The MacGuffin

Piranha (1978): The best of the Jaws rip-offs entertains with plenty of humor, a great Kevin McCarthy performance and gallons of blood. 7/10

Open Water: Terrifying story about being stuck in a shark infested ocean. You really feel the exhaustion and terror of the characters. 8/10

Jaws: The Revenge: Possibly the worst movie ever made. Full of sharks stalking families, growling, and standing on their tails. 1/10

Jaws 3-D: Seeing a shark attack in 3-D would be the only reason to watch this turkey, but it hasn’t been available that way since ’83. 1/10

Jaws 2: The idea that another killer shark is attacking Amity is ridiculous, but there are some good suspense moments and performances. 6/10

Jaws: Still the greatest ‘nature gone amuck’ movie. It sits at the top of Steven Spielberg’s illustrious filmography. 10/10

Trilogy of Terror: The first two stories are easily skipped, but the finale is a balls to the wall killer doll action extravaganza! 7/10

Just Before Dawn (1982): A good blending of the slasher film with the Deliverance-style survival film. Well worth seeking out. 8/10

Madman (1982): A Friday the 13th rip-off with few redeeming factors. A good villain and great ending is all she has going for her. 4/10

The Burning (1981): A Friday the 13th rip-off that makes up for unoriginality with great Tom Savini gore effects and death scenes. 7/10