47 hilarious reactions to Ben Gardner head scene in 'JAWS'

**ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS**

JAWS is a scary movie, no doubt about it. Steven Spielberg’s seminal shark movie has kept people out of the water and behind their sofa cushions for nearly 50 years. But there is one fright that makes people jump more than most… the Ben Gardner head scene.

Ben Gardner was played by Martha’s Vineyard local Craig Kingsbury.

While looking for the shark at night, Hooper and Brody come across a sinking boat. Brody identifies it as belonging to local fisherman Ben Gardner. Against Brody’s protests and suggesting they just “tow it all in.”, Hooper decides to take a look at the hull to “…check something out.” This means entering the water.

Upon inspecting a gaping whole in the hull, Hooper makes a horrifying discovery - a shark’s tooth “the size of a shot glass”… but that is not the only thing Hooper is about to find. A few seconds later, a severed head appears in the whole. It’s Ben Gardner. A terrified Hooper drops his gear and the tooth and bolts toward the surface to rejoin Brody on the boat.

This scene is often cited as one of the greatest jump-scares in cinema, and with good reason. It was the one part of JAWS I couldn’t watch when I was younger. I had to wait until I heard Hooper back at the surface before removing my hands from my eyes.

The scene was shot in the swimming pool of Oscar winning JAWS editor Verna Felds. To give the illusion of sea water, the pool was filled with carnation milk. A partial hull was built, with the head pushed through the whole by JAWS SFX crew member Kevin Pike.

Ironically, the biggest fright in JAWS was an afterthought by it’s director, Steven Spielberg. During the initial test screening, Spielberg noted that the first startling appearance of the shark elicited the most significant scream from the audience. However, upon reshooting the scene at Ben Gardner's boat, the sudden appearance of Ben Gardner's head provoked the loudest scream, while the shark's appearance garnered only half the reaction it previously had. Spielberg remarked that this experience taught him a valuable lesson: a movie should feature only one major scare moment, as subsequent scares may leave the audience too guarded to fully engage with the film.

47 reactions!

Have You Seen This Channel on YouTube compiled 47 reaction to the Ben Gardner head scene from across the web. The people prove that this classic jump-scare still packs a punch nearly 50 years later!

Watch full video here

Words by Ross Williams

If you would like to write for The Daily Jaws, please visit our ‘work with us’ page

For all the latest Jaws, shark and shark movie news, follow The Daily Jaws on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.