10 Creepy And Unique Mermaid Designs In Movies And TV

6. Mermaids - Peter Pan (2003)

Dwelling in the shallow waters of the lagoon, their long red hair floats across the surface like tangled algae. Something silver glistens in the moonlight. Slowly long, clawed fingers with pointy nails and delicate, almost translucent webs spun between them, stretch out to Wendy. An etherial song spins a hypnotic yarn around the girl in the night down, and if it wasn’t for Peter, nastily hissing at her, the mermaid would have lured Wendy into the depths to drown her in a deadly embrace.

While Peter’s interference seems rather dramatic at first, there is no doubt that these mermaids have always had a sinister vibe about them, as fascinating as they might look at first. As one of my favourite mermaids (yes, I might say that about almost all of them on this list) these scary sisters lack by far the screen time they deserve, their exotic and otherworldly looks way too disguised by silvery waves and water surfaces where we would like to look at them ... well ... forever really. The portrayals of the ominous mermaids are a plenty in the countless Peter Pan adaptations:

From the seemingly romantic sisters in the classic 1953 animation with the “Mean Girls” vibe, to the charmingly colourful menage a trois in the fantastic “Hook” with hair that matches their fishtails, and then there are the twisted twins with electrical CGI eel-tails in the 2015 movie adaptation.

However, the unique charm and mystery we get with the red headed mermaids in P.J. Hogan’s 2003 version lie not only in the all practical and stunningly detailed design, something that is always more charming on the big screen, but also by emphasising the predatory elements in these aquatic hunters: blueish veins run across silver skin that looks like it replenishes under water, adding a mossy look to their almost translucent complexion.

This is actually true to J.M. Barrie’s book description, where they change when the moon is out and transform into darker creatures compared to their rather playful daytime personae. Once night falls they wail strange calls and start to cry under the moonlight. These mermaids may be the sole reason of why the lagoon is so dangerous at night ... The long fishtails are barely visible, mostly submerged, and we get only brief glimpses of them, once directly under the surface, then again drifting slug like on the waves.

Much like our top 08 pick Scylla, these nasty sisters of the sea almost lack the complementary shiny scales we know from H2O and others. Instead their bodies seamlessly transition from human skin into a magical silvery lower part. Only few big patches of scales shimmer on their hips. Similar to the mermaids in “Pirates of the Caribbean”, they share the ambitious fanged vampiric look and clawed, webbed fingers. And just like their ILM cousins on “Stranger Tides” these ones share a rather exotic look due to their portrayal from cultures from all around the world, in this case an elegant asian touch with attributes inspired from Japanese lore such as the colour of their eyes and hair, but particularly the peculiar animalesque movements once Peter scares them away, baring their needle sharp teeth. When they swim they barely use their arms, only their muscular shoulders to navigate their direction, something that is known from actual big fish and aquatic mammals.

Unlike the delicate looking mermaids in other adaptations, the body shape of these ones is rather “sporty”, build for long swims and natural dives. They also have broad fins to glide through the depths and cut through the waves with efficiency ... If mermaids are real, they would probably swim much like these ones. It might help that the mermaids were actually played by swimmers and athletes rather than models. In contrast to most of the other picks on this list these exotic nereids don’t bother to disguise their true nature at all. So if you’re still wondering how Wendy could’t resist their obviously predatory intentions, it might be a charm or spell they cast over themselves, like a veil, to obscure their victims heart and drown it in delusion.

Cheeky psychological tricksters, eh?