Mako: The Jaws of Death

Last updated
Mako: The Jaws of Death
Mako-the-jaws-of-death-movie-poster.jpg
Promotional movie poster
Directed by William Grefe
Screenplay byRobert W. Morgan
Story byWilliam Grefe
Produced byBob Bagley
William Grefé
Doro V. Hreljanovic
Paul A. Joseph
Robert Plumb
Starring Richard Jaeckel
Jennifer Bishop
Harold Sakata
John Chandler
CinematographyJulio C. Chavez
Edited byJulio C. Chavez
Ronald Sinclair
Music by William Loose
Production
companies
Mako Associates
Universal Majestic Inc.
Distributed by Cannon Films
Release date
  • July 1976 (1976-07)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Mako: The Jaws of Death is a 1976 thriller film directed by William Grefe. [1] [2] The film is about a brooding loner who accidentally learns that he has a telepathic and emotional connection with sharks. He eventually rebukes society and sets out to protect sharks from people. The film was set and shot on location in Key West, Florida.

Contents

Background

This film is one of the first in the wave of films that sought to capitalize on the popularity of the feature film, Jaws (1975). [3] Mako: The Jaws of Death, with its sympathetic portrayal of sharks as the real "victims" of human exploitation, is notable in the maritime horror genre for having depicted the sharks as the heroes and man as the villain. [4]

Plot

Sonny Stein (Richard Jaeckel), learns while working as a marine salvager in the Philippine Islands, that he has a connection with mako sharks. He is given a medallion by a Filipino shaman that protects him from sharks when he is among them. Having become alienated from society, Stein lives alone in a small stilt house offshore of Key West, Florida. He develops an ability to telepathically communicate with sharks. He then sets out to destroy anybody who harms sharks. People enter into his strange world to exploit his abilities and his closeness with his shark "friends". They include an unethical shark research scientist and a morbidly obese strip club owner (Buffy Dee) who wants to use a shark in his dancers' acts. Stein uses the sharks to get revenge on anybody he considers a threat. He later loses the medallion and is then himself killed by the sharks. [5]

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Jaws</i> (film) 1975 thriller film by Steven Spielberg

Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley. It stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter, hunts a man-eating great white shark that attacks beachgoers at a summer resort town. Murray Hamilton plays the mayor, and Lorraine Gary portrays Brody's wife. The screenplay is credited to Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Scheider</span> American actor (1932–2008)

Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 1970s through to the early to mid-1980s. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award.

<i>Jaws 2</i> 1978 American horror film by Jeannot Szwarc

Jaws 2 is a 1978 American thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and co-written by Carl Gottlieb. It is the sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), and the second installment in the Jaws franchise. The film stars Roy Scheider as Police Chief Martin Brody, with Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton reprising their respective roles as Martin's wife Ellen Brody and mayor Larry Vaughn. It also stars Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox, Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner, Susan French, Barry Coe, Donna Wilkes, Gary Springer, and Keith Gordon in his first feature film role. The plot concerns Chief Brody suspecting another great white shark is terrorizing the fictional seaside resort of Amity Island, following a series of incidents and disappearances, and his suspicions are eventually proven true.

<i>Jaws: The Revenge</i> 1987 film by Joseph Sargent

Jaws: The Revenge is a 1987 American horror film produced and directed by Joseph Sargent. The fourth and final film in the Jaws franchise, it stars Lorraine Gary, who came out of retirement to reprise her role from the first two films, along with new cast members Lance Guest, Mario Van Peebles, Karen Young and Michael Caine. Acting as a sequel to Jaws 2, the film focuses on a now-widowed Ellen Brody (Gary) and her conviction that a great white shark is seeking revenge on her family, particularly when it kills her youngest son, and follows her to the Bahamas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exploitation film</span> Informal film genre

An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become historically important, and even gain a cult following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Jaeckel</span> American actor (1926–1997)

Richard Jaeckel was an American actor of film and television. Jaeckel became a well-known character actor in his career, which spanned six decades. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor with his role in the 1971 adaptation of Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion.

<i>Deep Blue Sea</i> (1999 film) 1999 film by Renny Harlin

Deep Blue Sea is a 1999 American science fiction horror film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, and LL Cool J. It is the first film of the film series by the same name. Set in an isolated underwater facility, the film follows a team of scientists and their research on mako sharks to help fight Alzheimer's disease. The situation plunges into chaos when multiple genetically engineered sharks go on a rampage and flood the facility.

<i>Jaws 3-D</i> 1983 American thriller film by Joe Alves

Jaws 3-D is a 1983 American horror film directed by Joe Alves and starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale and Louis Gossett Jr. It is the second sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the third installment in the Jaws franchise. The film follows the Brody children from the previous films to SeaWorld, a Florida marine park with underwater tunnels and lagoons. As the park prepares for opening, a young great white shark infiltrates the park from the sea, seemingly attacking and killing the park's employees. Once the shark is captured, it becomes apparent that a second, much larger shark also entered the park and was the real culprit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Benchley</span> American author (1940–2006)

Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, screenwriter, and environmental activist. He is known for his bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, and White Shark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaws (ride)</span> Ride at Universal Studios Japan

Jaws is an amusement ride attraction based on the Jaws film series and is located at Universal Studios Japan. It originally opened at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando in 1990, and another installation later opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2001. The ride uses tour boats to take guests through a harbor of the fictional Amity Island, which begins as a leisurely tour that is abruptly interrupted by an attack of the famous great white shark. The concept is an expanded version of the Jaws miniature attraction featured in the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood in California. In 2012, the attraction was removed from the Florida theme park to make room for the second phase of expansion for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

<i>The Gatekeeper</i> (novel series)

The Gatekeeper is a trilogy of books written by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder based on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

<i>Jaws</i> (novel) 1974 novel by Peter Benchley

Jaws is a horror novel by American writer Peter Benchley, published in 1974. It tells the story of a large great white shark that preys upon a small Long Island resort town and the three men who attempt to kill it. The novel grew out of Benchley's interest in shark attacks after he learned about the exploits of Montauk, New York shark fisherman Frank Mundus in 1964. Doubleday commissioned him to write the novel in 1971, a period when Benchley worked as a freelance journalist.

René Cardona Jr. was a Mexican filmmaker and actor, son of Mexican director René Cardona, and the father of René Cardona III.

<i>Jaws</i> (franchise) American film franchise

Jaws is an American thriller film series that started with a 1975 film that expanded into three sequels, a theme park ride, and other tie-in merchandise, based on a 1974 novel. The main subject of the saga is a great white shark and its attacks on people in specific areas of the United States and The Bahamas. The Brody family is featured in all of the films as the primary antithesis to the shark. The original film was based on a novel written by Peter Benchley, which itself was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. Benchley adapted his novel, along with help from Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler, into the 1975 film Jaws, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Although Gottlieb went on to pen two of the three sequels, neither Benchley nor Spielberg returned to the film series in any capacity.

<i>Cruel Jaws</i> 1995 film

Cruel Jaws is a 1995 Italian direct-to-video horror film directed by Bruno Mattei under the pseudonym William Snyder. The film stars Richard Dew and David Luther, and was shot in Florida, including at the Theater of the Sea marine theme park in Islamorada.

Turksploitation is a tongue-in-cheek label given to a great number of Turkish low-budget exploitation films that are either remakes of, or use unauthorized footage from, popular foreign films and television series, produced mainly in the 1970s and 1980s.

<i>Platinum High School</i> 1960 film

Platinum High School is a 1960 American crime drama romance film directed by Charles Haas and starring Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore and Dan Duryea. It was based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Irving Shulman.

William Grefé is an American writer and director of films, best known for his work in the exploitation field. For most of his career he has worked in Florida. He also worked for a number of years with Ivan Tors.

<i>Mr. No Legs</i> 1978 American film

Mr. No Legs is a 1978 American action drama exploitation film directed by Ricou Browning and written by Jack Cowden.

<i>Seal Team</i> (film) 2021 South African film

Seal Team is a 2021 South African animated action comedy film co-directed by Greig Cameron and Kane Croudace, produced by Triggerfish Animation Studios and Cinema Management Group oversees worldwide distribution. The film stars the voices of J. K. Simmons, Jessie T. Usher, Matthew Rhys, Patrick Warburton, Kristen Schaal, Sharlto Copley, John Kani, Dolph Lundgren, and Seal. It tells the story of a group of misfit Cape Fur Seals who come together to fight a gang of ruthless sharks.

References