The Children of Jaws: How Steven Spielberg's shark classic continues to influence modern horror directors and filmmakers

To this day, Jaws is still an effective horror and had such an impact on audiences, whether they were seeing it upon release in 1975, home video or TV premiere.

Amongst those viewers were future horror film directors, writers and creatives. For them Jaws wasn't just about changing how they felt about swimming pools, or how it would change cinema, but how in those nail-biting moments we have all been returning to over the last almost 50 years, it helped shaped their careers.

Leigh Whannel

One of those was Leigh Whannel, the writer of Saw and Insidious, who would go onto direct a film about unseen horror, The Invisible Man.

Like many, he was drawn into the shark by the stunning iconic cover artwork by Roger Kastel. For a film that was about keeping things hidden, it was one helluva spoiler alert for the opening. That poster tapped into our primal fears even before a note of the masterful John Williams score entered our consciousness. Although when it did, it never left.

Speaking to Guilty Pleasures, he said: "I remember being at the video store and becoming obsessed with Jaws just based on the cover art. We had a Betamax, which was just a big refrigerator with dials...As soon as I saw the cover with the shark, I became obsessed. To this day it’s still my favourite film."

Steven Soderbergh

The shark film by Steven Spielberg had a big impact on another Steven, Steven Soderbergh, who told the New York Times that seeing the film aged 12 was "a turning point" for him, and he'd recall the power of the film when making the virus based thriller Contagion. Y'know when it seemed less like a documentary.

At the time of filming, he said: "Certainly in the back of our minds there was that idea that this movie could do for elevator buttons what Jaws did for the beach."

Ironically, Jaws would become just as synonymous with Covid - an unseen threat - and with the response by public and politicians - as the likes of Contagion.

Greg Nicotero

Greg Nicotero, master of special make-up effects and director of the likes of The Walking Dead was also super influenced by Jaws, specifically the animatronic shark.

He'd even end up restoring the last remaining fibreglass mould of the shark for the recently opened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA.

The Daily Jaws even got to exclusively interview him about the Jaws-dropping project with Bruce the shark in the background.

Greg said: "Jaws has a really unique place in people's hearts, and especially in film history...the result was one of the greatest movies of our generation...Great actors, great story...everything about it worked...It's unlike any other movie.

"When I saw Jaws it changed my perception of film technicians, because it’s one thing to build a model or a miniature...but when I realised there were guys whose job it was to create something that was the size of a bus...and frighten audiences...it completely changed the way I looked at movies."

Discover the full amazing exclusive interview with Greg Nicotero here.

M. Night Shyamalan

The director of The Sixth Sense and Signs was featured on the documentary The Shark Is Still Working. He often talks about Jaws as one of his anchor movies that he goes to, reminding him of movies at their highest level and have had the most impact on him as a viewer. One of those, is of course, Jaws.

Speaking to Alamo Drafthouse he said: "For me it is almost the perfect balance of entertainment and signature performances, and artistry, suspense and horror but there's also great comedy in there. Great grounded human characters and that balance is what I'm always striving for.

And I also find Jaws structured perfectly and of course the incredible score that has basically defined all of us and becomes what we call fear now."

Jordan Peele

If one filmmaker today has continually shown his love for Jaws throughout his films then it is Jordan Peele. The director of Get Out, Us - where a key character even wore a Jaws t-shirt - and None is quoted as saying: "It could always be an argument for the best movie ever made. One of the reasons it resonates is because it's able to scare us, with this great feeling. It doesn't bum you out, but it's terrifying. To find that combination is special.

“The most beautiful revelation with Jaws was the audience’s imagination is far more powerful than what you show them. It changes the way we think of how to tell the story of a monster.”

Mike Flanagan

Speaking to Deadline, creator, writer and director of Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House, Mick Flanagan, said of Jaws: "There are images, like the fisherman (estuary victim) who is with Mike in the pond, when he's holding onto the side of the boat, and you see the shark rolled on its side...that to me will always be the most realistic and frightening image of a shark."

And that's the continuing power of Jaws, its bite radius continuing to radiate out and inspire the next generation of creatives, the children of Jaws.

Words by Dean Newman

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