I recall the film Jaws, released on this day in 1975. The time was very difficult for me. A tad less than a year would find me at boot camp in the Navy ... so things were on a progressive downward spiral.
The movie was one of the more disturbing thrillers I'd seen up to that point in my life. The plot revolves around a fictional resort town in New England called Amity Island and I recognized the terrain of Martha's Vineyard early on.
The pursuit of a man eating great white shark was the premise of the plot. The Chief of Police pursues the marine beast with the assistance of a marine biologist and professional shark hunter.
The most disturbing moments in the film for me personally involve the various shark attacks. The pretty young girl getting thrashed violently around in blood stained water screaming "it hurts" and the little red headed boy screaming under the surface of an ever widening blood stain in the surf ... and then there were the recounted stories of the shark hunter's navy days in the pacific theater abandoning sinking ships only to be selected and devoured by sharks while awaiting rescue.
Oh, the humanity.
Anyway, the film became the highest grossing film of that time and initiated the summer blockbuster type of film.
I still watch reruns occasionally, the last time being a scant few months back. The attack scenes still hold the same horror in my heart. Professional divers speak of this as an irrational fear of an animal which has no interest in me as a foodstuff.
Still, the imagery remains with me all these 42 years now. I remain afraid of sharks as well.