10 Scariest Shark Movies You've Never Seen

Those terrifying shark movies that swam under the radar of the masses.

by Andrew Pollard
Shark Night
Rogue

Ever since Jaws ushered in the concept of the summer blockbuster back in 1975, shark movies have forever remained popular with a certain section of film fans.

Granted, these days we so often have shark pictures that seem desperate to outdo each other with how bad and insane they can be - here's looking at you, Snow Sharks, Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, Sharktopus, and far too many others to name - but there have been some absolutely fantastic shark films over the decades. Unfortunately, some of the very best shark movies have swam a little under the radar and been missed by the masses.

Not every shark effort has the budget, marketing, or star power of, say, the Meg movies or The Shallows, but there have been plenty of lesser-known features that at least match, if not better, their bigger-name rivals - and that's what the focus is on here.

So, with that in mind, here are ten of the most terrifying movies out there in this murky subgenre, with only the biggest of shark movie fans likely to have taken a chance on any of these.

10. Mako

Shark Night
Netflix

One of the more recent movies on this list, 2021's Mako puts, you guessed it, mako sharks in the spotlight. 

With documentary filmmaker Rana Bahgat becoming a laughing stock after one of her films is accidentally announced as the winner of an award - not helped by Rana tripping over as she embarrassingly heads back to her seat empty-handed - she and her crew eventually settle on the idea of exploring the Salem Express as a way to repair her reputation.

For those unaware, the Salem Express is a real-life passenger ship that resides at the bottom of the Red Sea after sinking in 1991. To this day, the vessel contains the corpses of those trapped in the boat as it sank. And it's this trip that pits our characters up against mako sharks, not to mention their own dwindling mental states.

With so much of the movie taking place deep underwater, the dimly-lit nature of those sequences only further amps up the dread of what's already a pretty terrifying experience. Not to mention, there's a nice little twist awaiting at Mako's end.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.