‘Cruel Jaws’ At 30: The Unofficial Italian ‘Jaws’ Sequel You’ve Never Seen

As the first summer blockbuster and an all-timer horror movie that inarguably holds up even after 50 years, Jaws is no stranger to being poked, prodded, skinned, and thrown into the sea of ripoffs that followed it over the past five decades.

The Spielberg classic is one of the most referenced and copied films ever made; there are even entire books dedicated to a subgenre of Jaws copycats (I recommend Jaws Unmade: The Lost Sequels, Prequels, Remakes, and Rip-Offs by John LeMay and Justin Mullis).

However, one of the replica films went further than the rest, even being marketed as the fifth and final movie in Jaws franchise, after the so-good-it’s-bad (yet still financially successful) Jaws: The Revenge in 1987 seemed to be the final nail in the monster shark-sized coffin. This film was the Italian-made 1995 movie, Cruel Jaws.

The film was directed by Bruno Mattei, an Italian director known for “continuing” successful Hollywood films in Italy. His filmography included the Strike Commando films, right after the Schwarzenegger actioner, Terminator II (not that one), and he continued the Zombi(e) franchise after Lucio Fulci made Zombi 2 as an unofficial sequel to George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.

Cruel Jaws is a strange amalgamation of Jaws lore puzzle pieces, mixing subplots from the first three films, and a mafia storyline from Peter Benchley’s novel that was never used in the original movie.

Cheesy characters with obvious Italian-made American names like Dag Sorensen and Francis Berger are apparent copycats of various Jaws franchise characters, like Chief Brody, Mayor Vaughn, and Mike Brody from the already non-canon Jaws 3-D. Even quotes from the first Jaws movie were rewritten and delivered: “Mayor Jefferson, this shark is a perfect machine, a man-eating machine, and it’s already taken the lives of two people!”

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Dialogue and plotlines weren’t the only things that Cruel Jaws stole; it also added actual shots from Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3-D, and another 1981 Italian Jaws ripoff titled L’Ultimo Squalo (Great White).

Somehow, Cruel Jaws’ production was able to get the film into VHS distribution with the stolen scenes without being sued by Universal, which they had previously done with L’Ultimo Squalo. Cruel Jaws seemed to fly under their radar until decades later, when fans wanted the film released on other media.

Universal shut down a planned release of a special edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory, but would later relent during 2020, and Cruel Jaws was released to the masses by Severin Films, probably because the hassle wasn’t worth the small amount of sales and attention that a Cruel Jaws release would garner. Weirdly, the film also used music from Star Wars in multiple scenes, and direct quotes from Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, but no legal battles were fought over those additions.

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Sure, the shark is called a tiger shark, and different stock footage of great white sharks is interwoven with direct camera shots from Jaws. Of course, direct scenes and explosions are lifted straight out of Jaws 2. Yes, one of the main characters suspiciously looks a lot like Hulk Hogan during the most popular time in his career. But hey, who needs originality and creativity? It’s FUN!

While Cruel Jaws may not have its place in the pop culture zeitgeist as a good movie, it’s one of the last Jaws ripoffs that’s actually enjoyable, and it’s the perfect cheesy film to watch with a group of friends and have a drink every time another movie is copied.  Jaws turning 50 may get most of the attention this year, but don’t sleep on its unofficial “sequel” turning 30, either.

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Fuente: https://www.horrorgeeklife.com/2025/05/02/cruel-jaws-italian-horror-movie-retro/