JawsI guess this qualifies. It does, because it has so many elements of horror, even if you also deal with a lot of typical Spielberg (though tbh
Jurassic Park feels way more 'horror' than this, and even that I'm not sure I'd use the term, but it applies there too, I guess) and that John Williams score that does more than it really needs to be doing. The way that leg sinks down to the bottom of the ocean, the screaming, the quiet moments that build tension before a bloody attack (albeit a final encounter that goes on way too long, truly marking this with Spielberg's stamp), it's all there. And all PG, as well, though it was a different time or something. I'm going to let you know right now that, even compared to my other impressions, this will more be me working through things than normal.
Specifically why I have trouble with it in this marathon despite the markings of horror very clearly being present. There's a killer, for sure, and it stalks the victims, can strike pretty much whenever (as long as you're in the water, though it's fourth of July weekend, so obviously you will be, I can easily buy in to that), seems almost unstoppable in its terror. I mean it's not really scary, a result of so much taking place during the day, though that should make it more 'real' and terrifying. As a horror film that's where I might have a problem though, which is personal preference. It's just plausible. There's no supernatural twist, I'm sure you could argue that the shark knows what its doing and the attacks are a little more targeted, but it's still instinctual even if it knows how to toy with its prey, and it's not a monster, it's just an animal. I'm afraid of snakes, in a phobia way, but those are real. And so are sharks. Like I'm careful when dolphins look like they're too close in the Atlantic. It's just hard for me to feel dread or terror in a film when it's believable. It's a fear of the known, not the unknown. And it's a horror film, by the rules of the genre, I know that, but it doesn't feel like one to me.
On a scale of scary, this one gets a...