Worst SFX No.17: Jaws (1975)

Martin Anderson

Published on Jan 6, 2009

About 26 seconds into the clip below, you'll see the out-of-water hydraulic shark trying to look frightening on the deck of Robert Shaw's Orca, even though it's flailing about like a limp dick and gnashing its teeth like a sprite from an (early) 80s videogame. The problems Spielberg had bringing the shark to life are legendary by now: production designer Joe Alves had one of the hardest years of his working life trying to make the three-stage shark function out beyond Martha's Vineyard, and principal photography went into record-breaking overtime. All was well in the end; Verna Fields edits her way round the latex let-down, and the legacy of 'fake shark' jokes (including the corker in Back To The Future Part II) does little harm to one of the best thriller/horror films ever…