7 Shark Films The Meg Will Blow Out Of The Water

The classic creature feature has been a staple in horror movies for a long time, and there hasn't been a monster that's been centre stage more often than the shark. When he dropped Jaws back in 1975, Steven Spielberg revealed just how successful a thriller featuring a terror of the deep could be. Since then, directors have desperately tried to emulate that same level of success by either paying homage or just blatantly ripping off the idea.

To avoid being litigated, directors have tried almost every conceivable angle with the many shark movies. They've changed the species of their particular apex predator, traded tense drama for B-movie slasher schlockiness, added extra heads, or even spliced shark genes with other animals. The list really does go on.

This approach has naturally created a huge gulf in quality between the few stand-out shark-infested flicks like The Shallows or Jaws itself and a great many other titles: If the Jason Statham-led movie owns the over-the-top action vibe that its trailers have been putting out, it will eat plenty of these low-budget, low-quality films for breakfast.

The Sharknado franchise might be going swimmingly with its sixth entry on the horizon, but there's no denying that as its continued to persevere, the comedy in these so-bad-they're-good movies has slowly disappeared. What was once quite a clever subversion of B-movies has become a vehicle for parody and nothing else.

Whilst the prolific franchise might have given rise to some iconic moments, parody on its own can't sustain a franchise forever. The bad acting and terrible special effects can only bring you some laughs for so long. Moreover, a disaster movie that causes sharks to rain down all sorts of terrifying beasts from the deep can only try to blindside us with sheer stupidity for so long.

There's no denying that Sharknado's basic premise was stupid enough to grab audiences hook, line, and sinker, but as the franchise has dragged out its plot line has continued to become more and more contrived. What was initially a dumb thrill ride that poked fun at the increasing stupidity found both in this list and elsewhere in shark-themed cinema has become a strung-out franchise that doesn't know when it should quit.