The bloodiest film on the list? No. Thats why its here. Is this one of the scariest, bloodiest PG-rated films in history? Its surely up there. The blood might only be (water) surface level but, back in 1975, it was almost unheard of for a family film to have violence like this. Yes, its shark on human but it scared millions of people, started the summer blockbuster season and, in a way, is the most mainstream stalk and slash thriller youll ever see. From the moment that lovely Chrissie Watkins leaves the beach party and goes skinny-dipping, (Bruce) the shark leaves a trail of blood and violence in his wake. People are dragged under the water only for the red stuff to flow. Ben Gardners corpse appears in the hull of his boat sans eye and Quints death as he slides into the sharks mouth spitting out blood is still an upsetting moment. Thats without even mentioning what happens after smile, you son of a bitch. Of course, mainstream cinema has given us more blood and more violence but this film really brought gru and fear into the mainstream. Whereas Alien largely hid its blood in the darkness and Friday the 13th was pretty obvious with its axes to the head, Jaws dragged us blinking into the daylight and, with Chrissies death aside, almost everything bloody happens in the daytime. Some horror fans might not like to admit it, but Spielberg constructed a brilliant slasher that all the family can enjoy, and then showered us all in sunny, summer blood.
