair, helming a production that had been troubled from the start.
Part of the fun of Jaws 3D is watching nostalgic performances by an up-and-coming cast. A young Dennis Quaid leads the ensemble as the charming Mike, demonstrating the affable wit and rugged good looks that would make him an A-list star. Bess Armstrong, known to 90s audiences as Claire Danes’s long-suffering TV mom, co-stars along with veteran actor Louis Gossett Jr. as the park’s opportunistic owner. Jaws 3D also happens to be the feature film debut of Lea Thompson just two years before she would star in the beloved action adventure Back to the Future. Playing a British version of Amity’s capitalist mayor, Falcon Crest alum Simon MacCorkindale is an aristocratic photographer named Phillip FitzRoyce with P.H. Moriarty tagging along as his faithful man-servant. Despite featuring all new faces, watching this talented cast play off each other adds excitement to the lackluster action.
Many elements of the third Jaws installment fall flat, but its 3-D effects prove to be the weakest link. Part of a stereoscopic boom in early 80s horror, this visual technique does little to pull us deeper into the story and quickly becomes an annoying distraction. We get an obligatory scene in which Mike shoots a harpoon directly towards the camera along with various other fish parts appearing to fly out of the screen, but the most effective use of 3-D filming comes from the dramatic decorations on the park’s underwater caves. The submersible vehicles look cartoonishly fake gliding through the lagoon and the infamous scene in which the shark smashes the control room window has become a laughable meme. Viewed through a modern lens, these blatant gimmicks have a certain nostalgic charm, however the style creates a fuzzy quality to the film as a whole, especially around the edges of the screen.
I wouldn’t necessarily classify Jaws 3D as so bad it’s good, but the theme park location energizes the rather dour script. Alves opens with exciting footage of a water-skiing team slowly building a three level pyramid and the entire film is filled with exciting aquatic stunts. Trained dolphins Cindy and Sandy are endearing co-stars though their tendency to show up and whisk our heroes away from harm stretches the limits of plausibility. We also get an incredible “get out of the water” sequence; the true test of any shark horror film. Moriarty nearly gets into a fistfight with a comically beachified tourist while Mike makes a breakneck dash through the park on a hijacked popcorn cart. When bags of the treat cascade off the back of this miniature vehicle, kids swarm the pile of buttery kernels hoping for a free snack. Rushing to the stage of a crowded amphitheater, we watch Quaid interrupt an Old West-style water show to flag down the lagoon performers. Along the way, he capsizes the cart by running over a bush then tumbles down a hill spilling into a couple of passing orca-shaped strollers. Quaid has since admitted to aggressively using cocaine throughout the shoot, likely contributing to this scene’s frenetic energy.
Jaws 3D makes up for the lack of original franchise characters by doubling up on sharks. The only film in the series to feature two great whites, Alves’s cinematic SeaWorld becomes the birthplace of a new apex predator. The science here is a little thin. Some shark species are more likely to eat their offspring than parent them and they certainly don’t embark on revenge killing sprees to avenge their deaths. However, this twist does allow for a nice albeit predictable bait and switch. Like Spielberg before him, Alves builds tension by filming from the shark’s point of view, but we see entirely too much of these massive fish. When the sharks do appear, they move with a robotic stiffness that rarely feels real. Attack scenes lack clarity and it’s often difficult to track which swimmers are actually in danger.
It’s this lack of blood in the water that proves to be the movie’s fatal flaw. Many of the aforementioned shortcomings could be forgiven by exciting attack sequences akin to the first two movies. Several scenes feature water skiers chased by a menacing dorsal fin, but the athletes always manage to escape the water unharmed. How much more thrilling would Jaws 3D be with a high speed chase in which the shark picks apart the pyramid one by one? Kelly suffers a vague leg injury after the mother shark knocks her out of a bumper boat, but she disappears after the incident along with Sean. In a strange scene midway through the story, two thieves fall victim to the shark, but they simply vanish under the water as their raft pops. With no connection to the main cast, these deaths feel like a missed opportunity for brutal aquatic carnage. The final scene should be a horrific slaughter, but it’s nearly impossible to tell who in the control room has been eaten and who escapes. The only true moments of horror center on FitzRoyce’s death as he’s swallowed alive by the mother shark, not to mention a later scene in which his body peers out of the angry fish’s throat.
With little great white action to speak of, it’s Kay and the dolphins who prove to be the film’s saving grace. Jaws and Jaws 2 treat sharks as monstrous killing machines and sparked a world-wide wave of galeophobia that proved disastrous for ocean wildlife. To be fair, Speilberg’s film (not to mention Benchley’s original novel) premiered at a time when little was known about Carcharodon carcharias. Released eight years later, Alves’ film definitely benefits from additional research in the field of marine biology. Kay fights to save the baby shark, mirroring Benchley’s later work for shark conservation. Though she does want to keep it in captivity, an ethically dubious practice by today’s standards, she seems to honestly care about the animal’s well-being. She jumps fully clothed into the tank to save the baby’s life, jeopardizing her own safety by helping to move oxygen through its gills. Kay only agrees to kill the shark when it threatens to destroy the park and anyone trapped inside.
Jaws 3D ends on a joyful, if abrupt note. Having blown up the massive fish with one of FitzRoyce’s grenades–still clutched in his dead hand no less–Mike and Kay emerge on the lagoon’s surface and frantically begin calling for the dolphins. Having located Cindy, the missing Sandy signals his safety by executing an impressive jump-spin in the air and Alves closes on an exuberant, but painfully 80s freeze frame. As a child, I watched this movie over and over again on syndicated cable, mesmerized by these dolphin heroes. It’s this final scene that encapsulates the film’s sunny tone, a happy ending that outweighs the many clumsy attempts at horror.
While Jaws 3D may not be a very good movie, it’s far from the worst shark film to follow in the wake of Jaws and well worth a place on every summer watch list.
After fifty years of continuous writing, Stephen King has become a genre unto himself.
The unrivaled Master of Horror made a splash in 1974 with his debut novel Carrie and has been terrifying readers ever since. Two years later, Brian De Palma brought this shocking story to the screen with an equally electrifying horror film that remains a genre classic and a prototypical example of “Good For Her” horror. This dual debut seemed to open the floodgates, unleashing endless waves of Stephen King films.
From the highs of Misery, Cujo, and The Shawshank Redemption to the schlocky fun of Cat’s Eye, Creepshow, and Children of the Corn, the last five decades have seen just about every notable horror creator take a stab at the author’s massive collection.
In recent years, this singular subgenre has begun to burst at the seams, expanding to include Stephen King-esque fare. In 2016, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer debuted Stranger Things, a sci-fi series heavily inspired by two of King’s most famous books. The Netflix series remixes Firestarter and It by following a little girl with psychic powers and an intrepid group of kids on bikes who must battle an otherworldly foe and a sinister government agency. With its clever blend of modern effects and comforting nostalgia, this gateway horror series paved the way for Andy Muschietti’s It adaptation which remains the highest grossing horror film of all time.
Four years later, Mike Flanagan would create Midnight Mass, a spiritual adaptation of King’s second novel Salem’s Lot. Published in 1975, the book sees a tiny New England town torn apart by a centuries-old vampire. Though Flanagan’s story is perhaps more tender, both iterations of the classic horror tale follow close-knit communities shaken to their core by the presence of an ancient evil.
In addition to these recent hits, 2025 was a banner year for the Master of Horror. Audiences delighted in six mainstream adaptations, including the massively popular It: Welcome to Derry which chronicles earlier cycles of the titular clown’s reign. With this boost to King’s cultural cache, it’s no surprise that we’ve begun to see more unofficial adaptations of the author’s work and horror creators who build their own unique castles in King’s creative sandbox.
So what defines a Stephen King-esque story?
For the past fifty years, the prolific author has dipped his toes in nearly every subgenre from supernatural stories and grisly gore to western fantasy and science fiction. Including his vast catalogue of short fiction, King has tackled ghosts, demons, werewolves, zombies, aliens, mutants, and self-driving cars, not to mention bizarre monsters of his own creation. But what truly unites this vast array of horror is King’s focus on relatable characters. In his 2000 memoir/instructional text On Writing, the prolific author describes the amusement he finds in writing disparate characters, placing them in horrific scenarios, then exploring the ways they try to survive.
An unofficial Stephen King adaptation may take place in the author’s native New England — bonus points if it’s set in Maine — and reference his well-known heroes and villains. But what makes the King connection unbreakable is a character-driven story about average people who band together in the face of abject terror.
Weapons Captures Small Town Stephen King
Following his 2022 shocker Barbarian, Zach Cregger returned with Weapons, a sprawling story that begins in a doomed elementary school. On an otherwise ordinary day, Justine (Julia Garner) arrives at her desk to find that all but one of her students have disappeared. As the mystery grows increasingly violent, Justine and Archer (Josh Brolin), the father of a missing boy, find their way to the home of Alex (Cary Christopher), the class’ only surviving student. In some ways reminiscent of Salem’s Lot, Weapons swings wildly through the unfortunate town, introducing us to its flawed inhabitants as we watch their lives fall apart.
Cregger’s setup nods to a pair of King short stories. Both “Suffer the Little Children” and “Here There Be Tygers” tackle monstrous presences in elementary schools, but as Weapons reaches its final act, Constant Readers may remember another Stephen King tale. Featured in his 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, “Gramma” introduces us to George, a little boy tormented by an aging witch. On an afternoon alone with his sickly grandmother, the frightened child gradually realizes that the imposing old woman has been waiting for an opportunity to cast a spell that will extend her own life by possessing his body.
Alex finds himself similarly tortured by his aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), a garish witch who orchestrates a desperate plot to sustain her own strength. Transforming humans into mindless weapons, Gladys has taken over Alex’s family home and lured his classmates to the basement. Holding them in a comatose state, she syphons off their energy to extend her own supernatural life.
Vastly different in many ways, both “Gramma” and Weapons hinge on a sinister witch who uses horrific magical spells to sacrifice the bodies of her vulnerable prey.
Hokum Echoes The Shining and 1408
It’s nearly impossible to watch a film about a haunted hotel without thinking of King’s third novel, The Shining. This icy story follows Jack Torrance, an angry writer struggling with his sobriety and a shameful incident haunting his past. Accompanied by his wife and young son, Jack has taken a job as the winter caretaker for the Overlook, a haunted hotel situated high in the Rocky Mountains. Snowed in, Jack finds himself tormented by dangerous ghosts who amplify his greatest fears.
Damian McCarthy’s Hokum follows a similarly troubled figure. Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a surly writer who travels to the Bilberry Woods Hotel in rural Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes. Haunted by his own tragic past, Ohm finds himself trapped in the honeymoon suite, a decaying room that’s been permanently closed to protect visitors from a dangerous witch trapped within its walls. Visual nods to King’s text abound with woodcut figurines and an animated clock, mirroring ominous descriptions found in King’s text.
Another terrifying sequence sees Ohm staring with horror at a closed door, the only thing separating him from the approaching witch. As the door knob slowly turns, Constant Readers remember Jack’s narrow escape from the ghostly woman in room 217. And Ohm’s popular Conquistador books directly reference King’s long-running fantasy series The Dark Tower which follows a gunslinger named Roland Deschain tasked with protecting the nexus of the universe.
In addition to these thematic comparisons, Hokum bears striking resemblance to King’s terrifying short story “1408.” Collected in 2002’s Everything’s Eventual, the terrifying story follows Mike Enslin, a dejected writer who’s risen to fame penning essays about his adventures in haunted locations. Mike arrives at the Hotel Dolphin and bullies his way into the titular room, despite the manager’s dire warnings. McCarthy nods to this story with an ominously misplaced hotel room door, reminiscent of King’s entry to 1408, an unsuspecting portal that appears to move each time Mike looks away.
However, McCarthy’s most direct reference lies in a minicorder Ohm uses to capture notes. Trapped inside the dreaded honeymoon suite, this device offers well-timed messages while sitting next to a decomposing corpse. Mike records his time in 1408 with his own trusty minicorder. Described for the reader, his tape has captured the man’s slow descent into madness as the room prepares to swallow him whole. With conclusions that differ wildly in tone, both Ohm and Mike find their lives irrevocably changed by encounters with the supernatural realm.
Widow’s Bay Builds Its Own Version of Castle Rock
Katie Dippold’s Widow’s Bay has taken the idea of an unofficial King adaptation and turned it into an art form. The Apple TV series sees the residents of the titular island plagued by a curse that dates back centuries. Not only does the picturesque hamlet not accommodate wifi connections, those born on the island face certain death should they ever try to leave. Desperate to modernize the tiny town, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) draws in waves of tourists just as a new cycle of terror begins.
Blending horror with deft comedy, Dippold makes cheeky references to King’s body of work. Tom warns that, “there’s something in the fog,” reminding readers of King’s 1980 novella The Mist. And Loftis’ own stay in the town’s haunted hotel sees him tormented by the ghost of a murderous clown. We even spy a vintage King hardback peeking out of a local book trade box.
In many ways Widow’s Bay feels like a new iteration of the author’s Little Tall Island, a tiny village off the coast of Maine. In addition to the 1992 novel Dolores Claiborne and a handful of harrowing short stories, this quaint fishing village is also the setting for King’s 1999 teleplay Storm of the Century. Premiering on ABC primetime, this tragic tale follows a terrified group of islanders who batten down the hatches for a dangerous Nor’easter only to find a more sinister threat lurking within.
Constant Readers may also be reminded of Castle Rock, the author’s favorite fictional town.
First introduced in the 1981 novel Cujo, the charming village becomes the star of Needful Things, King’s satire about consumerism. After several Castle Rock stories, we’re reintroduced to its residents as they gossip about the arrival of Leland Gaunt and the grand opening of his curio shop. Anything their hearts desire can be found in his varied inventory, so long as they’re willing to pay the price. Pitting cantankerous neighbors against each other, Gaunt ignites a wave of grisly violence by exploiting long-held resentments and feuds.
The town’s only defense against this supernatural threat is beleaguered sheriff Alan Pangborn. Still grieving the deaths of his wife and younger son, Alan struggles to connect with his older child and pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Also a widower, Loftis struggles to raise his own restless son and explain the strange details of his wife’s tragic death. Attempting to unravel the island’s dark secrets, Tom is aided by quirky residents including a surly fisherman named Wyck (Stephen Root) and Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), an earnest Town Hall employee. King’s own novels feature many of these proactive alliances with disparate characters combining their strengths to overcome insurmountable odds.
With Widow’s Bay renewed for a second season and Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series on the horizon, the future seems bright for new King adaptations, both spiritual and directly pulled from his catalogue. The prolific author also shows no signs of slowing down with two publications nearing release. His upcoming novel, Other Worlds Than These, is the long-awaited third Talisman book which teases direct ties to his Dark Tower world. Holly Forever will be a new installment of his crime series, offering a different kind of genre fare.
This embarrassment of riches spawning multiple worlds seems ripe for spiritual adaptation and will likely inspire horror creators for decades to come.
Kate O’Flynn, Stephen Root and Matthew Rhys in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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