''Jaws in Japan'' (also titled ''Psycho Shark'') is a 2009 Japanese

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by John Hijiri and written by

Yasutoshi Murakawa is a Japanese screenwriter. Career He studied under Hiroshi Kashiwabara, Takuya Nishioka, and Yumiko Inoue, before working as a screenwriter. He is a member of the Japan Writers Guild. Filmography Screenplay * '' OneChanbara'' (2008) * ''Wan ...

, starring Nonami Takizawa, Airi Nakajima, and Megumi Haruno. Despite its title, the film has no connection with the 1975

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

film ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw can refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' ...

'' in terms of its plot or its production. The film has received many negative reviews, it being a low-budget film.

Plot

On the coast off of a private beach on a tropical island, a huge

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

is waiting for his prey. Young college students Miki and Mai arrive on the island but are unable to find a hotel in which to stay. Both the young women soon find out that something is seriously wrong after they find a hotel and spend some time there happily filming each other, using

video camera A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos, as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film. Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of other ...

s offered by the hotel to guests, yet Miki discovers material filmed by a previous occupant.

Dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...

s and actual events become intermingled as Miki realizes that a human

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

is on the loose as well as finding herself and her friend attacked by a gigantic, almost

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

-sized shark. Despite both the movie's Japanese and US titles, the vast majority of the scenes consist of either the girls playing together in

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

s or of them examining materials that have been recorded. Whether or not the killer shark actually exists or is a metaphorical device relating to the human serial killer discovered by Miki in the hotel room recording is left unexplained.

Release

The film was not rated by the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

. In both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, it has a 12A certificate, meaning that it is not recommended that children under the age of twelve watch it unless they are accompanied by an adult. Despite the advertisement related to the film, no nudity and no sex between characters are shown; however, bloody violence occurs in brief scenes.

Controversy

The title's reference to the original ''Jaws'' film attracted legal attention, with the creators of the Japanese movie having failed to obtain any sort of permission to use that name. Despite the introduction of the ''Psycho Shark'' title later on, the original name appears to have gained some traction in popular culture and has stuck. The exploitative nature of the movie attracted condemnation from a variety of publications, such as an article in '' Vanity Fair'' labeling the "rip-off" film worth being "forgotten".Vanity Fair
Jun 19, 2015.

References

External links

* *
''Jaws in Japan'' on Allmovie.
2009 films 2009 independent films 2009 horror films 2009 thriller films 2000s horror thriller films 2000s monster movies 2000s Japanese-language films Japanese independent films Japanese horror thriller films Japanese monster movies Japanese natural horror films Films involved in plagiarism controversies Films about shark attacks Giant monster films 2000s Japanese films {{2000s-Japan-film-stub

Plot

Release

Controversy

See also

References

External links