connorbbalboa 12 Days of Terror is a made-for-TV dramatic account of the 1916 Jersey Beach and Matawan Creek shark attacks that inspired both the novel and the movie Jaws. And that's what this basically is. The movie doesn't even try to hide that it's basically Jaws except being told through real historical events. People defend this movie by saying that because the events told here inspired Jaws, it shouldn't be criticized in this manner. But I'll say this (and this seems to be something I end up saying a lot now): write a script that doesn't make it seem so much like Jaws. I know it's possible. In the middle of the movie, we have a predictable romantic subplot with a nice guy who is too afraid to show his feelings for a pretty girl he once knew who is marrying this other guy who has a good standing in business and has a lot of money, blah blah blah. You gotta wonder, are these kind of movie girls really that heartless? The guy she's marrying isn't even a nice person, so you gotta wonder what she sees in him, other than being part of a business and having a lot of money. The nice guy, who is a lifeguard by the way, looks too good to be a 1916 type and I'm happy to find out I'm not the only one who thought the makers of this film tried to get someone who looks like Tom Cruise. The film repeats a lot of the plot elements from Jaws and you can tell which characters are copies of the ones from Jaws. A positive note is that the production design of the movie really makes it look like it is set in 1916. The shark looks o.k. too, when it's not a lame CG creature swimming in a river. A horrific chore and an insult to the film that inspired this. Will you shark movie filmmakers stop trying to remake Jaws? It's getting tiresome.

rleather Almost gentle version of Jaws, with all key elements still intact; the business officials refusing to close the beach, the one man fighting public opinion, the grief stuck mother.Here's the thing, Peter Benchley based Jaws upon this true story. So whether you consider the 1916 attacks or Jaws as the 'original' is up to you. But to my liking the film has one to many 'replica' lines from the Spielberg classic. Including the salty sea-dog of a shark hunter.Don't get me wrong, this is actually a very enjoyable film. But don't expect to watch Jaws twixt the Waltons, its better than that; including elements of politics of the time (America's continued resistance to join the war in Europe) and the class structure of rich and poor.Interesting, very interesting.... but would you pay to see it? No, I guess not.

surflou The movie is factually based, if you read the actual events that took place in Jersey in July 1916 you will see that the majority of the film stays true to events that happened.As far as Alex being the one that stops the shark eventually, I think that is a little off-story, he is present and witness to all the attacks and uses that to tell the story in much the same way that the character of Rose tells the story of Titanic, yet she was never an actual passenger on the ship in real life.Having read the events thoroughly, I then enjoyed the film immensely, it has no over the top CGI and relies heavily on the acting and storytelling. I can certainly see where Peter Benchley may have been inspired to write the novel Jaws.Please don't go into this thinking that the film is a Jaws ripoff, it's not, it's the prequel!

Nickolaus Pacione I saw this movie and wishing it is on DVD. I have seen all the shark movies that are made except for Open Water and Shark Attack I. I want to see Open Water but this movie is one of those that is damned accurate to the book as well as well to the events of what happened. Dr. Fernicola, thank you for writing this book and providing the movie to go with it. It was about time to see this movie become made. The question of how they managed to make the shark for this one. It is one that rivals Red Water. I am very pleased with this movie; and I used to read a lot of books about shark attacks and had a morbid interest for what happens to people that were attacked by a shark. This movie adds more of a sting to JAWS in the book form. I am reading both books at the same time. This TV movie was one that I will remember for many years to come.