While I totally get that this movie will garner attention because of its exploitation origins, I simply found it too off-putting to enjoy even as a “so bad, it’s good” film.
Mako: The Jaws of Death centers around Sonny Stein (Richard Jaeckel,) a Vietnam vet who can telepathically communicate with sharks. Sonny patrols around the Florida Keys to protect sharks from harm. In the opening scene, a fishing charter hooks a tiger shark. Sonny swims in, cuts the line, and then boards the fishing boat and forces the crew into the water. The once-hooked shark feasts on them in revenge.
Sonny feeds the sharks scraps from a local restaurant where he works. He also delivers sharks to a local aquarium for a fee, as long as the sharks aren’t hurt. Dr. Whitney (Ben Kronen) asks Sonny to deliver a pregnant shark to the aquarium so that the live birth can be filmed. Sonny is reluctant to do so but Whitney tells him that the more that is known about sharks, the less likely it is that they’ll be deemed a bounty fish. This is the first (but not the last) example of how Sonny’s love for sharks is used against him and pushes him closer to a breakdown.
The movie was released in 1976 to capitalize on the success of 1975’s Jaws. Director William Grefé claims that the story had been written prior to Jaws’ release and that the timing was simply fortuitous. Whether one believes Grefé or not, no one would ever mistake this ultra low budget feature for Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster.
One thing that Jaws did — other than produce a tidal wave of rip-offs — is fuel unwarranted hatred and fear of all sharks. So much so, in fact, that killing sharks for the sake of killing sharks became a recreational activity. Mako: The Jaws of Death could be perceived as a pro-shark movie. As much as I agree that sharks aren’t villains and require protection from mindless slaughter, Mako: The Jaws of Death is undeniably hypocritical.
Promotional material for the movie included a blurb that it was filmed with out the benefit of mechanical sharks, cages, or other protective devices. However, it’s pretty obvious that the real sharks that were used in filming were either dead or heavily sedated. In some scenes, it appears that the tiger sharks have had their teeth removed. At least one shark is actually killed on camera. (Although I don’t know if it was a scene specifically filmed for the movie or stock footage.) I realize that the movie was filmed during an era where sharks were essentially viewed as disposable, but that doesn’t excuse the cruelty.
Setting that repugnant matter aside for a moment, this is a fairly abhorrent movie based on the characters alone. Aside from Sonny (and “Butters”, the man who supplies the scraps he feeds to the sharks), every other human being is selfish, sleazy and repulsive. There’s Barney (Buffy Dee,) the morbidly obese nightclub owner who wants to spice up his club’s aqua-maiden swim show with a shark. Dr. Whitney’s ersatz henchmen, Pete and Charlie (John Chandler and Harold “Odd Job” Sakata), who attempt to rape Barney’s wife, Karen (Jennifer Bishop,) but are stopped by Sonny. (And even she turns out to be a scumbag, despite being rescued.)
Even though Sonny tries to do the right thing, everything bad that happens to “his” sharks is his fault. Despite an amazingly earnest performance by Richard Jaeckel, Sonny is alternately too gullible or too crazy to be a likable character.
As much as I despise the terrible CGI effects used in so many shark movies of today, I’d rather see them than the animal cruelty used to produce Mako: The Jaws of Death. No animal deserves to suffer or die for a movie — especially one this bad. While I totally get that this movie will garner attention because of its exploitation origins, I simply found it too off-putting to enjoy even as a “so bad, it’s good” film.
1.0 out of 5.0 stars
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