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No animal has inspired and terrified as much as the shark. The black-eyed fish has ruled the nightmares of audiences around the world since the release of Jaws in the summer of 1975. That Steven Spielberg classic became the highest-grossing movie of its day, but replicating its critical and commercial success has proven to be tough if, probably impossible, to replicate.

Unfortunately for lovers of sharks and the films they inspire, not all of these movies can be winners. For every iconic, fun and thrilling shark movie, there are a dozen absolute shockers that fall by the wayside. Ranging from B-grade romps to unwatchable junk, here are 10 of the worst shark movies. These movies are such rough going they make the intentionally cheesy Sharknado films (silly by design, and more of the so-bad-it's-good variety) look pretty competent and harmless. Brace yourself.

10 'Deep Blue Sea 2' (2018)

Directed by: Darin Scott

Shark conservationist Misty (Danielle Savre) is invited to consult on a project at a highly secretive facility in the middle of the ocean. Billionaire and pharmaceutical mogul Carl Durant (played by the aptly named Michael Beach) has been using the facility to conduct experiments on bull sharks. Despite the breed being famously aggressive, Carl believes he can control the sharks through a convoluted combination of genetic mutations and training. In a twist that won't surprise viewers, Carl is wrong.

While it's no Jaws, 1999's Deep Blue Sea is a fun and thrilling shark-based horror movie, bursting at the seams with great actors and memorable moments. The same can't be said for Deep Blue Sea 2. Released almost 20 years after the original, the sequel was surely slapped together in an effort to capitalize on the nostalgia-obsession of the 21st century.

Deep Blue Sea 2

Deep Blue Sea 2 follows shark conservationist Dr. Misty Calhoun as she's invited to a remote ocean facility by pharmaceutical billionaire Carl Durant. The facility uses genetically enhanced bull sharks in experiments, but the sharks escape, creating chaos. As the team fights for survival, they must prevent the sharks from reaching open waters and causing further destruction​

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9 '47 Meters Down: Uncaged' (2019)

Directed by: Johannes Roberts

Teen stepsisters Mia (Sophie Nélisse) and Sasha (Corinne Foxx) don't get along, and the tension between the pair only gets worse when the family relocates to Mexico. In an effort to get the girls to bond, family patriarch Grant (John Corbett) encourages them to take a great white shark boat tour. But Sasha, uninterested in spending the day with tourists, has other ideas. She takes Mia and a few friends to an isolated, labyrinthine diving spot, where they quickly discover that they aren't the only creatures lurking in the caves.

A lot of very unlikely occurrences have to fall into place for the events of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged to unfold. But, for viewers who can move beyond the impossibilities of the plot, there's a bit of fun to be had with this sequel to 2017's 47 Meters Down. In addition to the no-strings-attached fun of the film, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged also introduces audiences to a new generation of young actors with famous parents. In addition to a solid lead performance from Corinne Foxx (daughter of Jamie Foxx) the film also features Sylvester Stallone's daughter, Sistine Stallone in her debut film role.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

47 Meters Down: Uncaged follows the story of four teenage girls: Mia, Sasha, Alexa, and Nicole. The girls explore a submerged Mayan city, but their adventure quickly turns into a nightmare when they encounter deadly, blind sharks that have adapted to the dark underwater environment. Trapped in a claustrophobic labyrinth of submerged caves, the girls must find a way to escape the sharks and survive.

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8 'Bait' (2012)

Directed by: Kimble Rendall

After witnessing a vicious shark attack, Josh (Xavier Samuel) quits his job as a lifeguard and starts working at a supermarket instead. Despite his desire to get as far away from the water as he can, nature has other ideas. While Josh is working, a tsunami hits the area and floods the supermarket. Josh and other survivors perch atop the store's shelving units to keep dry, and soon after they realize that the huge wave has washed a great white shark into the store.

For lovers of silly B-grade fun, a dangerous animal trapped in an unlikely setting is a match made in heaven. But for everyone else, Bait is a step or two beyond what is believable. Silliness aside, Bait is uplifted by its cast, several of whom have starred in other, much better horror films. This includes Xavier Samuel, who leads the brutally weird Australian horror filmThe Loved Ones, and Sharni Vinson, who stars as an unconventional final girl in horror-comedy classic You're Next.

Bait (2012)

Bait plunges a group of shoppers into chaos as a freak tsunami floods a coastal Australian supermarket, trapping them inside. To make matters worse, 12-foot great white sharks infiltrate the store, transforming their predicament into a frantic battle for survival. As they navigate the flooded aisles, they must also contend with electrocution risks and dwindling resources, heightening the tension of their desperate fight for life.

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7 'Meg 2: The Trench' (2023)

Directed by: Ben Wheatley

In the 6 years since the events of the first film, Jonas (Jason Statham) has continued his work combating environmental crime, while also working to explore the Mariana Trench (the deepest oceanic trench on earth). During his exploration of the trench, Jonas discovers an illegal and covert mine operating in the area. His discovery leads to a series of catastrophic events that cause the trench's thermocline layer to rupture. This damage allows several megalodons and other giant, dangerous sea creatures to escape into the ocean.

It was quite a surprise when prolific indie filmmaker Ben Wheatley signed on to direct Meg 2: The Trench. But it was even more surprising when the resulting film was pedestrian and lacking in the biting edge the filmmaker is famous for. Although Meg 2 is better than the average shark film, it is so much worse and less inspired than the average Ben Wheatley film.

The Meg 2: The Trench

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A research team encounters multiple threats while exploring the depths of the ocean, including a malevolent mining operation.

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6 'Great White' (2021)

Directed by: Martin Wilson

A group of travelers takes a scenic sea-plane flight over the beautiful Hell's Reef. When the plane lands they are shocked to find a man's body washed up on the shore. The group get back onto the plane and fly over the ocean to see if anyone else is stranded or injured nearby. The plane lands on the water beside a capsized yacht, and while the group look for survivors, the plane is destroyed by a shark and the group are stranded.

Just when audiences thought filmmakers were running out of ways to trap groups of people with man-eating endangered species, Great White arrived with a seaplane, a life raft and a dream. The film has a slicker look and better special effects than many films in the same genre. But despite its advantages, Great White just never amounts to more than the sum of its parts.

Great White

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5 'Dark Tide' (2012)

Directed by: John Stockwell

Kate (Halle Berry) is a shark expert who has lost her confidence, and is on the verge of losing her business, after a colleague under her supervision was killed by a shark. With few options left, Kate accepts a well-paying but dangerous job offer. Kate will be the guide for a wealthy business mogul and his teenage son as they go on a shark dive without a cage.

Despite being a charismatic and talented performer, Halle Berry is no stranger to a flop. In 2004, the actor attended The Razzies in-person to accept her award for Catwoman (and gave her speech while holding the Academy Award she had received two years prior for Monster's Ball). But Dark Tide is another beast altogether. Not even Berry's charm can lift this dull shark thriller from the salty depths. Dark Tide's greatest and only accomplishment is that it's one of only a few dozen films to have a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score based on more than 20 critic reviews.

Dark Tide

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4 'The Last Shark' (1981)

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari

Author Peter (James Franciscus) and shark hunter Ron (Vic Morrow) discover that a great white shark is terrorizing the local seaside town of Port Harbor. Despite their efforts to protect the community, the town's mayor (Joshua Sinclair) refuses to act on the information. Instead, the mayor wants the story buried so it doesn't interfere with an upcoming wind-surfing regatta.

Great cinema is often shaped by a series of people borrowing from those who came before them. Classic literature inspired samurai films, samurai films inspired westerns, and the popularity of westerns birthed the spaghetti western. But where does one draw the line between inspiration and plagiarism? Probably at The Last Shark, an unabashed Jaws rip-off filmed in Italy and set in America. Despite the rich tradition of Italian filmmakers borrowing inspiration from American westerns, The Last Shark's plagiarism was so brazen, that Universal Studios had the film's distribution halted in America.

The Last Shark (1981)

The Last Shark revolves around a coastal resort town terrorized by a massive 35-foot great white shark. The story begins with the shark attacking and killing a windsurfer, which leads to increased fear and chaos in the community. Author Peter Benton and professional shark hunter Ron Hamer join forces to confront the deadly predator. 
 

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3 'Shark Exorcist' (2015)

Directed by: Donald Farmer

An evil nun summons Satan to possess the body of a great white shark. Now possessed by the devil himself, the shark terrorizes a small coastal town. Every woman it attacks is transformed into a 'shark-woman' who then runs rampant throughout the community. Only a priest with a heart of gold can save the day.

The shark genre is rife with films like Shark Exorcist. These 'sharksploitation' films are often hacky punchlines, which, due to an abundance of will, and a lack of good taste, have been stretched out into 70-minute 'films'. If projects like Shark Exorcist, Sharktopus and Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre qualified as credible filmmaking attempts, they would dominate this entire list. But, for the most part, the low-effort schlock that chums the 'sharksploitation' waters, doesn't come close.

Shark Exorcist

In Shark Exorcist, a vengeful nun conjures Satan to possess a great white shark, unleashing terror on a small fishing village. This demonic shark leaves a gruesome trail of bodies, prompting a desperate community to confront the supernatural menace. A Catholic priest arrives, determined to perform an exorcism and end the chaos, setting the stage for an epic battle between good and evil.

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2 'Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)

Directed by: Joseph Sargent

Now a widow, Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary) lives a quiet life on Amity Island with her son Sean (Mitchell Anderson) who works as a police officer. While Sean is responding to a call about a log stuck near a buoy, he is pulled into the water by a great white shark and killed. Ellen comes to the conclusion that the shark which killed her son is actively seeking revenge on her family.

Rarely is the gulf between a film and its sequels as enormous as it is with Jaws and the three sequels that followed it. Perhaps the worst of the bunch is Jaws: The Revenge, a film which posits that sharks are able to remember certain people and carry out elaborate vendettas. While the plot of Jaws: The Revenge might work for a tongue-in-cheek B-movie, it doesn't belong anywhere near the legacy of the greatest shark film ever made.

Jaws: The Revenge

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1 'Mako: The Jaws of Death' (1976)

Directed by: William Grefé

Sonny Stein (Richard Jaeckel) is a brooding Vietnam veteran, who comes to the realization that he has a psychic, telepathic connection to sharks. Using his newly discovered ability to communicate back and forth with sharks, he learns that a local aquarium is exploiting sharks.

Mako: The Jaws of Death was one of the first films to try and capitalize on the incredible success of Jaws. While the plot smacks of edgy, cringey 'sharksploitation', viewers only need to get a few frames in to see that this film has a bit more going on. As the film begins, the following text is superimposed over footage of ocean waves: "The producers wish to express their sincere gratitude to the members of the underwater crew who risked their lives to film the shark sequences in this motion picture without the benefit of cages or other protective devices." Mako: The Jaws of Death was not successful (or good). But the effort of the filmmakers to capture real underwater footage of sharks is evident and commendable, especially considering the limits of camera technology in the mid 70s.

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