Steven Spielberg's 1975 action thriller masterpiece Jaws is frequently considered the first "summer blockbuster," the movie that made the concept of saving the biggest, most crowd-pleasing-est movies for release during the summertime. And while it was far from the first film to pit humans against sharks, it was certainly the one that cemented "shark attack movies" as a sub-genre that would endure to this day.
It makes perfect sense why shark movies are so popular: Not only are sharks a realistic and easily-recognizable villain, a movie that takes place in the ocean and near beaches gives filmmakers the perfect excuse to fill their movies with shirtless guys and bikini-clad girls frolicking in the water and glistening in the sun as they wait to be shark food. It goes without saying that most shark movies play fast and loose with the realities of actual sharks, but that isn't to say that the various elements of shark movies aren't at least loosely grounded in facts about the fascinating creatures.
15 Exaggerated: They Are Sharks, Hear Them Roar?
For as long as there have been monsters in movies, those monsters have roared-- and many people who make shark movies and position sharks as monsters have come to the conclusion that sharks need to roar as well. According to The National Aquarium in Maryland, sharks not only don't roar, they actually have no sound-producing organs at all.
14 Right: Great White (Justified) Hype
The most commonly-used shark in shark attack movies, and the basis even for most fictionalized types of sharks in said movies, is the great white. Turns out there is a valid reason for this, as great whites are responsible for more attacks on humans than any other type of shark (though that still only equates to an average of about 50 attacks per year, the vast majority of which are non-fatal).
13 Exaggerated: Sharks Are Not Vampires
One of the most common catalysts for a shark attack in a movie is when a nearby shark gets a whiff of some human blood and can't help but to follow the scent trail to his tasty meal. Well, while sharks do indeed have a keen sense of smell and are attracted to the scent of fish blood, they couldn't care less about ours.
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12 Right: Their Senses Really Are That Impressive
Another reason why sharks make for such powerful nightmare fuel is that they have extremely heightened senses with which to see, hear, smell, and feel their prey, even from great distances. Indeed, their sense of hearing is incredibly impressive, with a study published in The Journal of Fish Biology finding that they can detect subtle noises up to a mile away.
11 Exaggerated: On The Offensive
To have shark movies tell it, the animals specifically seek out people, then actively hunt and attack them. The truth is that almost all instances of sharks attacking humans have been because sharks accidentally come upon a human and bite them purely out of self-defense, using the attack to get away. In fact, most shark bites result in relatively minor injuries as the shark mostly just wants to quickly escape.
10 Right: Sneaky Sneaky
The best shark movies are built around the tension of not knowing where sharks are-- or that there is even a nearby shark at all-- until the shark is already attacking. This stealthiness is absolutely accurate, as sharks are extremely skilled at hunting silently and having their prey not know they are there until it's too late.
9 Exaggerated: Size Matters
Sharks are plenty terrifying at their normal size-- typically between 10 and 20 feet according to Smithsonian Ocean-- but shark movies love to exaggerate how big sharks can get. Beyond movies that depict mutated, alien, or other unrealistic shark types that are the size of cruise ships, even more realistic shark movies tend to add a dozen or so feet to the length of their shark antagonists.
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8 Right: Sharks Are Trainable
The hubris of humanity is often at the heart of disaster movies, and shark movies are no different, with people trying to somehow "control" sharks as the jumping off point for things going terribly wrong. And while movies obviously play fast and loose with how much we can truly control a shark, they are in fact very trainable.
7 Exaggerated: We Aren't As Tasty As We Think
Shark attack movies are predicated on the fact that sharks find humans to be absolutely delicious-- and apparently, the tastiest ones are female, blonde, and hot, for some reason. But sharks really don't like the way we taste according to National Geographic, and when they do take a bite of a human (again, typically by accident), they stop at a single bite as they aren't a fan of our our flavor.
6 Right: Beware, Dogs
What is it about being able to watch the human body count pile up in a movie without batting an eye, but finding it unbearable to watch even a single dog perish? Shark movies love this trope, with shark massacres often starting with an innocently swimming dog being the first victim. Unfortunately, this isn't far off from reality, as swimming dogs have been known to draw a shark's attention.
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5 Exaggerated: Sharks Don't Patrol
Much of pioneering shark classic Jaws was built around a single shark that patrolled a single area, and would attack anyone who dared ventured into his territory. Many shark movies since then have copied this concept, a danger area that is overseen by one or more territorial sharks. Smithsonian Ocean says that sharks are typically always moving and don't hang out in any one certain area.
4 Right: Danger At Dusk
Nighttime is the ideal setting for most horror movies, but it isn't ideal for shark movies because, well...how are you going to see those tanned, toned college kids at night? So the compromise is that a lot of the action happens at dusk in many shark movies, which is actually realistic as sharks tend to come close to land at sundown because low tide makes fish easier to catch.
3 Exaggerated: Predators Aren't Constantly Predator-ing
The way to really ramp up the scariness of sharks is to make them constantly on the hunt for prey (read: humans). It makes an already scary-seeming animal even scarier to think that they spend their every waking moment looking for food. National Geographic says that sharks only hunt when they are hungry, and once they eat they are content to just swim around and mind their own business.
2 Right: Who Needs Sleep?
Following on from the previous entry, sharks may not constantly be on the prowl for food-- but one thing shark movies get right is that they almost never stop moving. National Geographic says that sharks don't really ever sleep in the traditional sense, and can travel for literally thousands of miles without stopping to eat or even rest.
1 Right: Us Versus Them
The entire shark movie genre is built around the battle of sharks vs. humans, and it's definitely true that we've become enemies with sharks-- though it's us who are the bigger villains. Shark hunting has been a serious issue for decades, and has led to the extinction or endangerment of multiple species of sharks. If anything, they should make horror movies about us.
