Forget about Marvel and DC; forget about action. It’s time to hunt for the best killer shark movies ever. When talking about sharks in movies, most people think about Jaws, but a steady stream of shark-themed thrillers and spoofs have increased shark film booty by a fair margin.
This often neglected subgenre is a world all of its own; whether it’s the dead-eyed killer shark in Jaws or Jason Statham battling a mega-sized shark in The Meg, viewers have been taken on plenty of dangerous adventures, usually resulting in many being afraid to go into the water after watching these movies about maniac man-eating sharks in search of blood. Let’s look at some of the worst and best shark movies out there.
10. Deep Fear (2023)
Deep Fear has an insane premise: a drugged-up shark, high as a kite, is looking for human blood, and nothing will stop it. Taking a cue from Cocaine Bear and animals attacking while on drugs, Deep Fear stars Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick, who is searching for his girlfriend lost at sea.
Deep Fear is a story of survival, an epic battle between man and beast set in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean. In the story, we follow Naomi (Mădălina Diana Ghenea), who sets out on a solo yacht cruise, and soon, she comes across three survivors floating in the ocean after their boat was destroyed in a storm.
As a Good Samaritan, Naomi takes pity on the survivors, but unbeknown to her, these are drug smugglers who force her to dive deep into the ocean to retrieve their stash of coke. Naomi has a problem: a killer shark high on cocaine who will do whatever it takes to get his victims.
9. Sharknado (2013)
Forget about Jaws! Forget about everything you know, and embrace the absurdity that is Sharknado! This 2013 Syfy original stars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid as they battle against sharks lifted from the ocean to the flooded streets of Los Angeles via a waterspout caused by a Tornado.
Sharknado is the ultimate spoof of the shark subgenre and is filled with hilarious battles between man and beast and cheesy B-movie dialogue. The movie falls into the ‘it’s so bad, it’s good’ category. Ziering’s character, Fin (a bit on the nose, but we love it), is a bartender and surfer who has to save his wife, April (Reid) and their daughter, Claudia, from sharks flying out of tornadoes. Fin and the gang also assist civilians caught between roaring floods and the razor-sharp teeth of killer sharks.
Sharknado throws logic and common sense out the window but has become a cult classic that embraces its crazy plot and has fun using the tropes associated with shark movies to get a laugh. This movie wasn’t trying to win any awards except to win your affection with its preposterous plot and poor dialogue.
8. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
This time, it’s personal! The tagline following this release references a vengeful shark that stalks the Brody family. This shark means business and gets personal, wanting to take down the entire family. The personal vendetta angle became a joke with audiences and critics, and Jaws: The Revenge became the last official film in the franchise, trailing off and ending the series without a bang.
The original films featured police officer Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) battling the famous Great White. Still, years later, after a heart attack, Martin’s wife Ellen and their sons are being stalked by a new shark with beef against the Brody family and is hunting them down. Ellen’s fears and paranoia that the shark is out to get the family drive the plot.
The shark is so determined that it follows the family from Amity Island to the Bahamas, a place sharks rarely ever go to because the waters are too warm. Not this shark; it hates the Brody’s so much it decides to venture into these waters. The cheap mechanics used to move the shark and the campy style have meant Jaws: The Revenge is watched more for laughs than to be as freaked out.
7. Jaws 2 (1978)
This sequel to the Steven Spielberg original tried to match the quality of the first film but ultimately failed to live up to that movie’s high standards. Jaws 2 isn’t all bad; it’s far superior to Jaws 3 and 4, but still, it should never have been allowed to tarnish the franchise and begin its descent into oblivion.
Roy Scheider reprises his role as police officer Martin Brody and begins to suspect a new shark is visiting Amity Island looking for meat. Town officials, because they never learn, downplay the threat, only to be shocked when Brody is proven right after scuba divers are killed and more bodies are recovered afterwards.
Jaws 2 captures much of the suspense and drama of the original. Still, the shark mechanics were not as well done, and director Jeannot Szwarc attempted to recreate the original, sticking too closely to the same formula but coming up short. Scheider is one of the only outstanding elements of the film, as he gives an excellent performance. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop the film from being an inferior retread of the original.
6. The Black Demon (2023)
Josh Lucas is Nixon Oil company inspector Paul Sturges. He is sent to a small Mexican town in Baja, California, to check on El Diamante, an offshore oil rig. He brings his wife, Ines, and their two children, Audrey and Tommy, for a vacation. Upon arrival, the family finds the town in ruins. The remaining locals are suspicious and unfriendly, and fear turns to anger when they learn that Paul works for the company that commissioned the oil rig.
The rig is an environmental hazard and draws the attention of an enormous megalodon shark locals call El Demonio Negro (The Black Demon). The film is a blend of thriller and comedy, but what sets it apart is its play on mythology. The locals believe the shark is a herald of Tlaloc, the god of rain, who seeks revenge on those who take from nature too greedily.
RELATED: The Black Demon Review – This Monster Shark Film Lacks Bite
5. Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Deep Blue Sea parodied the shark subgenre but took a scientific angle to spice things up a bit. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, the film is set in an isolated underwater facility and follows a team of scientists and their research on mako sharks to help fight Alzheimer’s disease. The situation plunges into chaos when multiple genetically engineered sharks go on a rampage and flood the facility.
There are few celebrated shark movies outside of the first Jaws film. Despite all its flaws, Deep Blue Sea has become respected over the years. The B-movie tropes are here and give the film a comedic quality that veers into parody. Still, the movie successfully creates suspense and tension as the scientists are trapped underwater in a small space, trying to evade these underwater predators.
4. The Meg (2018)
The Meg sparked a sort of shark movie revival. It avoids most of the campy tone of previous films like Deep Blue Sea and the Jaws sequels and attempts to be genuinely terrifying. Jason Statham is deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor.
The film follows a group of scientists encountering a humongous megalodon shark while on a rescue mission in the Pacific Ocean. Taylor is called to rescue the crew, but a killer shark thought to be extinct has other plans.
Statham’s action-hero status and audiences’ love of shark movies made this a surefire hit, and The Meg became one of the biggest shark-themed movies ever, with over $500 million at the box office.
RELATED: Meg 2: Round Two Between Jason Statham And The Mega Shark
3. Open Water (2003)
Open Water has a more realistic shark storyline than any other film. In fact, the movie is loosely based on actual events. The story follows an American couple who go scuba diving while on vacation, only to find themselves stranded miles from shore in shark-filled waters when the crew of their boat accidentally leaves them behind.
The events in the film are based on the true story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who, in 1998, went out with a scuba diving group, Outer Edge Dive Company, on the Great Barrier Reef and were accidentally left behind because the dive-boat crew failed to take an accurate headcount.
The film uses a minimalist, low-budget aesthetic to make the visuals and atmosphere realistic, which adds to the horror and suspense of being alone at sea with deadly sharks. The psychological and physical toll the ordeal has on the characters, and the fear of circling sharks make this one a true classic for shark movie heads.
2. The Shallows (2016)
Blake Lively is Nancy Adams, a medical student who travels to a secluded beach in Mexico. While enjoying the surf, Nancy becomes stranded 180m from shore and must use her wits and determination to survive a Great White shark attack.
The Shallows rejects the conventional shark attack formula and, like Open Water, is a story about survival and endurance. While the shore is so close, Nancy is trapped and has to use her wits to save herself and get back to shore. Blake Lively’s performance was praised, and the film is one of the highest-rated shark movies ever made.
1. Jaws (1975)
It would always be Steven Spielberg’s box office hit that took the top spot. Few can now recall the genuine paranoia that Jaws created in audiences who were genuinely weary and scared to enter seawater after watching the film. Spielberg masterfully uses horror-like jump cuts and builds tension and suspense, aided greatly by John Williams’s brilliant score.
Jaws is character-driven and blends all the elements of suspense, horror, drama and psychology to offer a brilliant thriller that is still captivating today. The mechanized shark may seem a little dated, but it still looks better and more realistic than most CGI-rendered sharks today.
What are your favourite shark movies? What should have been included in this list?