10 Amazing Action Scenes From Terrible Movies

Other than its tides, the strangest part of the fourth Pirates movies was just how boring it has managed to make the story about Blackbeard looking for the Fountain of Youth. That’s actually quite the accomplishment. As was the movie’s mermaid attack scene, but for totally different, better reasons. For you see, On Stranger Tides is one of the few movies out there where mermaids are legitimately scary monsters.

The Pirates’ mermaids are as far from Ariel’s cousins as you can get, instead being this homicidal swarm of alluring half-human/half-shark-piranhas. During their introduction, they approach a pirate boat slowly and carefully, luring them in with their songs until they decide that it’s dinner time.

From then, the mer-murderesses circle the boat, jump from the water to knock down their prey and feast on it, all while hissing menacingly like crazed beasts in the midst of a bloodlust episode.

That’s what ultimately makes this action scenes so great. It portrays the mermaids as nearly-mindless, vicious beasts with the appearance of beautiful humans, creating a horror scene that defines the meaning of the word “grotesque.” Pity that in order to get to it you first have to watch Penélope Cruz pretending to be Jack Sparrow as if that nonsensical plot point wasn’t hard enough to get through all on its own.