The Best (and Worst) Shark Films, Ranked

To mark its 50th anniversary, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is returning to the big screen on 29 August. Dubbed the “first summer blockbuster”, the epic paved the way for dozens of survival films to follow in its footsteps. 

None of these have ever topped the original, but some are certainly better than others. Here are some of the best—and worst—shark films of the last half century.

The Best

The Reef (2010) dir. Andrew Traucki

When they must deliver a yacht to Indonesia, a group of friends make an adventure out of the task. The idyllic yacht life doesn’t last long though; the boat capsizes while sailing through a coral reef, and the friends are left to survive in the open ocean while the current drags them further from land. Of course, they’re also being hunted by a great white shark.

The film plays on natural anxieties about being helpless in the sea. We’ve all felt that prickly feeling up our calves when we realise we have no idea what’s lurking below, or the panic when we think we might be out of our depth. The Reef takes those fears and runs (or swims) with them. It also predominantly uses real shark footage, instead of solely relying on CGI or animatronics.

But what really makes the flick so terrifying is the fact it’s loosely based on real-life events from 1983, when a group was attacked by a tiger shark after their boat capsized. No horror script is as scary as the phrase “based on true events”.

The Shallows (2016) dir. Jaume Collet-Serra

Drifting closer to land, The Shallows proves Blake Lively can play more than just an ultra-privileged Upper East Sider. Released in 2016, the film generally welcomed high praise and grossed $119.1 million in comparison to its $17 million budget.

In the film, Lively’s character, Nancy, finds herself being hunted by a great white shark just metres away from the safety of the sand after a surfing outing goes disastrously wrong. Perched on a rock with a host of worsening injuries and very few supporting characters, Nancy must navigate her way out of the shallows without becoming a meal. 

Thanks to being a modern release, The Shallows’ strength is in its special effects. The shark is completely computer-generated, and Nancy’s injuries are gruesome without looking like a budget Halloween attempt. It’s nailbiting, high-stakes, and completely gripping, capitalising on the fear of the unseen and with the right amount of jumpscares—just how a shark horror should be.

47 Metres Down (2017) dir. Johannes Roberts

Another modern release, 47 Metres Down won’t just cause a fear of sharks, it will add a phobia of scuba diving, too. 

The plot sees two sisters stuck 47 metres below the surface (funny that) after their winch breaks during a cage dive to see great white sharks off the coast of Mexico. Almost immediately swarmed by the fish, the pair must not only navigate their way out of the cage and back to their boat without being attacked, they’ve got to do it before their oxygen tanks run out. 

This 2017 release, starring Claire Holt, is a unique take on the classic survival horror; instead of the sharks hunting at the surface, the prey is directly in their territory and is just as at-risk of a natural death by running out of air. The plot combines claustrophobia and thalassophobia (a fear of deep bodies of water) to create a thriller that will find you subconsciously holding your own breath.

Deep Blue Sea (1999) dir. Renny Harlin

This 1999 sci-fi horror is so bad it’s good. It may only have 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, but there is something inherently loveable about the bizarre plot and questionable CGI.

In an underwater facility, scientists are researching mako sharks to develop a potential cure for degenerative cell diseases such as Alzheimer’s. We know how this goes by now…

When the sharks begin to turn on the team, it’s revealed they’ve actually been genetically modified to improve their intelligence which in turn makes them more deadly. Deep Blue Sea is packed with jumpscares, tense dynamics between the scientists, and painfully obvious special effects; the sharks were both animatronics and computer-generated, though you can likely spot which is which. 

Despite its flaws, Deep Blue Sea is refreshing in its combination of the science fiction, horror and survivalist genres (we’d never had “genetically modified sharks” before), and in the choice of a different breed—great whites generally carry the load. With a cast list including icons Stellan Skarsgård and the Samuel L. Jackson, it’s slowly becoming a cult classic in the “shark survival” genre.

Jaws (1975) dir. Steven Spielberg

Are you really surprised to see this on the list?

Adapted from Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is the original shark horror film. We follow Chief Martin Brody (Roy Schneider) as the chief of police of small beach town Amity Island. When the devastation of a shark attack ripples through the community, Brody is responsible for keeping tourists safe, and the great white at bay. 

You can almost hear John Williams’ bloodcurdling score just thinking about this film. Its power is its simplicity; no matter how much Jaws ages, people will still go to the beach thinking about what could be lurking under the surface. Employing our fear of the unknown, the film barely shows the shark itself until midway through, allowing viewers’ imagination to supply the most terrifying vision possible.

With a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s no surprise Jaws finds itself at number 50 on IMDb’s Top 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.

The Worst

For all the highs of the genre, there are some particularly bad shark movies out there. From poor effects to ludicrous plots, these often swim their way onto our “guilty pleasures” lists.

The Meg (2018) dir. Jon Turteltaub

A feeble attempt at Jurassic Park meets Jaws, in The Meg we watch Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) form a nemesis in the thought-to-be-extinct megalodon, a prehistoric shark that’s been lurking under a thermocline of hydrogen sulfide for millennia.

The Meg has all the potential to be absolutely horrifying—we’ve seen what Spielberg can do with ancient creatures—but instead Jon Turteltaub’s sci-fi leans a little too heavily on its comic relief and never quite hits the realistic mark.

Bait 3D (2012) dir. Kimble Rendall

After a freak tsunami hits a coastal town in Australia, its shoppers and staff are trapped inside while a great white shark swims the flooded aisles. With an enormous line up of underdeveloped characters, there are plenty to kill off as the film progresses.

There is nothing realistic about Bait. It’s ludicrous, with budget effects and poor acting. Even if you love a bad horror, you should give this one a miss.

Sharknado (2013) dir. Anthony C. Ferrante

The beloved Sharknado, possibly the most ridiculous film to exist, follows a freak storm carrying sharks into Los Angeles. As the city floods, the sharks attack in the most bizarre ways. Sharknado has gained a cult following for its absurdness, and there are a total of nine films in the franchise.

While the first instalment remains somewhat serious about the severe nature of shark-infested hurricanes, the sequels (thankfully) lean into their comedic nature.

Jaws: The Revenge (1987) dir. Joseph Sargent

If you haven’t yet watched Joseph Sargent’s 1987 horror, save yourself the hour and 29 minutes. The fourth film in the Jaws franchise is a far cry from Spielberg’s masterpiece.

In The Revenge, we reunite with Ellen Brody after her husband’s off-screen death (they clearly didn’t have the budget for Roy Schneider). Ellen is visiting her and Chief Brody’s son, Michael, at his workplace in the Bahamas, and it turns out they have been followed by a great white all the way from Amity Island.

With an utterly ludicrous plot and cheap special effects, The Revenge is the final nail in the coffin for the franchise. It was produced in just nine months—and it shows.

Movie legend Michael Caine might have omitted this one from his CV.

Words by Sophie Coombs

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