Entertainment
The Greatest Horror Movies Set on the Open Sea
List Rules
Vote up your favorite scary films that take place in the ocean, whether the danger is mainly in drowning, a hungry sea monster, or something more sinister.
The open sea can be scary in and of itself, but when a deadly force enters the picture it becomes downright terrifying. The top sea horror movies feature bloodthirsty sea creatures looking for their next meal. This is a list of the best scary ocean movies, including everything from The Abyss to Deep Blue Sea to Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep.
What films will you find on this list of the best water horror movies? A man-eating shark disrupts a sleepy resort town in the 1975 classic Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg. The suspenseful plot - along with the movie's timeless score - added to the frightening viewing experience. As the title suggests, Ghost Ship finds a haunted vessel tormenting fellow sailors. Other good movies featured on this list include Open Water, Sphere, and Shark Night.
Which scary water movie is the best? Give your favorites a thumbs up and share your thoughts in the comments section.
list ordered by
- 1When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry ...more
- Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some issues to work out. They are drafted to assist a gung-ho Navy SEAL (Michael Biehn) with a ...more
- Hired by Martin (Meg Foster), the head of a major corporation, a crew including geologist Steven Beck (Peter Weller) descends to the ocean's depths for a mining project. When the undersea explorers ...more
- On an island research facility, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) is harvesting the brain tissue of DNA-altered sharks as a possible cure for Alzheimer's disease. When the facility's backers send ...more
- Still reeling from the loss of her mother, medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to ...more
- In a remote region of the Bering Sea, a boat salvage crew discovers the eerie remains of a grand passenger liner thought lost for more than 40 years. But once onboard the eerie, cavernous ship, the ...more
- When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) and ...more
- Disaster strikes more than six miles below the ocean surface when water crashes through the walls of a drilling station. Led by their captain, the survivors realize that their only hope is to walk ...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
- A newly unveiled ocean liner, the Argonautica sets out on its first cruise, only to encounter dangers both on board and in the ocean depths. While the beautiful thief Trillian (Famke Janssen) ...more
- 11Years after the shark attacks that left Amity Island reeling, Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finds new trouble lurking in the waters. Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) wants to rid the beach town ...more
- Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan) embark on a tropical vacation with their scuba-diving certifications in tow. During a group dive, the two separate themselves from the others to dive ...more
- 13Previously 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
- 14When psychologist Norman Goodman (Dustin Hoffman) wrote a report for the government on how to deal with extraterrestrial life forces, he didn't expect his recommendations to be used. Now that a ...more
- Rae Ingram (Nicole Kidman) and her husband, John (Sam Neill), struggle to overcome the sudden death of their young son. In an attempt to move past their loss, the couple take their yacht out for an ...more
- Young sisters Kate and Lisa and travel to Mexico for a vacation filled with sun, fun and adventure. Lisa needs some extra persuasion when Kate suggests that they go diving in shark-infested waters. ...more
- 17Orca is a 1977 horror film directed by Michael Anderson and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, and Will Sampson. It is based on Arthur Herzog's novel of the ...more
- 18Undersea 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
- Spring break turns gory when an underground tremor releases hundreds of prehistoric, carnivorous fish into Lake Victoria, a popular waterside resort. Local cop Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) must ...more
- A group of U.S. Navy engineers, led by Capt. Laidlaw (Taurean Blacque), are building an underwater base when they inadvertently disturb the lair of a gigantic creature. The monster attacks, and the ...more
- 21Yacht passengers encounter mysterious weather conditions that force them to jump onto another ship, only to have the odd havoc increase.
- 22The submarine U.S.S. Manta had a perfect record until the mysterious death of its captain. The next-in-command, Lt. Richard Brice (Bruce Greenwood) is determined to steer his disheartened crew back ...more
- Solitary marine-biology student Siobhán endures a week on a ragged fishing trawler, miserably at odds with the close-knit crew. But out in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life-form soon ensnares ...more
- The Beast is a 1996 television movie starring William Petersen, Karen Sillas and Charles Martin Smith. Aired in two parts as a miniseries, the movie is based on the 1991 novel Beast by Jaws author ...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
