Mako: The Jaws of Death

Director - William Grefe (Whiskey Mountain, The Psychedelic Priest)

Starring - Richard Jaeckel (Starman, Killing Machine), Jennifer Bishop (Bigfoot, House of Terror), and Buffy Dee (Nightmare Beach, Super Fuzz)

Release Date - 1976

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Sheer terror!"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Several years ago I took a month or so to review some sharksploitation flicks.  Most of them were Asylum and Sy-Fy releases but I was able to find some films that were released in the months after Jaws which was a lot of fun.  One of the films that I had snagged on DVD with the intent of watching but never made the time was The Jaws of Death which was released under the title Mako or Mako: The Jaws of Death.  Obviously, this was a William Grefe film that I was very familiar with but never really had the time to watch until I received the He Came from the Swamp to review.  This wasn't one of the two films I was looking forward to the most out of the set but I was still interested in finally checking it out nonetheless.  

     The film follows an ocean diver who shares a link with sharks after a shaman gives him an ancient charm.  This connection with sharks alienates him from other people and when spear hunters encroach on his waters he turns to murder to protect the sharks from the humans he has distanced himself from.  

     I wasn't expecting a shark flick that would forever change the way I see shark movies but I was looking for a camp shark flick with plenty of fake blood and cheesy acting.  Mako wasn't the cheesy late night shark movie I was looking for but it wasn't a bad film.  Honestly, I enjoyed it but it is forgettable.  The acting in this one is solid throughout with several great performances shining through in each scene.  A few of the scenes did lack energy and enthusiasm but the overall acting in the film was pleasantly surprising.  The story for this one is not what I was expecting at all.  We have a mystical power that helps a lonely man communicate with sharks while others exploit and murder them in the choppy waters of the sea.  It's a different spin on sharksploitation but it's not as wild as some of the newer shark films I'm accustomed to watching.  I would have loved a little more insight into the shaman and the mystical side of the story instead of the man feeding people to the shark but that's just my opinion.  Finally, the film has a lot of blood and frenzied sharks but don't expect fun shark deaths and great practical effects.  The deaths are very lackluster and not a lot of fun in the grand scheme of things.  Overall, Mako is not the film that will fill any void you have for shark films but if you are looking for something different to watch late at night it will not disappoint.  It's not the best film in the He Came from the Swamp set but it's not one you should skip either.  Check it out.