34-years ago this weekend, Steven Spielberg’s unleashed his legendary oceanic horror outing to stunned audiences everywhere — so what better time than now to dive into some of its most notable B-movie ripoffs? This particular batch of retread cinema can be a funny crop of B-movie adventuring. While trolling any number of video chains, viewers are bound to find a surplus of cheap thrillers featuring killer fish and a cast that usually comes in the form of Lorenzo Lamas, Casper Van Dien, or Anthony Sabato Jr. While some of the modern forays into deep-water horror tend to reflect the “smart shark” conceit of Deep Blue Sea, it’s their forefathers in the shark cinema arena that present a more delectable plate of stolen ideas and shoddy FX work, all stemming from the big, bad granddaddy of ‘em all, Jaws.

Upon its release in the summer of 1975, Jaws shocked moviegoers with a terrific blend of frights and brilliant character work that sent box-office receipts soaring. Subsequent re-releases and sequels raked in more cash for Universal’s treasure chest, though in progressively smaller increments as the quality of the franchise went fishy. By the time the gloriously awful Jaws: The Revenge was unleashed upon audiences in 1987, the magic was gone, and so was the cash flow.

None of that seemed to stop some entrepreneurial Italians, who could smell cheap success on the tips of their tongues. Cue in what can now be deemed the Jaws “Rip-off Triumvirate” — an especially peculiar group of flicks that share more than their inspiration of Amity Island’s frightening tale of beach, blankets, and blood. Focusing on just three flicks that copped Spielberg’s work is a tough call — thankfully these filmmakers made it easy, even if finding these elusive gems is a bit tough.

The Conspirators: Enzo Castellari, Joe D’Amato, and Bruno Mattei

The Films: Great White, Deep Blood, and Cruel Jaws

In 1980, just two years after the still respectable Jaws 2 hit theaters, Enzo Castellari’s infamous Great White made its way to American shores. What makes this slice of joy stand out above most others is that it’s the only Jaws clone that Universal ever sued for being too close to its product. Just weeks after its theatrical release, the film was pulled and remains unreleased in the States to this day. The movie’s instantly memorable large fake shark is a definite highpoint, as is Vic Morrow’s curious use of a Scottish accent as the film’s Quint character. Though the plot isn’t quite as shameless as its rip-off cousins, it does feature a glorious shark vs. helicopter scene that one-ups Universal’s sequel thanks to some exploitive leg-munching, as well as not one, but two explosive attacks that include blatant dummies flying 20 feet into the air.

1989 saw the release of yet another Italian shark opus in the form of Joe D’Amato’s Deep Blood. Now this one isn’t too hot. Sure, it features some lovely slices of over-the-top dialogue, but as far as sharks go, this sucker is all stock footage and little else. The plot is fairly reminiscent of Jaws, with the exception of the whole Native American spirit inhabiting the bloodthirsty shark angle (no joke!). It is worth noting for the first attack, which puts a spin on Spielberg’s famous raft kill by having the mother be the one who gets gobbled up as her kid and their cute puppy look on by the beach.

This brings us onto the crux of this threesome, Bruno Mattei’s jaw-dropping TV shark flick from 1995, Cruel Jaws. This incessantly silly film not only steals dialogue and footage from the first three Jaws films, but hijacks further sequences from, yep, you guessed it — Great White and Deep Blood. New footage featuring a handicapped little brat and a Hulk Hogan clone are inserted in between to give the film its own special sauce, though it’s the way Mattei throws them all in the same pot that makes this dish all the more special. As with most of the director’s other efforts, the flick’s entertainment comes in its gross ineptitude, but god knows why he wasn’t brought to court for grand larceny of both American properties as well as his contemporaries… Maybe it was because they were all stealing from the same bloody pool to begin with.

There are certainly other rip-offs that make the grade, though none share the bizarre love triangle that the ones above do. For further research into the wonderful world of Jaws rip-offs and the shark genre in general, here’s a quick list of other monster fish flicks to keep you cool during the hot heat of the summertime:

-Tintorera (1977) — René Cardona Jr. delivers this tale of swinger shark hunters who care more about group sex than they do the grand beasts below the ocean’s surface. Most noteworthy for the questionably real sharks used in the film’s main attack sequence.

-Tentacles (1977) — Want a side of tentacle to go with your shark diet? Try this star-studded gem, starring John Huston, Shelley Winters and Henry Fonda as they face off against a killer octopus and a bad script.

-Monster Shark (1984) — If that last one was a bit too high brow for your cinemasocistic tastes, try this other Italian production — featuring the reoccurring theme of water parks (ala: Jaws 3), yet still keeping true to the tentacle-menace thanks to a genetically engineered mix of shark & octopus. On the plus note, this sucker was directed by none other than Lamberto Bava (under the pseudonym Old John Jr.).

-Raging Sharks (2005) — This Sci-Fi Channel/Nu Image production features sharks, Corbin Bernsen, and aliens — ’nuff said.

-Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002) — Unbelievable from start to finish, this production actually got away with projecting people, boats, and jet-skis onto real shark footage in order to make the sharks look huge. The movie is also noteworthy for giving the world one of the filthiest pickup lines ever uttered in screen history.

-Up From the Depths (1979) — This Roger Corman vehicle features a monster fish that eats poorly dubbed actors as they dive for buried treasure and an equally buried plot.

-Sharks in Venice (2009) — from the director of all three Shark Attack movies, plus Shark Zone and Raging Sharks comes this hokey Snakes On a Plane-ish b-flick bomb starring none other than who has to be the most talented one in the Baldwin acting clan — and by that, we mean Stephen, of course!

-Grizzly (1976) — Okay, while this isn’t a shark flick, it’s still very much a blatant Jaws rip-off. See it for the inventive PG kills as well as the end finale that sees the killer bear blown up with a bazooka!

-Aatank (1996) - Finally, what would facsimile film culture be without a little slice of Bollywood thrown in? Thus, in closing, I give you Aatank — or better yet, the finale of Aatank, certainly one of the kookiest collages of Jaws-inspired imagery ever to be put to film.

UPDATE: By popular demand, more rip-off trailers/clips have been added, starting with the psychic killer whale extravaganza, ORCA!