Born to Fight (1989) aka Serpent Sam

Directed by Bruno Mattei

Written by Claudio Fragasso (Troll 2, Zombie 4: After Death)

Starring Brent Huff

IMDB

Monster Shark (1984) aka Devilfish

Directed by Lamberto Bava.

Starring Michael Sopkiw.

IMDB

One of a few legendary Jaws-rip offs from the Italians. Movies such as Enzo G. Castellari's "The Last Shark" and Bruno Mattei's "Cruel Jaws" were so slavish to the original that they actually used footage directly ripped from the blockbuster Spielberg film (and were sued because of it).

This one tries to be more coherent but it ends up being less entertaining because of it. This is a true stink bomb from the wildly uneven Lamberto Bava who was sometimes capable of great films like "Macabre" (1980) and "Demons" (1985).

This is also one of Michael Sopkiw's last films, though he has only done 5 in his whole career. Still, he's a memorable leading man, especially in Italian jungle fare like "Massacre In Dinosaur Valley" (1985) and as a Mad Max-like warrior in "2019: After The Fall Of New York" (1983).

Cruel Jaws (1995)

Directed by Bruno Mattei.

Starring David Luther.

IMDB

A mind-blowing rip-off of Jaws that actually uses footage from Steven Spielberg's movie as well as Jeannot Szwarc's sequel Jaws 2. What's even better is that this re-uses a ton of footage from Enzo G. Castellari's "Great White" from 1980 which was even more of a rip-off of Jaws than this one. In fact, "Great White" was pulled from distribution after Universal sued.

So this is a second-generation rip-off I guess. It was actually marketed as "Jaws 5" in some regions. Genius.

Mattei was responsible for other great Italian schlock like "Hell of the Living Dead", "Violence In A Women's Prison" and the unheralded dystopia film "Rats".

There are many great moments in this trailer, such as when the little girl in the wheelchair is accidentally dumped into the water and the various re-enactments of scenes from Jaws like the little dog who is the Italian version of "Pippet".

Try and figure out how much footage is actually from Jaws (there is a lot).

Rats - Night Of Terror (1984)

Directed by Bruno Mattei.

Starring Ottaviano Dell'Acqua and Geretta Geretta.

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Hell Of The Living Dead (1980) aka Virus

Directed by Bruno Mattei.

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The Tomb (2004)

Directed by Bruno Mattei.

IMDB

The Jail (2006)

Directed by Bruno Mattei.

IMDB

Strike Commando 2 (1988)

Directed by Bruno Mattei.

IMDB