The Most Entertaining Awful Shark Horror Movies
This list is not the best shark movies—it's the opposite of that. While the Discovery Channel has been airing Shark Week since 1988, studios have been producing objectively awful low-budget shark movies for much longer. Think Sharknado was the beginning of the craze? Try a little Oscar-winner called Jaws, which became the first-ever summer blockbuster when it hit theaters in 1975. On the heels (tail fins?) of its success, studios the world over churned out one crappy shark horror film after another. They didn't care whether or not they had the budget for high-quality effects (they didn't), a visionary director (nope), or even a story that made sense (pshh). What they had was TEETH! And BLOOD! And SEXY TEENAGERS GETTING IMPALED BY THE SHARK'S TENTACLES OR WHATEVER!
Have you spent a lot of time watching campy shark films on SyFy? What do you look for in a shark terror movie? While some may want highly suspenseful set-ups wherein boaters may be able to escape—if only they don't make any dumb decisions—others are looking for supremely impossible hybrid shark beasts that slaughter their victims in creative ways... even their victims who are indoors, several miles inland, maybe just inspecting the pipes of their own kitchen sinks. (Spoiler: That happens in Ghost Shark.) Still other audiences may want great carefully-selected casts who are performing simply for the love of the genre, not because they need the money (like seasoned thespian Carmen Electra in 2-Headed Shark Attack) or because no one else will hire them (Brooke Hogan, same film).
Do you prefer goofy plasticky models or insanely lazy and childish CGI sharks? Do you want a complicated storyline that involves one guy demanding that some other guy close the beaches, but the second guy won't because of all that $$$? Do you prefer your sharks to be science experiments gone wrong or just some enormous, natural supposedly-extinct monsters that have been hiding at the bottom of the ocean for millions of years? Do you even care, as long as there's screaming and blood? This list includes both wide releases and made-for-TV shark movies, including those marvelous suckfests in SyFy's Maneater Series. Vote up your favorite terrible shark horror films, and click "rank your version" below to make your own list.
- Megalodon is a 2004 American shark film. It takes place out on a deep sea oil rig.
- Sharknado is a 2013 science fiction TV movie directed by Anthony C. Ferrante.
- Jaws 3-D is a 1983 American horror thriller film directed by Joe Alves and starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Lea Thompson and Louis Gossett, Jr. It is the second sequel to Steven Spielberg's ...more
- Newly arrived at her family's lake-island cabin, college student Sara (Sara Paxton) and her friends prepare for a weekend of fun in the sun. But soon after they dive into the lake, football player ...more
- Sharktopus is a 2010 SyFy original horror/science fiction film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Declan O'Brien, and starring Eric Roberts.
- Ghost Shark is a 2013 Syfy television horror sci-fi directed by Griff Furst. The film premiered on the Syfy channel on August 22, 2013.
- Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus is a monster/disaster film by The Asylum, released on May 19, 2009, in the United States and on August 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom. It was directed by Ace Hannah ...more
- Previously thought to be extinct, a massive creature attacks a deep-sea submersible, leaving it disabled and trapping the crew at the bottom of the Pacific. With time running out, a visionary ...more
- The Reef is a 2010 Australian horror film. The film was written and directed by Andrew Traucki, his second feature film, and is about a group of friends who capsize while sailing to Indonesia. The ...more
- Jaws: The Revenge, is a 1987 American horror thriller film directed by Joseph Sargent. It is the third and final sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the fourth and final installment in the Jaws ...more
- Dinoshark is a 2010 low budget Syfy horror film. It was shown on Syfy on March 13, 2010.
- Sharknado 2: The Second One is a 2014 American satirical disaster film comedy and a sequel to the 2013 television film Sharknado. It was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, with Tara Reid and Ian ...more
- Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! is a 2015 American action comedy horror film directed by Thunder Levin and the third installment in the Sharknado film series.
- 2-Headed Shark Attack is a horror film by The Asylum, released on January 31, 2012 in the United States. The film stars Carmen Electra, Charlie O'Connell and Brooke Hogan. The film premiered ...more
- Jersey Shore Shark Attack is a 2012 television film that aired on Syfy on June 8, 2012 and was written by Michael Ciminera and Richard Gnolfo. It was built around the popularity of the MTV well-known ...more
- Shark Attack 3: Megalodon is the second sequel to Shark Attack, released in 2002 straight to video. The film is notable for featuring John Barrowman who later found fame in popular shows such as ...more
- Bait is a 2012 action, thriller horror film written by Russell Mulcahy and by John Kim and directed by Kimble Rendall .
- Swamp Shark is a 2011 American horror film directed by Griff Furst and starring Kristy Swanson, D. B. Sweeney, Robert Davi, Jason Rogel, Sophia Sinise, Richard Tanne, and Jeff Chase. The film was ...more
- Sand Sharks is a 2011 Sci-Fi horror film written by Cameron Larson and directed by Mark Atkins. The film is from the story written by Cameron Larson and Joe Benkis.
- 12 Days of Terror is a 2004 television film that premiered on Animal Planet, and later on The Discovery Channel, directed by Jack Sholder and starring Colin Egglesfield, Mark Dexter, Jenna Harrison ...more
- Malibu Shark Attack is a 2009 TV film, directed by David Lister and produced for the Syfy channel. It is the 19th film in the Maneater Series.
- Undersea adventure about a couple who become involved in a dangerous conflict with treasure hunters when they discover a deadly shipwreck in Bermudan waters. When they realize that the cache includes ...more
- Super Shark is a 2011 sci-fi action film starring John Schneider, Sarah Lieving and Tim Abell and directed by Fred Olen Ray.