Whooooo folks, it’s Shark Week! July 26th-August 1st, we’ve got all things sharks coming our way. I figured, why shouldn’t I get in on the fun? As someone who is both enamored with sharks and the ocean, as well as terrified by them, I’ve always had this sort of twisted-up interest. As a kid, my family would always go down to the shore for a week each summer, and the first night meant one thing–and that thing was a rewatch of Jaws. As an adult, I’ve found out that isn’t wholly original or singular to my family, but it was still a formative thing for me. A great white shark terrorizing a town by the shore for viewing, and then the next morning we were in the ocean and no one could get us out … not sure I’d be as into that now.
I do think it’s important to note that a lot of the movies I will be suggesting are ocean/creature feature horrors, while in truth, sharks are most often a misunderstood and vital part of the ocean’s ecosystem. Their bites are believed to be exploring (they don’t have hands, right?) or misidentifying humans as food, and it’s really important to remember that if someone gets bitten, they have a 100% chance of being in their habitat, not our own.
With that being said, they really do make for fantastic movie antagonists.
Similar to my Zombie Movies / Shows posts, this is something that I may come back to and update over time, as shark horror is a staple in the types of things I view. These are all things I’ve watched; however, they are certainly not all good. Viewer beware, but probably just watch them anyway.
We don’t discriminate; we watch, and we don’t judge.
So, without further ado…
Shark Movies to Continue Shark Week
Jaws
When a massive killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it’s up to the local police chief, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
*The King of kings in the genre and horror in general, frankly. There are comparisons that can be drawn back here from all of the others … every single one. Truly one of the only “the movie is better than the book” that I can think of
Watch on Peacock / Rent on Prime
Finding Nemo
After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
*Come on … it features multiple sharks and one of them is named Bruce after the animatronic for Jaws. Wonderful movie regardless
Watch on Disney+
Deep Blue Sea
Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease, a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the prey, as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.
*Probably my favorite after Jaws. Another with an awesome practical shark. LL Cool J and Samuel L. Jackson in one movie … beautifully late 90s
Watch on Tubi / Rent on Prime
47 Meters Down
Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.
*Clastrophobia/confinement/finite oxygen plus sharks? Why not?!
Watch on Tubi & Starz
The Shallows
A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.
*During this movie’s press tour, they did a lot to remind people sharks are not the enemy, but weirdly the movie itself has a really determined killer shark … looked good though
Watch on Tubi & Peacock
Shark Tale
When a son of a gangster shark boss is accidentally killed while on the hunt, his would-be prey and his vegetarian brother decide to use the incident to their own advantage.
*Sharks are gangsters, and they gave us a stacked cast. What more do you need?
Watch on Tubi & Peacock
The Meg
A rescue mission to the bottom of the ocean is terrorized by a massive prehistoric shark.
*Based on a sci-fi horror novel that gets boiled down to Jason Statham being …. well himself. “It’s a Megalodon.” Summer Blockbuster that is somehow 110% CGI
Watch on HBO Max
Dangerous Animals
When Zephyr, a savvy and free-spirited surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below.
*A serial killer who uses sharks to dispose of the evidence is a crazy idea. This pulls it off pretty well.
Watch on AMC+ & Hulu
Under Paris
To save Paris from a bloodbath, a grieving scientist is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine.
*A mixture of eco and shark horror. Interesting that they decided to make a Mako shark undergo the change to freshwater instead of the much more plausible Bull shark? Getting a sequel too.
Watch on Netflix
The Reef
A great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef.
*So there’s a shark and a reef. This isn’t one of the bad ones either …
Watch on AMC+ & Tubi
Shark Bait (The Reef)
After losing his parents to a fishing net in Boston, a lovable little fish embarks on a journey to the coral reef to find his aunt Wanna, honoring a promise made to his mother.
*Like if Shark Tales and Finding Nemo combined character design with some really weird computer animation. Has the voice of Gimli, though
Watch on Prime, Pluto TV & Tubi
Great White
A fun filled flight to a remote atoll turns into a nightmare for five passengers when their seaplane is destroyed in a freak accident and they are trapped on a raft, 100 miles from shore with man-eating sharks lurking beneath the surface.
*Better survival story than shark story. A GW bites a pontoon but an inflatable raft does alright somehow
Watch on AMC+ & Tubi
Jaws 2
Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.
*Can they make us all believe that a police chief would be the person in charge of stopping a shark a SECOND time??
Watch on Peacock
47 Meters Down: Uncaged
Two sisters diving in a ruined underwater city quickly learn they’ve entered the territory of the deadliest shark species in the claustrophobic labyrinth of submerged caves.
*A good name for a second movie, but they didn’t just remove the cage, they made a pretty different movie
Watch on Tubi & Starz
The Meg 2: The Trench
A research team’s journey into the depths of the ocean turns into chaos when a mining operation forces them into a battle for survival, facing off against Megalodons and relentless environmental marauders.
*I have serious thoughts on this one … mostly bad. But if you liked the first, they gave us more of it. Ignores most of the source material but gives us Jason Statham stopping a meg’s mouth with his foot … yes, they are making a third
Watch on HBO Max
No Way Up
Characters from different backgrounds are thrown together when the plane they’re travelling on crashes into the Pacific Ocean. A nightmare fight for survival ensues with the air supply running out and dangers creeping in from all sides.
*Very similar to 2026’s Deep Water, but worse? Though first
Watch on Hulu & AMC+
Deep Water
A group of international passengers en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai are forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. Now they must work together in hopes to overcome the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
*Intense plane crash, nonsensical sharks. Not bad.
Rent on Prime
Thrash
When a Category 5 hurricane decimates a coastal town, the storm surge brings devastation, chaos and something far more frightening: hungry sharks.
*If the movie Crawl had sharks … and was worse. I’d watch it again
Watch on Netflix
The Black Demon
Stranded on a crumbling rig in Baja, a family faces off against a vengeful megalodon shark.
*Sharks are vengeful now? Apparently, based on a real-life legend, not very good, but at least less gimmicky than The Meg
Watch on Prime
Fear Below
A rag-tag team of divers attempting to salvage a sunken car from a river are thwarted by a highly aggressive bull shark.
*A period piece of sorts. A sunken car, money owed, a shark in a lake.
Watch on Hulu
Into the Deep
Pirates on the hunt for sunken drugs kidnap a boat of tourists and force them to dive into shark infested waters to retrieve the contraband.
*Richard Dreyfuss comes back for another shark movie. While he wasn’t bad, he really, really shouldn’t have.
Watch on Hulu
Jaws 3 (-D)
A giant thirty-five-foot shark becomes trapped in a SeaWorld theme park and it’s up to the sons of police chief Brody to rescue everyone.
*Similar to Friday the 13th Part 3(-D), I can’t believe they brought 3D back and made it seem like it was a thing for my generation? Young Dennis Quaid, though
Watch on Peacock
Beast of War
A group of young soldiers, fresh out of boot camp, find themselves stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean after their ship is sunk by the enemy and must battle for their lives against a giant hungry great white shark.
*Part war film, part survival film, part shark horror, and they used a practical animatronic! Creepy
Watch on AMC+
Something in the Water
A group of five friends must fight for their lives in open water after a dream wedding turns into a nightmare.
*Swimming with a knife, they really went after it with this one.
Watch on Hulu
The Requin
A couple on a romantic getaway find themselves stranded at sea when a tropical storm sweeps away their villa. In order to survive, they are forced to fight the elements, while sharks circle below.
*In this, Alicia Silverstone is doing her absolute best to give a terrible performance. She succeeds.
Watch on Tubi, Plex & Prime
Open Water
Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left.
*Low budget, early 2000 tense watching
Watch on HBO Max
Sharknado
When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, nature’s deadliest killer rules sea, land, and air as thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace.
*This is a B-horror that watches like a C- or even D-Horror. I’d say people must be out of ideas, but they made how many of them??
Watch on Prime, AMC+, Peacock, Plex & Tubi
Santa Jaws
Trying to survive his family Christmas, Cody makes a wish to be alone, which ends up backfiring when a shark manifests and kills his entire family.
*Look, I love Christmas, and sometimes you need to check things out that aren’t just the classics. I also love when Christmas gets mixed with horror and comedy (which is why I wrote the darkly comedic thriller, Off with their Sleds). This … exists.
Watch on Prime, Plex & Tubi
Cruel Jaws
A huge shark terrorizes a beach in Florida, and the locals try everything to kill it.
*Checked this out as it is often referred to as Jaws 5, a shameless ripoff of the actual franchise. Then again … there is a reason I have yet to watch Jaws: The Revenge, though
Watch on Plex, Pluto TV & Tubi
Avalanche Sharks
Avalanche Sharks tells the story of a bikini contest that turns into a horrifying affair when it is hit by a shark avalanche.
*Sometimes you stare at the TV for hours wondering what to watch, and sometimes you just throw something on. This is almost a winter slasher meshed with sharks?
Watch on Prime, Pluto TV & Tubi
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus
The California coast is terrorized by two enormous prehistoric sea creatures as they battle each other for supremacy of the sea.
*Look, yes, I have seen it. No, I am not proud. There are actually several of these …
Watch on Tubi, Plex & Pluto TV
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time. I hope you check a few out and have a solid Shark Week. Let me know your faves and if you have any to recommend!
Remember, Finding Nemo‘s “Fish are friends, not food” is closer to accurate than any of these horrors, but they do make for exciting watches.
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