Mako: The Jaws of Death. William Grefé, 1976.
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Edition screened: Included in Arrow Blu-ray box set He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.
Summary: Shark killing.
Details:
1) The film opens with a group of clods reef fishing for sharks. We see underwater footage of a shark hooked and partially reeled in before the line is cut. Not graphic, no blood, and over at 2:15.
2) Dead hammerhead shark hanging for a photo shoot, 53:14, and remaining in the background through conversation until 55:30.
3) Immediately after, a scene of men shooting sharks and hauling them aboard their ship, with dead sharks hanging on board. 55:40-1:00:00.
4) Piles of dead sharks in a research laboratory, 1:07:04-1:07:24.
Released a year after Jaws, the point in Mako is that sharks are not insane killing machines and we should stay out of their waters and leave them alone. Our protagonist is a vigilant advocate on the sharks’ behalf and will do anything to stop those who hunt them.
Bonus features on this disc include a 15-minute condensation of Mako released on Super-8 for home viewing.