The ocean is vast and there are plenty of creatures that dwell within it and call it home. There’s one creature of the sea that people are afraid of and hope to never run into: the shark. Sharks are some of the deadliest and most terrifying predators of the sea, but they are some of the most fascinating creatures to watch.
Sharks movies became mainstream thanks to the success of Jaws that was released back in 1975. While most shark movies come off as a little silly or less-than-decent quality, there are some that are good entertainment. For anyone wanting to watch a shark movie, these are worth watching.
Update on November 7, 2022 by Sarah Prado: Shark movies are something that audiences can’t get enough. Though sharks aren’t the seemingly mindless and man-eating creatures that movies make them out to be, there’s no denying that they are still deadly creatures.
Plenty of shark movies have come out after Jaws with very coming out before it. However, very few have been near as good as it in overall quality. There are some shark movies that are good and worth watching even if they’re a little silly or campy, and even some documentaries about sharks that are educational and show them in a more positive light.
15 Shark (1969)
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A film that deserves a little more recognition and might’ve been forgotten thanks to the success of Jaws. This movie is about a man named Caine who becomes stranded on a small port in the Red Sea. A woman approaches him and asks him to go diving with her and her partner for scientific purposes. However, Caine learns this is actually to disguise that they’re treasure hunters and that this dive is to find some treasure that was lost in the area.
The movie doesn’t have as many shark attacks as one might think thanks to the title. It’s a pretty decent watch and fun to see Burt Reynolds in one of his earliest film roles before his breakthrough performance in Deliverance. However, the movie itself is not without controversy because a stuntman died from a shark attack during production and the movie’s title was changed to Shark to cash in on the attention.
14 Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus
Campiness with giant creatures that fight each other makes for a pretty fun watch. After a series of strange events happen, marine biologist Emma MacNeil is sent out to investigate the cause of it. She discovers that two enormous prehistoric creatures have been unleashed after the glacier that kept them sealed is broken. With the two creatures terrorizing humanity, Emma and others must find a way to make the meet to settle their score once and for all.
It’s everything one would expect from a SyFy channel movie. The special effects aren’t the best, but it’s still fun to watch a giant shark jumping ridiculously high to attack an airplane. Plus, this movie is the start of the Mega Shark series which did pretty well against the more successful Sharknado movies.
13 Shark Night, AKA Shark Night 3D
A movie for viewers looking for a movie with some cheap thrills. A group of college of students go to a lake for some weekend fun, but things take a dark turn pretty quickly. While out skiing, one of them is attacked by a shark and the group tries to get him to a hospital. However, they quickly realize that there's more than one shark and that the sharks aren’t the only problem. There’s a disturbing reason why the sharks are in the lake and that the real threat is on land.
The movie has a few thrills, but it’s nothing that viewers can’t predict or see coming from miles away. If viewers are looking for some mindless fun entertainment, this movie is a mildly decent watch.
12 Bait, AKA Bait 3D
After a tsunami runs through their city, a group of people are stuck in a flooded grocery store in the aftermath and have to find a safe way out. A great white shark that washed up from the tsunami is also terrorizing them and picking them off as they make escape attempts.
Overall, the movie is average in quality in both its story and characters. It’s pretty straightforward and to-the-point, making it a very simple but amusing watch. If anything, viewers might get a good chuckle if they watch in 3-D since it looks a little silly.
11 47 Meters Down
A shark horror movie that almost feels like a psychological thriller. Lisa (played by Mandy Moore) and Kate (played by Claire Holt) are two sisters vacationing in Mexico that decide to go diving to watch sharks. Though they’re a little wary of the condition of the boat and its captain, they go through with their plans. While watching the sharks, their cage breaks off from the cable holding it and they have to decide what to do. They could wait to be rescued which could cause nitrogen narcosis which causes hallucinations, or attempt to swim up but risk being devoured by sharks.
Though the movie is supposed to be a survival horror movie, it’s more a survival thriller. There are death scenes, but it’s nothing too graphic and viewers won’t really get squeamish from watching it.
10 47 Meters Down: Uncaged
A sequel to 47 Meters Down, but could be considered a standalone movie since none of the original cast members return. A group of teenage divers decide to explore the sunken ruins of a Mayan city instead of going on a typical tour. After they inadvertently cause a collapse, they have to find a way back to the surface before their oxygen supply runs out. To make matters worse, the ruins are also a hunting grounds for a group of great white sharks.
The movie might not have the star power of Mandy Moore, Clair Holt, and Matthew Modine, but this sequel is arguably better than the first movie. With more characters and a different situation, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged has more thrills and kills that fans want in a shark survival horror film. Plus, the sharks are little different than most since they are blind and hunt by sound, upping the terror meter a little more.
9 The Meg
This is more of an action movie than a horror movie, but it’s a pretty good watch. After losing contact with their crew who were in a submersible, a company hires Jonas Taylor (played by Jason Statham) to find out what happened. After finding and rescuing them, he learns that a megalodon has come out of the trench the crew had been exploring and must stop it before it kills anymore people or does something catastrophic.
The movie has predictable thrills, but viewers will love watching it. The movie is based on the book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steven Allen, but the movie does deviate quite a bit from it.
8 Sharknado
This movie is ridiculously silly and campy, but that’s the beauty of it and its series. A tornado filled with different types of sharks goes around terrorizing Los Angeles and local bar owner Fin (played Ian Ziering) sets off to rescue his family. It’s not exactly going to be easy, but Fin is able to think quickly and has help from his coworker Nova to traverse through the dangerous city.
The movies after the first one just amp up the ridiculousness and campiness, but the first movie is arguably the best one in the whole series. Throughout the series, there are surprising celebrity cameos and other sci-fi genres thrown into the mix for some excellent laughs. For anyone wanting to watch a shark movie that’s more on the campy side, but still has some action scenes in it and a decent story that’s easy to follow, this movie is it.
7 Sharkwater
This movie isn’t a thriller or anything theatric, but it’s a documentary about sharks. Written and directed by conservationist Rob Stewart, the movie sheds light on some negative stereotypes about sharks. It goes into depth about shark-hunting industry in other countries where sharks are hunted for their fins. Because of this, the shark population has been slowly decreasing because demand for shark fin soup was on the rise. Stewart also goes into detail about how sharks are misunderstood creatures and shows how they aren’t the man-eating terrors that movies often portray.
While there have been other documentaries of sharks before and after this one, Sharkwater is often seen as the documentary that put a more positive light on them. The passion that Stewart had clearly shows, and it was thanks to this movie that more shark conservationist groups formed. If anyone wants to start learning more about sharks and the shark-hunting industry, this documentary is a great one to start off with.
6 Deep Blue Sea
If viewers are looking for a horror thriller shark movie, this is one of the best ones. After experimenting on sharks, things go awry. The experiments have made the sharks a lot smarter and even deadlier, and terrorizing the group of scientists in an underwater facility. The group must escape before the whole thing collapses while also dodging the sharks trying to kill them.
Deep Blue Sea has the over-the-top kills and thrills that shark fans want in a movie. It has a pretty decent story, but the performances by the cast makes it work. Plus, Samuel L Jackson’s death scene in this movie has been considered one of the best film deaths since it was so unexpected.
5 The Reef
A shark horror movie that is a little more on the thriller side than horror side. A group of friends are delivering a yacht to Indonesia, but they end up striking a coral reef on the way. The yacht capsizes, and they gather supplies to go to an island that’s 12 miles away. However, the captain of the yacht believes they are in shark-infested waters and refuses. The rest of the group opts to leave, but quickly realize they are being stalked by a great white shark.
The movie takes a more simple approach, and it might not be as flashy as some other shark movies, but that’s what makes the film good. There isn’t any need for over-the-top gore or attacks. The movie uses actual shark footage instead of CGI for its shark attacks, making it feel a little more realistic than most shark movies.
4 Open Water
This movie takes the shark horror movie genre to a different level. Daniel and Susan are a couple that goes scuba-diving with a group, but things go awry not too long after. The group returns to the boat while Daniel and Susan are still underwater and the dive master miscounts, believing everyone is onboard. When Daniel and Susan resurface, they find that their group is gone and there’s nothing around them, only water. The only thing they can do is stick together and hope help comes.
This movie opts for a minimalist and realistic take, even using real sharks instead of CGI or mechanical ones. It might not be over-the-top attacks or have any jump scares, but the movie does a fantastic job of making viewers unsettled as Susan and Daniel try to keep hope and survive in a pretty bleak situation. It’s even more unnerving to know that this movie was inspired by a real-life couple, Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were accidently left behind by their scuba-diving group and presumably died at sea.
3 Jaws 2
Another great white shark has popped up and police chief Brody tries to warn the mayor about it. Skeptical that the town could have the exact same problem as before, the mayor doesn’t take the threat seriously. The new shark not only threatens the island, but also Brody’s sons who have gone out sailing with their friends.
Having a sequel to a great movie can be a risky move since it might not be as well-received or as successful as its predecessor, but Jaws 2 is one sequel that’s good. Like the first movie, this one has great overall quality with a good storyline and great performances by the cast. It might not be as good as the first Jaws, but Jaws 2 is a good sequel and the best one out of all the other sequels that followed.
2 The Shallows
This shark movie took quite a bit of viewers by surprise because of how good it is. Blake Lively plays medical student Nancy, who decides to go to a secluded beach to surf. The movie starts pretty light-hearted but takes a drastic turn after Nancy is bitten by a shark. Unable to make it to the shore, Nancy finds safety on an isolated rock, but realizes the high tide will be coming in. She only has a limited time to find a way to get safely back to shore because the shark is circling around her.
Like Jaws, The Shallows takes a rather simple storyline and makes it great. Nancy could’ve easily been just a woman who panics and makes dumb decisions while trying to get to safety, but she’s very different. She keeps her cool under pressure and makes smart decisions by planning carefully while taking into account her wounds and what little materials she has.
1 Jaws
It shouldn't be a surprise that Jaws still remains the best shark movie to ever come out. It has everything that anyone can want in a shark movie. Great performances by the cast, a simple yet great story, and a killer theme song. A great white shark is a terrorizing the beach of a small town and the local police chief, Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) teams up with a marine biologist Matt Hooper (played by Richard Dreyfuss) and a shark hunter Quint (played by Robert Shaw) to kill it before it kills anyone else. For the movie being about two hours long, it does a great job of fleshing out the main characters, but managing to keep the suspense in the story.
Very few shark movies have come close to matching the overall quality of this movie, but none have quite lived up to its legacy. This is a movie that literally made people scared to go swimming at the beach because of how scary it is. Just about everything in this movie still holds up even though it’s been over 40 years since it’s been released.