Is "Jaws" REALLY a Horror Film?

I saw a thing on Bravo last year (as I suspect many of you did, too) counting down the 100 scariest movie moments in film history. It was an enjoyable little show, and gave me some food for thought on future rentals.

Anyway, the point of this thread is this: at the risk of being a spoiler for any who may not have seen it, the Number One moment was "Jaws", on the theory that hey. . . this could really happen! You could be swimming along and. . . .Duh NUH duh NUH. . .. "A little shakin', a little. . . tenderizin'. . . an' down ya go." I know I never swim in the ocean w/o a great deal of unease anymore.

Horror films are my favorite kind of movies. "Jaws" is my favorite movie of all time. BUT, I never thought of "Jaws" as a horror film. I still don't. I think it's a superbly crafted drama (good book too; I read it 3 times when I was a kid, starting at age 9). My favorite part of it is Robert Shaw's portrayal of Quint. I wanted to be him when I grew up for a while. Except for the getting eaten by a shark, part. I notice something new every couple of times I watch it, too. But the focus doesn't seem to be on the terror or horror as much as on the character of Brody overcoming his fear & truimphing over this force of nature as the Everyman (which is what Roy Scheider said he was going for in his Playboy interview; see, I DO read the articles). But it just doesn't strike me as a horror film.

What say you all?

I'm with ya. I think the same could be said for the remake of "Cape Fear".

Don't misunderstand me. I don't think calling it a horror film makes it any less worthy a film. I don't think other kinds of movie are better thn horror films. I just don't perceive "Jaws" as a horror film is all.

OK, Fab. That's a valid take on things, and many (including Bravo TV) would agree with you. But just to play Devil's Advocate and keep the discussion going, let me posit this:

Is a reaction of fear ALL that's necessary to make a movie a "horror" movie? I saw "Platoon" in the theatres back in 86, and the scene where the guy gets his arms blown off by the booby trap scared the hell out of me (I've always feared getting maimed in that manner more than getting killed; when the 1st Gulf War started, I was draftin' age, and this was the thing I worried about the most. Don't forget, they told all of us Iraq's army was going to be extremely hard to beat; a long, protracted conventional war was a real possibility. The ease of that campaign surprised us all.).

The first 30 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" leaves you emotionally drained, and I daresay the chief emotion you're feeling on that roller coaster ride is fear (I mean, that landing craft full of guys got killed before they even hit the damn beach! They never saw it coming!) That was disturbing, as was Pvt. Mellish's slow, knife to the heart death scene later in the film.

What makes films like these, that unquestionably evoke fear very effectively, not horror movies?

My theory is that whatever strikes you as the most salient theme in the film (and many horror films give you no other themes to choose from but terror/horror, which is a good thing, because that's what they're SUPPOSED to do, thank God) is how you will interpret a film that could go either way, like "Jaws". Some maybe seized on horror as the salient theme; they certainly advertised it like that. But others, like me, seized on the drama. Doesn't make either take WRONG, it's just a different way of looking at the same things. "Reasonable minds can differ", as we lawyers say.

What do you guys think?

Please don't misunderstand my intention here, fellas. I am NOT, repeat, NOT implying horror is a lesser genre than any other. Why would I even be here on a HORROR message board if I thought that!?

The point behind this thread was that I was surprised by Bravo's including it on a list of horror films, because I always thought it was a drama in my own small mind. That was not intended to imply that I think it's a "better" movie than say DOTD or The Thing (probably my second and third favorite movies of all time, not necessarilty in that order) just because they're horror movies. I just wanted to hear people's opinions, not to come off like a "drama snob". I could probably tack on another 20 yrs to my life if I could add all the time I've spent watching horror movies or reading horror movies to the end of it.

Very coherent, indeed. Well said.