10 Scariest Shark Movies!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

By Andrew Pollard /

The horror genre is a monstrous beast consisting of so many different subgenres. While trends come and go, there are certain subgenres that still stand the test of time and have a major appeal to audiences - and, much like the love shown to the slasher subgenre, there is something infinitely appealing about the shark movie subgenre.

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Whether it's a case of intrigue, of fear, of awe, or just an appreciation for a well crafted movie, people seem to forever eat up shark films.

Sadly, this particular subgenre has often been bogged down by films that take the 'so bad it's good' route, and thus shark movies are easy to poke fun at - especially when you consider the likes of Sand Shark, Snow Shark, Ghost Shark, Sharktopus, Two-Headed Shark Attack, and the entire Sharknado franchise.

Seriously, all of those movies exist, and all of those movies are awful. But that's not to say that there aren't good shark films out there, and those good shark films more often than not have some truly phenomenal scares at play during their run time.

Taking a deep dive into the realm of the shark movie subgenre, then, here are some of the scariest shark offerings to swim to your screen.

10. Deep Blue Sea

After Jaws changed the game in 1975, the subsequent years saw countless imitators and low-level dress served up in the shark subgenre - with some knock-off movies even outright stealing footage from Jaws!

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All of that changed in 1999, though, when Renny Harlin's Deep Blue Sea utilised a mixture of CGI and animatronics to deliver the best shark movie since Jaws 2 in 1978. Even then, some would argue that Deep Blue Sea is actually a better film than Jaws 2.

Where Jaws 2 is an open water terror ride that hones in on a group of teenagers stranded at sea, Deep Blue Sea is a totally different beast in that its a far more claustrophobic affair. Set in an underwater facility, Deep Blue Sea sees some science whizzes making the genius decision to tinker with shark brains in a poorly-conceived attempt to cure Alzheimer's disease.

The scariest part of Deep Blue Sea? That'd be once the underwater research facility becomes flooded, and the super-smart sharks begin to lurk in the halls and stairwells of the complex - with Saffron Burrows and LL Cool J having particularly tense encounters with these modified mako sharks.

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