This Day in Horror: Happy Birthday Steven Spielberg

Born on this day in 1946: Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is probably one of the most famous directors of all time. He has directed a number of genre films, including more straightforward sci-fi pictures like Minority Report, A.I., E.T., War of the Worlds, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the genre-straddling classic Jurassic Park.

In the more horror-centric space, Spielberg directed a segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie entitled “Kick the Can,” a remake of the episode of the same name. One of Spielberg’s earliest films was Duel, a TV movie about a big-rig truck terrorizing an everyday commuter.

And of course, Spielberg is the man behind Jaws. The film about a shark attacking beachgoers was notorious for the barely operable mechanical shark, nicknamed Bruce (after Spielberg’s lawyer), that almost ruined the film. Jaws is the film that scared people out of the ocean, and is considered the first summer blockbuster. It spawned three sequels, three video games, three amusement park attractions, and a slot machine.

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