Cruel Jaws Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Cruel Jaws Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 21, 2021

Bruno Mattei's "Cruel Jaws" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage remastered trailer for the film; new interview with critic Rebekah McKendry; and new interview with actor Jay Colligan. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Cruel Jaws is a rather cruel film, but not in the way its creators had likely intended. I write likely because, to be honest, I am unsure precisely what type of film they were going for. Yes, obviously they wanted a Jaws copycat, but I am unsure whether it was supposed to be one of those it-is-so-bad-it-is-actually-good copycats, or a truly bad copycat that they simply pushed in the distribution system and hoped for the best.

The film is set in the picturesque seaside town of Hampton Bay where the summer season is about to start. (Interestingly, when the film opens up it looks like the summer season actually never ended). The mayor has been working hard to organize the new edition of a very popular regatta that will flood his town with tourists and boost the economy, so a lot of people are excited and ready to welcome the visitors. But when a decomposed corpse is discovered on the beach and an expert suggests that its flesh appears to have been torn apart by a giant shark, the sheriff becomes concerned and urges the mayor to put the regatta on hold and close the entire area until there is a way to ensure that the contestants and vacationers will be safe. However, the mayor, who has been ‘sponsored’ by some very shady characters from New York, rejects the sheriff’s proposal and instead ramps up promotion for the upcoming regatta. In the meantime, the shark attacks again and the news begins to spread like fire. When representatives of the ‘sponsors’ from New York arrive in town and warn the mayor that he has to act to fix the issue so that the regatta does not turn into a nightmare that damages their financial interests in his town, he finally agrees and offers $100,000 to get the shark killed. But the hunters that take on the job kill the wrong shark, so when the regatta begins and the original troublemaker reappears all hell breaks loose.

Italian director Bruno Mattei never had a reputation of being a perfectionist, so it is not surprising to see that he was very comfortable shooting Cruel Jaws with a poor script. The film’s official credits cite Peter Benchley’s novel as an inspiration, but this is basically a curve ball because Mattei’s interpretation of the original material feels completely foreign. For example, there are various random subplots -- like the one involving the handicapped girl and her relationship with the friendly dolphins -- whose purpose is simply to add filler content, not meaningful content, between the episodes where the main characters go after the big shark. Needless to say, once this becomes obvious, and it does very early into the film, it is practically impossible to take seriously anything that happens before Mattei’s camera.

But this isn’t the film’s real problem because very few people, if any at all, would have approached it expecting it to be a serious production competing with Steven Spielberg’s cult hit. The real problem is its inability to choose an identity that makes the content in it appear thematically and stylistically coherent. Indeed, there is continuous overlapping of ridiculous and supposedly serious content which leaves the impression that Mattei and the actors were having some very serious communication problems. This is particularly obvious in the crucial sequence where the sheriff keeps firing at the shark from the circling helicopter an over the course of a few minutes makes some incredibly amateurish errors. The sequence does not look legit, but the film desperately wants it to be. It is very unfortunate, really, because with the right attitude and tone this film could have been rather entertaining. As it is, it looks awfully silly and amateurish.

*This recent release from Severin Films features The Mattei Cut and The Snyder Cut of Cruel Jaws, both fully remastered. The Mattei Cut is edited slightly differently and is shorter (01.34:21). The Snyder Cut is slightly longer (01.36.15).

Cruel Jaws Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cruel Shark arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films.

The film has been recently remastered and looks very fresh. However, as you probably know by now, there are a few bits of footage in it that come from secondary sources. To be perfectly clear, I am not suggesting that the master is a reconstruction job that utilizes footage from different sources. I am referring to the underwater footage, and a couple of other bits, that Mattei incorporated into the final version of the film. So, this footage looks slightly rougher but as it should, which means that it is not compromised by digital work. The rest looks very nice. Delineation, clarity, and depth range from good to very good, plus fluidity is decent as well. Ideally, grain should be better exposed and defined, but the entire film has a pleasing organic appearance. The color grading job is convincing. However, there are still some areas where saturation and balance can be better. Image stability is good. All in all, this is a fine organic presentation and likely the best one this film will get on home video. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Cruel Jaws Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Everyone in the film appears to be speaking English. However, I am quite certain that some overdubbing was still done, which makes a couple of different episodes sound quite odd. The dialog is clear and and very easy to follow, but at times it can definitely sound a bit flat and uneven. Unfortunately, this is how many Italian genre films were produced, so in this case I assume that the lossless track simply reproduces the qualities of the original soundtrack.

Cruel Jaws Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a remastered vintage trailer for Cruel Jaws. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• The Great White Way - in this new program, critic Rebekah McKendry discusses the Jaws phenomenon and the sharksploitation trend that produced films like Cruel Jaws. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).

• These Things Got Made! - in this new interview, actor Jay Colligan (Tommy) recalls what it was like working with Bruno Mattei on Cruel Jaws and explains why a lot in the film did and did not work. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080p).

Cruel Jaws Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some bad genre films can be a lot of fun because they are really good at ridiculing their weaknesses. Cruel Jaws isn't one of these bad-but-entertaining genre films because it can't quite figure out what type of identity works best for it. Everything in it should have been over-the-top and where appropriate just flat-out unhinged, and perhaps then the sum of its parts would have worked. As it is, for some very strange reason, the film repeatedly attempts to make sense, and because it can't, it looks awfully amateurish and silly. Severin Films' release is sourced from a nice organic remaster and features two cuts of the film. Consider picking it up only if the film is one of your very secret guilty pleasures.