It’s July 1916 in New Jersey, and it’s hot. Unnaturally hot. People swarm the beaches to cool down, oblivious to the world war happening across the Atlantic, enjoying their perfect summer vacation. Alex is an athletic, young lifeguard in a small town on the New Jersey shore. When a swimmer is attacked by an unseen force and rescued by the lifeguards, it’s pretty obvious that it was a shark attack. But greed takes over common sense, and Alex’s request to close the beaches is denied by City Hall, opening up a beachgoer buffet to the juvenile great white who has come to warm up in the cozy NJ waters. Let the hunt begin.

Originally commissioned by Discovery Channel, 12 YEARS OF TERROR landed on Animal Planet after Discovery found out that the characters were fictionalized, a big no-no for a channel that prides itself on its non-fiction documentaries. Based on the true story of a great white shark that terrorized the New Jersey beaches over a period of twelve days in July of 1916, and adapted from the book by Richard Fernicola, Jack Sholder’s film deserves to be pulled out of the darkness and placed on the shelf of the good, solid, and worthy shark movies.

Primarily known for NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2, THE HIDDEN, and ALONE IN THE DARK, Sholder is a fantastic storyteller who brought his full genre experience to 12 DAYS OF TERROR. The movie doesn’t shy away from the gore, turning an oft-kitschy film into a terrifying viewing experience. I caught Jack Sholder’s film at the Sitges Film Festival in 2004 and it has stuck with me since. It remains one of my favorite shark movies, and I am very excited for y’all to see it on the big screen. (ANNICK MAHNERT)