Aquaphobia is the fear of water- including the fear of swimming.  I myself tend to panic when I'm in water that's above my chin, and myself and members of my family will wear floatation devices if we want to go into the deep end of the family pool. Galeophobia is the fear of sharks... which often contributes to people having Aquaphobia. 1975's " Jaws " has, over the years, contributed to BOTH of those phobias... The small town of of Amity Island is a nice place for a weekend summer vacation.  Nice beaches, calm waters, shopping, and sharks. When a great white shark invades the waters off of the town, the sheriff and an old sea captain must team up to hunt it... but what if the shark is actually the one doing the hunting? This movie scared the living shit out of people when it was released.  Although, sharks aren't really known to go on a terror campaign against swimmers, the possibility- reinforced by some real-life shark attacks, were enough to send people ...

Everything has already been said about Steven Spielberg's Jaws. It's a bonafide classic. It's my favourite movie ever. And, for a while, it was the biggest hit of all time. Jaws was based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name, and was actually optioned as a film before the book hit shelves. And while the basic plot of the book and movie are the same, the stories are quite different. Spielberg has said he felt the story, from a cinematic standpoint, was about three men who set out to kill a Great White that's been terrorizing the coastal town of Amity. About half the film's running time details this. While that does occur in the novel, it only makes up the final few chapters. A lot of the book has to do with small-town corruption, efforts to cover up the shark attacks, and an affair that transpires between Hooper and Brody's wife. Benchley's original script stuck pretty close to this, and it's no wonder Spielberg said "narp....

Let's be honest, we can't sit inside all day, every day, and watch movies and TV all the time. Sooner or later, you gotta go outside. And when Shawn and I do, we like to dabble in hunting and fishing. My friend and former colleague Robert Koopmans is a bonafide, honest-to-goodness outdoorsman. He's an avid hunter and fisherman, and he started an excellent outdoor-themed podcast called The Outdoor Narrative .

This new sci-fi flick from special-effects guru Ken Locsmandi has been called Jaws in space and Moby Dick in space. Although fitting, the allusion does give one false hope for something fun and special. Beyond White Space is one part Moby Dick in space, a little bit of a slasher movie, and even includes nods to Alien. And it sports some kick ass special effects and a decent cast, including a trio of the hottest ladies put on screen.

A lot of the films discussed during our Halloween Day By Day series were inspired by John Carpenter's Halloween. Given the title and setting of that movie, it's easy to understand why. Duh! But one mustn't forget that Steven Spielberg's Jaws touched off a whole wave of similar genre films in the 70s and early 80s. And, as with Halloween, most of these ripoffs just weren't as good.

I wasn't really sure if I wanted to make this review a Drunken one or a Retro one. The Last Shark is an old . . . as in retro . . . movie, but I was drinking while watching it. Just not to the level that warrants a Drunken Review. Then I figured I was thinking about it too much, and stopped. We go Retro on this one! The Last Shark, or Great White, as it was known while making the rounds in theatres back in 1981, is a notorious Italian Jaws rip off that, when I was a kid, was very hard to find. Thankfully it's popped up on Amazon Prime, and I was able to take this mother down.

Once there was a movie called Jaws, and it featured a shark killing innocent swimmers. That was back in 1975, and it was a huge hit. A year later, a movie came out called Grizzly, and it featured a grizzly bear killing innocent campers and hikers. Suffice to say, it was the highest grossing independent movie of 1976. I was intrigued by Grizzly as a boy, because the movie's poster was featured on the back of comic books everywhere, and it looked great, especially to a pre-teen boy. How does the movie stack up now that I'm a middle-age man?

Allow me to quickly introduce myself: My name is Kara, and I live over at www.karaschatter.com . I have no experience in the movie industry, other than watching and appreciating them. I thought I would offer up my movie reviewing skills, or lack thereof, to The Basement to give readers a female perspective on movies, new, old, good, and bad.  The Discovery Channel’s famous “Shark Week” had decided to wrap things up Saturday night with a double-header showing of Jaws (of course) and … wait, what? Sharknado! This film has swept the social media scene in a frenzy (pun regrettably intended) and so I couldn’t help but hit “Record” on the ol’ PVR to see what the fuss is all about. Right off the bat, it’s simply ridiculous. A rich, Asian tycoon is aboard a lonely shark-fishing boat, wheelin’ and dealin’ while eating delicious shark fin soup. Then, a storm hits, as does the irony. Asian guy gets devoured by a shark. And so it begins. The storm makes its way to the California ...

It's been a while since I've returned to the movies of my youth. And what better flick to revisit the trend than the second sequel to one of the greatest movies ever made? And it cost three extra dollars to see. The sons of police chief Brody must protect civilians at a Sea World theme park after a gigantic 35-foot shark becomes trapped in the park. On the surface, if you'll pardon the pun, this should be a shit-tacular movie. Truth is, it's an awesome piece of B-grade cinema. Sure, it can't hold a candle to the Steven Spielberg original, but that doesn't mean Jaws 3D isn't worth the watch. For one, it's got a brilliant cast including Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Louis Gossett Jr. and Lea Thompson. Oh yeah, and Manimal is in it too. Plus the late, great Richard Matheson co-wrote the script. Impressive, no? Talent aside, this is a fun, mindless romp with some cheesy 3D effects, passable suspense and a few groovy kills. It's not Shakespeare...

Basement contributor Matt Bellamy has taken it upon himself to watch and review at least one horror movie a day for the month of October . . . because he's awesome that way! Tonight, Bellamy reminds us why it's still not safe to go back in the water. I had a discussion with a co-worker awhile back about whether or not Jaws is actually a horror movie, he did not think so but I absolutely believe it is--can you think of another film that caused as ma ny phobias? Since it came out in 1975, many people have been terrified of both the water and, of course, sharks. You can't tell me there's never been an occasion where, for example, you've been in murky, deep water, you can't see the bottom and that infamous 'daaaaa na" theme pops in your head! If fear like that isn't horrifying then I don't know what is. Aside from this being one of the most truly scary horror movies e...

It's vacation time in The Basement folks . . . at least from the day job. Actually, Shawn has been off a week or so now. It's yours truly who is about to enjoy 16 days of play. And that means lake time, which means time away from home and this computer. Which, to make a long story short, means updates to this blog will be inconsistent at best until I head back to work. But fear not, regular updates will resume Aug. 8 and I will post tidbits here and there when time allows. In the meantime, enjoy this preview for the ultimate summer movie:

I know, two posts about posters in a row (say that 10 times fast) but hey, it's a slick looking poster. And it's about sharks . . . and hot chicks . . . possibly being eaten by sharks. We've talked about David R. Ellis's Shark Night 3D before and now we've got the poster for this bad boy, which is due out later this summer. We here in The Basement love movies about sharks. Open Water. Deep Blue Sea. Jaws. Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus. If it's got sharks in it, we'll watch it. The poster below looks pretty slick. It even generates a chill or two. Hopefully the movie can live up to it! Here's the plot: Arriving by boat at her family’s Louisiana lake island cabin, Sara (Sara Paxton) and her friends quickly strip down to their swimsuits for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when star football player Malik (Sinqua Walls) stumbles from the salt-water lake with his arm torn off, the party mood quickly evaporates. Assuming the injury was caused by a f...