<P> Jaws set the template for many subsequent horror films, to the extent that the script for Ridley Scott's 1979 science fiction film Alien was pitched to studio executives as "Jaws in space". Scott would later reveal in a 2017 interview that Jaws had made a lasting impression, "I was always put off from swimming ever since I watched Jaws," says Scott . "I quite liked swimming, actually, and I'd occasionally dive, but once I saw Jaws there was no way I was ever going to learn to surf--no way! Because I can imagine my legs, my little pinkies hanging underneath the surfboard and I know I'm going to be the one ." </P> <P> Many films based on man - eating animals, usually aquatic, were released through the 1970s and 1980s, such as Orca, Grizzly, Mako: The Jaws of Death, Barracuda, Alligator, Day of the Animals, Tintorera, Eaten Alive, and the 1996 Bollywood film Aatank . Spielberg declared Piranha, directed by Joe Dante and written by John Sayles, "the best of the Jaws ripoffs". Among the various foreign mockbusters based on Jaws, three came from Italy: Great White, which inspired a plagiarism lawsuit by Universal and was even marketed in some countries as a part of the Jaws franchise; Monster Shark, featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 under the title Devil Fish; and Deep Blood, that blends in a supernatural element . The 1995 thriller film Cruel Jaws even has the alternate title Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws, and the 2009 Japanese horror film Psycho Shark was released in the United States as Jaws in Japan . </P> <P> Richard Dreyfuss made a cameo appearance in the 2010 film Piranha 3D, a loose remake of the 1978 film . Dreyfuss plays Matt Boyd, a fisherman who is the first victim of the title creatures . Dreyfuss later stated that his character was a parody and a near - reincarnation of Matt Hooper, his character in Jaws . During his appearance, Dreyfuss's character listens to the song "Show Me the Way to Go Home" on the radio, which Hooper, Quint and Brody sing together aboard the Orca . </P> <P> Martha's Vineyard celebrated the film's 30th anniversary in 2005 with a "JawsFest" festival, which had a second edition in 2012 . An independent group of fans produced the feature - length documentary The Shark is Still Working, featuring interviews with the film's cast and crew . Narrated by Roy Scheider and dedicated to Peter Benchley, who died in 2006, it debuted at the 2009 Los Angeles United Film Festival . </P>

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