Cruel Jaws (1995) Film Review – We’re Going to Need a Bigger Budget [Fantastic Fest 2025]

Posted on by Jim Cox

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Cruel Jaws, also known as Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws or The Beast, is a 1995 English-language Italian creature feature horror film written and directed by Bruno Mattei, with additional writing by Robert Feen and Linda Morrison. Making his directorial debut with 20 minutes of hardcore pornography inserts for Jess Franco’s 99 Women (1969), Mattei would soon move on to creating an impressive collection of low-budget horror and exploitation films.

Directing such classic titles as Emanuelle and the Erotic Nights (1978), Zombie Creeping Flesh (1980), Violence in a Women’s Prison (1982), and Rats: Night of Terror (1984), among others, his name has become synonymous over the years with lovers of gore-soaked B-movies and sexploitation enthusiasts. However, to both improve the commercial appeal of the films for international sales and to distance the director from any controversies (or legal proceedings) surrounding the questionable themes featured, Mattei was a master of disguise who often wrote and directed his films under multiple pseudonyms such as Jordan B. Matthews, Pierre Le Blanc, and Vincent Dawn.

Aquarium owner Dag Snerensen (who looks remarkably like Hulk Hogan) is under siege by two very different predators. His landlord, Lewis, is threatening to shut down the aquarium to build high-priced condos, and when Dag refuses his cash buyout, Lewis makes good on his threats by sending his son to poison Dag’s beloved dolphins. Meanwhile, a maniacal shark is turning divers and disco-loving teens into lunch meat, and the mayor refuses to close the beach.

On a mission to protect his business, his town, and his daughter, the not-quite-Hulkster pairs up with a “nerd fish doctor” and the local sheriff to stop the snack-happy shark. It’s only after a false catch and a deadly end to the big windsurfing competition that the mayor starts to care, and Lewis offers up a cash reward. Killing the shark will take every weapon at their disposal, be it shotgun, helicopter, or self-immolation.

 

Despite his success, Mattei wasn’t above piggybacking on the success of other films to try and get some of that sweet Hollywood cash. He would proceed to make numerous unofficial sequels to popular film releases in America, such as Shocking Dark (1989), a sequel to both Cameron’s Terminator and Aliens films; Zombie 3 (1988), an unofficial sequel to the already unofficial Zombi II (a sequel to Romero’s Dawn of the Dead); and, of course, Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws (1995).

More accurately classified as a rip-off than a continuation of the Jaws series, Cruel Jaws’ narrative is completely isolated from the recurring plot elements associated with the series–lacking any connection to the Brody family, Amity Island, or any of the previous locales featured. Instead, the film utilises directly lifting footage from all four previous films (along with other shark attack films and stock footage), as well as derivatively re-creating scenes from these films to tenuously forge a link.

Unfortunately, unlike a lot of Mattei’s work, which centralises the sensationalist gore and effects over plot, the film’s side narrative of a windsurfing competition, and a struggling dad’s fight to avoid being evicted from his Sealife park, overshadows a large amount of the man vs beast narrative for the majority of the first and second acts. However, when the film finally does kick into gear, the results speak for themselves–providing a ludicrous display of graphic oceanic carnage.

While the effects are a mix of corny miniatures that look akin to a cheap shark toy, incredibly detailed depictions of corpses ala Zombi II, and lifting footage from the previous Jaws films, the film is a hodge-podge of differing styles that, while all evidence would suggest to be a bad thing, actually works in the film’s favour. The differing quality of the footage stolen, as well as the vastly uneven implementation of effects throughout, provides a quintessential B-movie charm that’s difficult to ignore.

Thanks to the efforts of Severin Films, this version is the best quality yet. Working with the original camera negative, their hard work has restored and upscaled a beautiful 2K scan, delivered uncut for the first time.

Full of unintentional comedy and spectacularly bad effects, Cruel Jaws exemplifies the unofficial sequel genre and over-the-top cinema. With its hammy acting, (barely) legally distinct soundtrack, and comic-book levels of villainy, the film certainly braves the waves of bad cinema and successfully docks at the port of so-bad-it’s-good. While the film can be a little stilted in its first act, its chaotic second and third acts are sure to satiate fans of low-budget cinema.

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We watched Severin Films’ Restoration of Cruel Jaws (1995) at this year’s Fantastic Festival 2025.

 

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