Shudder Saturday: Sharksploitation (2023)

I didn't want to spend this week writing about a documentary, but there were two reasons to do so. First of all, it was the latest release that I was most looking forward to watching on Shudder. Second, I figured that it was only fair to share my love of this documentary after indulging myself when I felt the urge to rant against certain other, much lengthier, documentaries.

In case you weren't immediately clued in from the title, Sharksploitation is all about the popular sub-genre of creature features that put sharks front and centre. There's an obvious "rosetta stone" for this, of course, and that is Jaws, a film that is impossible to set aside when discussing the shark movie, but Sharksploitation impresses most by not spending so much time discussing Jaws (which, as much as I love it, has been discussed plenty elsewhere) that other films are sidelined. Jaws is a very important date on a literal timeline that is shown onscreen, with the documentary reminding us that a few shark movies were even made before Jaws, but the big cinematic shark hunt really started after that landscape-changing blockbuster.

Writer-director Stephen Scarlata has had his fingers in various tasty movie pies for some time now, and even those genre fans unfamiliar with his name will find something of interest in his relatively small filmography, where he has a few writing and producing credits showing him carving out a decent career that allows him to harness his passion for cinema. This may be his directorial debut, but it’s the work of someone experienced and impressively informed on their subject matter.

The format doesn’t stray too far from what we might expect from this type of thing - a variety of talking heads, numerous clips, conversation contextualising various key movies and moments - but it is a perfect example of how to take a subject like this and cram anecdotes and information into a very entertaining and digestible runtime (this clocks in at 106 minutes, or approximately 1/12 of that bloody “In Search Of Darkness” trilogy). Similar clips from shark films are displayed onscreen at the same time, with the screen split into four quarters, as the tropes are discussed, entertaining tales from “behind the scenes” are relayed with humour and the benefit of hindsight, and it feels as if Scarlata has assembled together pretty much anyone who has ever helmed a film about swimming creatures trying to rip our limbs off.

Okay, Spielberg has probably said all he ever wants to say about Jaws, and it’s worth mentioning that he’s not here, but that feels more like a deliberate choice to not rehash every anecdote that you have already heard a hundred times before. It also helps to avoid that feeling of the documentary being too focused on the one film that continues to be held up as THE shark film, although you get input, in different ways, from Peter Benchley, Wendy Benchley, and those who appreciated the incredible underwater cinematography of Ron and Valerie Taylor. But you also get great moments with Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Anthony C. Ferrante, Johannes Roberts, Chris Kentis, and Mark Polonia, all responsible for various watery creature features, as well as commentary from film fans/writers who have an interest in the sub-genre, and a number of non-movie people involved in oceanography.

Shark movies can be great. They can be awful. They can be very realistic. They can be completely ridiculous. I still prioritise viewing any movie with a shark in it, and I know I am not alone. Sharksploitation feels as if it was put together by a group of people who all feel the same way. It is never mocking, it is never looking beneath the surface with rose-tinted glasses on, and it’s an absolutely perfect example of how this kind of thing should be done. I hope there will one day be some physical release with extended snippets and interviews included. Or maybe even a sequel . . . just when you thought it was safe to go back into the documentary section.

9/10

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