INSPRATION

 Given their narrative similarity and use of genre conventions, it is hardly surprising that Jaws and Creature from the Black Lagoon have a similar look and feel. However, closer examination reveals a more direct link between the films. Jaws explicitly borrows specific shots from Creature. This replication allows Spielberg to capitalize directly (by re-using shots) and indirectly (via audience familiarity) on frightening tactics used by Arnold twenty years earlier. 

One replication appears just as the film opens, with Chrissie Watkins swimming in the ocean. In general, Jaws uses many of the same techniques Creature used to make the audience afraid for the swimmer: the music (and the film’s pre-promotion) tells us something lurks under the water, we know the “something” watches the swimmer because we see its point of view, and we are frightened for her because we see her react to being touched. In shooting this sequence, Arnold used two shots which Spielberg borrowed for Jaws. The first depicts the monster’s point of view, an underwater shot of the woman swimming directly overhead. 

The second shows the woman treading water. In both cases, the camera hovers overhead, filming no other objects in the frame (below); these shots make Chrissie and Kay look small and alone—they accentuate the frightening nature of deep or murky water. In both cases, the audience empathizes with, and fears for, the swimmer. The attack commences.
 
Jaws’ scene in which the shark gets tangled with Hooper’s shark cage also replicates some shots in Creature from the Black Lagoon. This sequence echoes two scenes in Creature: the first in which the gill man tangles himself in the fishing net, the second in which the creature attacks the log-lifting device rigged by David. Several elements from these two scenes in Creature have been borrowed for Jaws. Among them are the winch, the hook arm, and the thrashing line in the water. Both films also depict the monster caught in the underwater equipment. The confrontation between monster and equipment underscores the characters’ impotence in dealing with the monster—its raw power overwhelms their mechanical devices. These scenes also confront the characters with a moment of doom; our heroes realize they are at the monster’s mercy.
 Finally, both filmmakers include a sequence in which their monster leaves behind a part of its body. In Jaws, the tooth left behind by the shark frightens Hooper because he recognizes that the tooth comes from the jaws of a great white shark. In Creature, a similar sequence develops foreboding because the character does not recognize the body part in question (the claw). In both cases, the body part left behind brings the characters to the point of suspense the audience has been at for some time.