PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SGA-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Sharksploitation being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Over the last few years there has been a plethora of silly shark movies released. Sharknado, Sharktopus, Sharks of the Corn… You get the idea. These films and more, including the much beloved Jaws, are all part of the sharksploitation subgenre. Want to learn more about these films and all the others? Now there’s a documentary that will satiate your shark needs. Featuring interviews with Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Wendy Benchley, and several other actors, directors, filmmakers, marine biologists, authors, and more, Sharksploitation – written and directed by shark lover Stephen Scarlata – has just landed on Shudder.
In the wake of blockbuster classic Jaws, a new subgenre was born. This new documentary explores the weird, wild cinematic legacy of sharks on film and the world’s undying fascination.
To celebrate the release of the documentary, I chatted with Stephen via Zoom about putting the film together, his favorite shark movie, what’s up next, and more!
PopHorror: There was definitely a lot of detail and passion that went into this film. That was very apparent.
Stephen Scarlata: Thank you so much.
PopHorror: So Stephen, you’ve been a writer and producer among other things. What made you want to dive in as a director on a shark movie documentary?
Stephen Scarlata: I produced quite a bit and I think it was just time to direct. For me, after Jodorowsky’s Dune, producing that, I kind of had a feeling that the next thing was going to be on shark movies because it took so long to make Jodorowsky’s Dune and it took a lot of work and research. I was like, if I make something else it’s got to be something that I really enjoy, and my favorite thing and my passion was shark movies. I jumped into it with my cameraman Jim Kunz and two great producers Josh Miller and Kerry Deignan Roy. Also, in the beginning of it, you just kind of forget how huge it is. It’s a big genre. Ninety years. I’m happy I didn’t give it too much thought because maybe I would have been too scared but I’m so passionate about it, I was just like, “I want to do this!” I’m happy I didn’t think too much about it because I probably would have talked myself out of it.
PopHorror: I had no idea there were so many shark movies and that it went back as far as it does. Just no idea and that blew my mind.
Stephen Scarlata: Yeah, it’s crazy when you really think about it. I always knew there were some back in the day because I would watch them here and there. What I did was I put together an Excel sheet with every single shark movie and I think that’s when I started to discover ones that I never even heard of. I was like, “Wow! There’s a lot of these movies I didn’t even know existed.” And a lot of them are really hard to find too. I got to watch some of those for the first time and it was a fun experience. I’d seen a lot of the more recent ones. Whenever they’re on TV, whenever they’re on Syfy, whenever they would come out, I would immediately watch it because I was a junkie for sharks. I needed sharks. If there’s a shark, I’m watching it, even if there’s a shark in the movie for two seconds, I need to watch it.
PopHorror: That kind of goes into my next question. The timeline you used to drive the documentary is pretty impressive. How long did it take you to compile that?
Stephen Scarlata: That timeline was pretty much based off of my Excel sheet that I was putting together. I think during the pandemic when there was lots of time on our hands, that’s when I started to go as deep as I could into my Excel sheet and that Excel sheet kind of formed the timeline in the movie.
PopHorror: How did you and your team select the movies that were highlighted?
Stephen Scarlata: Through the Excel sheet I started highlighting with different colors the ones… Of course, Jaws is going to be in it, and of course the sequels. And then of course in the newer age ones you have to cover Sharknado, and you have to cover the Mega Shark movie because that’s, in my opinion, Mega Shark was the turning point of when sharks went silly because throughout the 2000s, those shark movies were really serious. You had Sharks in Venice, which you thought was going to be silly but it wasn’t. It was still serious. And then the following year, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus comes out and then from that moment on is when you’ve just got these silly shark movies. Which I think is awesome and I think it also paints sharks in a more fun light and they’re not so scary. That’s what I love about those movies. But anyway, I was going through the Excel sheet and just trying to highlight and I think all of us were like, which ones had the most cultural impact and let’s just definitely touch on those and do our best – like The Shallows, and The Reef. Open Water was a really big deal when it came out. Of course you have to have Deep Blue Sea. Deep Blue Sea started ripoffs itself. It’s a cult movie, same with Open Water. So we went through there, and then when you would interview people like Rebekah McKendry – who’s awesome – she’s going to bring up Orca and these other subgenre ones. Same thing with Michael Gingold. He’s going to bring up Mako: Jaws of Death and stuff like that. It’s like great, now we can start fitting all these in. I definitely wanted those in the movie but it’s great when they come in and they have their own opinion and they throw it out there and it’s awesome, and now you’re able to start fitting all those ones in. These are the scholars and scholars also know what shark movies had the impact. That helped move it along with what we needed to cover. I tried to put in as many deep cuts as I could throughout and the little pictures. Trust me, I tried to put a lot of different shark movies in there. While making a movie like this, there are these weird little shark movies that I wanted to put in but sometimes the effects are so fast on screen that it just doesn’t work with a documentary. I can’t really use Dinoshark even though I want to. It didn’t really fit. I wanted to represent as many as I could. I tried. I know a lot of these shark movies are personal to a lot of people and I know people are going to watch the movie, “Oh it’s missing this!” I get it. I would have loved to fit whatever I could into this.
PopHorror: I was also really impressed with the amount of talent that you had – directors, filmmakers – but I really liked all of the scientists that were included, marine biologists and authors. What were their reactions when you approached them to do this documentary?
Stephen Scarlata: Rebeckah, we knew her and had been on her previous podcast, so she was in. I didn’t have to really talk her into it. Luckily, Emily Zarka – who I love – she’s awesome. Thankfully she was in also. Same thing with Vicky Vásquez, the marine biologist. When I wrote the email to her and I explained what it was, then she and I had a Zoom call together. She wanted to learn a little bit more about it. When I explained it to her and she understood, then she was like, “Okay, I get what you’re going for.” I was so excited to get her on board. I’m a big fan of hers. Same thing with David Shiffman. I wanted him so bad, and he was so kind when I explained the concept to him in an email. He was like, “I love these shark movies and I would love to talk about them!” He was fantastic. I was very humbled that they agreed. Especially Wendy Benchley as well. When I just told them about the whole idea. It’s not just about shark movies. It’s also about the impact on this misunderstood species. That’s why I want people like you in the movie. This is very important. Thankfully they all agreed. I’m very humbled they all agreed.
PopHorror: I really like that you included not only the filmmakers making these outrageous movies but the scientists that can give us some background on sharks. I think it really added a lot of depth to it.
Stephen Scarlata: Thank you.
PopHorror: The question of the hour, what is your favorite shark movie?
Stephen Scarlata: Of course it’s Jaws and everyone is going to get sick of that answer. I would also say Deep Blue Sea is my favorite. I love The Last Shark. I loved that last 47 Meters Down movie that came out that takes place in the caves that no one talks about. I love it. I love Deep Blue Sea 3. I don’t know why. No one talks about it. I love Shark Night 3D. I love the silly shark movies. I love Swamp Shark, I love Planet of the Sharks, which is like Waterworld with sharks. There’s so many I just enjoy. Even like Toxic Shark and 6-Headed Shark Attack movie that came out. I thought it was hilarious. People roll their eyes about the Syfy movies but what’s so cool about the Syfy movies. They kill off cast members you don’t expect them to kill off and that’s what makes them a lot of fun as well. I’m all over the map with shark movies. I like every type of shark movie.
PopHorror: I get a lot of flak because mine is Jaws: The Revenge. It’s a Jaws movie, it’s a horror movie, and it’s a great Christmas movie.
Stephen Scarlata: It is a Christmas movie! Did you read the novelization?
PopHorror: I haven’t but I want to.
Stephen Scarlata: You’re going to love it. It’s good summer reading. It’s an alternative world version of Jaws: The Revenge. You’re going to love it.
PopHorror: That sounds awesome! What’s your favorite shark?
Stephen Scarlata: I just came to the realization that it used to be the hammerhead but I think the goblin shark is taking over, honestly. I think that is definitely my favorite shark. There’s only one movie with a goblin shark that I can think of, Malibu Shark Attack.
PopHorror: What is up next for you?
Stephen Scarlata: I’m still in the process of outlining but I’m producing a documentary on movie novelizations. My cameraman, Jim Kunz – who shot this movie for me – he’s directing and I’m producing. We’re gathering up all these authors that wrote these novelizations. We love novelizations and we’re obsessed with the lives of these authors. It’s called Trash Literature but for film fans like us, these books are kind of personal. I’m producing that right now. That’s what’s up next. Directing-wise, I’m still outlining a few options at the moment, but hoping to jump on that pretty soon. Until then, it’s movie novelizations.
PopHorror: You have intrigued me! I will keep an eye out for that to come out.
Stephen Scarlata: Follow us on Twitter! We post a novelization every single day.
PopHorror: Cool! Just one last question for you. What is your favorite scary movie? And you can’t say Jaws!
Stephen Scarlata: Okay, I can’t say Jaws. Favorite scary movie of all time… I love all the normal classic horror movies that everyone else loves like Suspiria, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and all of those. I love horror movies so much. The old Dawn of the Dead. I love that movie Inside that came out during the 2000s. That movie messed me up. That is definitely one of my favorites also.
Thank you so much to Stephen for taking the time to speak with us. Sharksploitation is available on Shudder now!
