I don't know how to explain what it is about Jaws 3 that I really, really don't like. The bad special effects, acting, direction, writing, etc. have all been mentioned to death. And yes, it was a really big dumb mistake to go all 3-D gimmicky. That's probably why they picked Joe Alves, the production designer from the first Jaws movie as well as others (Escape From New York, for example, another very grimy-dark and somewhat shoddy looking movie) to direct--the guy was obviously better with everything other than the human portions of the scenery. Or maybe not. The whole movie looks very flat and colorless...lifeless. It's strange.
No, I think what really kills this movie for me is that seems very...I don't know...UNPLEASANT. There are ways to take even the most misanthropic horror, the silliest and most glaringly fake special effects, and make it compelling, interesting, and somehow cool to watch. It's a very subtle thing which I can't put my finger on. Jaws 3 doesn't come close. As ridiculous as the movie is, it tries to be relentlessly dark, and there are hints of a kind of nastiness or something which doesn't scare me, or even horrify me, but just make me feel very uncomfortable instead, like I need to take a shower afterwards. Perhaps it tries to be too literal when it begs to be stylized. Perhaps it's too dead serious when it's obviously claptrap. There some kind of jarring collision going on, something isn't working right. Basically the thing is the visual equivalent of indigestion.
I will admit that certain things like sound effects work almost too well--the crunching as another vapid Floridian becomes fish food, the muffled underwater groans and shouts. But it's not horrifying in a good, entertaining way, you know? There is one very inventive shot, I also have to admit--the one prick cameraman diver gets eaten, and you watch the poor bastard getting chewed from INSIDE the shark's gullet.
I think I may have an answer. It seems like unlike many horror movies, which simply like to show off gore effects and photogenic ways to kill people, Jaws 3 seems to revel specifically in helpless suffering, prolonging people's pain while they die. Even that poor fish at the beginning doesn't just get eaten...the severed head floats there half-alive for half a minute, uselessly working its mouth, just to drive the point home. It's a distinctly sadistic movie. Perhaps we need to coin a new movie genre for films like this: loathing movies. As such Jaws 3 would probably rank up there with The Passion Of The Christ or something as one of the all-time greats. It's a crappie (pun intended), extremely unpleasant movie to watch overall, but it does achieve its dubious goal unnervingly well. I will give it that.
No, I think what really kills this movie for me is that seems very...I don't know...UNPLEASANT. There are ways to take even the most misanthropic horror, the silliest and most glaringly fake special effects, and make it compelling, interesting, and somehow cool to watch. It's a very subtle thing which I can't put my finger on. Jaws 3 doesn't come close. As ridiculous as the movie is, it tries to be relentlessly dark, and there are hints of a kind of nastiness or something which doesn't scare me, or even horrify me, but just make me feel very uncomfortable instead, like I need to take a shower afterwards. Perhaps it tries to be too literal when it begs to be stylized. Perhaps it's too dead serious when it's obviously claptrap. There some kind of jarring collision going on, something isn't working right. Basically the thing is the visual equivalent of indigestion.
I will admit that certain things like sound effects work almost too well--the crunching as another vapid Floridian becomes fish food, the muffled underwater groans and shouts. But it's not horrifying in a good, entertaining way, you know? There is one very inventive shot, I also have to admit--the one prick cameraman diver gets eaten, and you watch the poor bastard getting chewed from INSIDE the shark's gullet.
I think I may have an answer. It seems like unlike many horror movies, which simply like to show off gore effects and photogenic ways to kill people, Jaws 3 seems to revel specifically in helpless suffering, prolonging people's pain while they die. Even that poor fish at the beginning doesn't just get eaten...the severed head floats there half-alive for half a minute, uselessly working its mouth, just to drive the point home. It's a distinctly sadistic movie. Perhaps we need to coin a new movie genre for films like this: loathing movies. As such Jaws 3 would probably rank up there with The Passion Of The Christ or something as one of the all-time greats. It's a crappie (pun intended), extremely unpleasant movie to watch overall, but it does achieve its dubious goal unnervingly well. I will give it that.
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