[hattend]

I saw the one that had well defined characters and a coherent narrative and visual style.

Ahhh, that explains it. I saw the one filmed mostly at night, with no discernable storyline, that didn't show but glimpses of the monster.

Totally different film, same title.

[Borges]

Not showing the monster is what gave it suspense. You don’t see much of the shark in Jaws either. There was a clear storyline and clear character motivation. Close Encounters was also very loose limbed story wise.