Recently, the rare behind the scenes image you see above – from the set of Jaws – began circulating around the net, and it’s been labeled everything from “the scariest thing ever” to “pure nightmare fuel.” Indeed it is terrifying and nightmarish, but what’s the full story behind the photo? We took it upon ourselves to do a little digging…

The second victim in Jaws is Alex Kintner, a young boy who is literally consumed while lounging on a raft. The death scene, one of the most memorable moments in horror history, is nothing short of terrifying, as Kintner helplessly thrashes around in the shark’s mouth while a geyser of his blood colors the water red.

Believe it or not, as horrifying as Kintner’s death scene was, there was one point in time where it was going to be WAY more extreme. In the finished cut of the film, the shark’s gory meal is implied rather than actually seen, though an alternate take would’ve shown Kintner being eaten in much more graphic detail.

As relayed in the feature-length documentary The Shark is Still Working, found on the Jaws Blu-ray, a dummy was created to double for young actor Jeffrey Voorhees, and the mechanical shark was originally going to rise from the depths, in full view, and gobble the boy up. The scene was shot by second-unit director Joe Alves, as production on the film was near completion and Steven Spielberg had by that point in time departed Martha’s Vineyard; it was, however, ultimately left on the cutting room floor.

Perhaps it was just *too* terrifying.

So is the above image the only remaining evidence that the alternate death scene was actually shot? No, not exactly. Also in The Shark is Still Working, some of Vineyard resident Carole Fligor’s 8mm home movies from the set are shown off, and at the 56-minute mark, you can see grainy footage of the scene being shot!

Here’s a still image from that 8mm footage, along with the haunting BTS photo…

Good luck sleeping tonight.