JAWS 50 THE LEGACY

Half a century after a great white shark terrified cinemagoers, we hunt down the lasting impacts of Spielberg's blockbuster

- PAUL BLOOMFIELD

SUMMER 1975 WAS A GLORIOUS TIME TO be young on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard. “We had the beaches to ourselves – nobody else wanted to go in the water, not even a lot of people who’d lived there all their lives,” recalls Chris Lowe. “I was 12, and my friends and I thought it was awesome.”

Why were these shores so empty? Because they'd just suffered a series of lethal attacks by a great white shark - albeit not a real one. On 20th June, Steven Spielberg's Jaws, in which the idyllic island body-doubled for the fictional Amity, had opened in American cinemas - and savaged sharks' public image.

Jaws was a monster hit. Based on Peter Benchley's 1974 bestseller, it was the first film to gross more than $100 million at the box office, spawning the summer blockbuster. Three sequels followed, as well as numerous knock-offs - in fact, a 2023 study of 638 'creature features' found sharks were the most common antagonists.

The film's impacts went far beyond moviemaking trends, though. As Lowe discovered, its 'villain' petrified audiences for decades, many heeding the tagline: "Don't go in the water."

"Jaws has had a pervasive and enduring influence on perceptions of sharks, especially great whites," says Brianna Le Busque of the University of South Australia, a specialist in conservation psychology. By the standards of modern horror flicks, Jaws' body count is relatively restrained: five (plus one dog). But there was another victim: the shark. Let's call him Bruce – the unofficial monicker bestowed on the animatronic model by the film crew, in homage to Spielberg's lawyer.

"The hunting of sharks increased significantly after