Aquatic horror movies cause fear of the ocean. The medical name for fear of the deep, dark ocean is thalassophobia, and it appears that we all have it to varying levels.
We all have a natural terror when confronted with darkness, water, and strange creatures; this is why underwater movies belong to the horror genre.
But which movies do the best job of fusing fear and tidal energy? This article will recommend the best Aquatic horror movies.
1. Jaws (1975)
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton.
- IMDb Ratings: 8.1/10
- Running: 2hr 4mins
This movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies. It is a sweltering summer on Amity Island, a little town where the beaches are the primary draw.
Afterwards, the first thing that the new sheriff Martin Brody wants to do after finding the remains of a shark attack victim is to prohibit swimming on the beaches.
Since Mayor Larry Vaughn and a few other local merchants are not pleased about this. Brody recants out of regret when a little kid is killed by a predator that weekend.
Although Amity is quickly overrun by amateur hunters and fishermen hoping to cash in on the bounty the slain boy’s mother placed on the shark.
Surprisingly, Quint, a local fisherman with extensive shark hunting skills, offers to take down the animal for a sizable amount.
The Oceanographic Institute’s Quint, Brody, and Matt Hooper will soon search for the Great White shark at sea. They’ll need a bigger boat, as Brody sums it up nicely following their initial brush with the creature.
2. Piranha (1978)
- Director: Joe Dante
- Cast: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Steele, and Dick Miller
- IMDb Ratings: 5.9/10
- Running time: 1hr 34mins
A young couple discovers a U.S. Army testing facility on a cliff with a large population. They dive in, believing it to be a regular swimming pool. The couple, however, is eaten alive by the piranha that lives in this water.
The P.I., who is the young lad? The parent of one of the missing children hired a P.I to find the children, and she encounters an alcoholic mountain dweller who is an outdoorsman. The pool did drain once the two of them located the test site.
As they proceed, Dr. Hoak, the sole resident of the test site, approaches them and informs them that the individuals in the pool were as a result of a gene-splicing experiment known as “Operation Razorteeth.
Also Dr. Hoak made the test site to form a mutant strain of piranha fish for use against the NVA in the Vietnam War.
However, The fish might be able to survive in cold water and reproduce frequently. The test site tried to halt it after realizing that a children’s summer camp and the Lost River Lake Resort downstream were on the piranhas’ route.
The base people are well behind the piranha, and as they travel downstream, several people dead. The children try to alert the camp director and resort owner about the threat, which got them to prison.
Due to the woman’s cunning, they manage to escape from the police and rush to the campsite in an official police vehicle to warn the campers.
However, the piranhas have already struck, and some people wish to keep the piranha’s threat a secret. This movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
3. Deep Blue Sea (1999)
- Director: Renny Harlin
- Cast: Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, and L.L. Cool J,
- IMDb Ratings: 5.9/10
- Running Time: 1hr 45mins
Dr. Susan McCallister welcomes Russell Franklin to Aquatica, a state-of-the-art underwater laboratory and former submarine refueling facility in the middle of the ocean. However, she was hoping to get investors for her ambitious research on Alzheimer’s disease.
The streamlined Mako shark, once the fastest predator in the sea, has now undergone genetic modification to become the most brilliant killer in the world.
Nevertheless, it became terrifying when the laboratory’s silent subaquatic assassins were currently at large.
Can the few survivors reach the surface in time to avoid being eaten for breakfast by the super-intelligent man-hunters? This movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
4. Leviathan (1989)
- Director: George P. Cosmatos
- Cast: Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Ernie Hudson, Amanda Pays, Michael Carmine, and Hector Elizondo
- IMDb Ratings: 5.8/10
- Running Time: 1hr 38mins
This movie also seems as one of the best aquatic horror movies. The Tri Oceanic Mining Corporation maintains an eight-man crew in the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 16,000 feet to remove silver and other precious metals.
Steven Beck, a geologist and team leader, manages the miners Elizabeth “Willie” Williams, Buzz “Sixpack” Parrish, Justin Jones, Tony “DeJesus” Rodero, Bridget Bowman, and G. P. Cobb, along with Dr. Glen “Doc” Thompson. He also serves as Ms. Martin’s point of contact at Tri Oceanic.
Sixpack falls in a hole on their second to last day of work when Willie and Sixpack go to labor outside the base.
Firstly, Willie tracks him down and discovers the Leviathan, a Russian ship and then Sixpack finds a safe inside the vessel and returns it to their base.
They discover cash, vodka, a videotape, and papers; Beck keeps the safe’s contents. But Sixpack snatches a vodka bottle, and he drinks with Bowman. A
s Beck and Doc watch the footage, the Russian Captain describes the issue that led to the deaths of his crew. Sixpack is ill the following morning and remains in the sick bay.
The patient has a genetic abnormality, Doc soon learns. Beck requests Ms. Martin to save them when Bowman displays the same symptoms. However, a cyclone is on the surface, making a rescue attempt impossible.
5. Jaws 2 (1978)
- Director: Jeannot Szwarc
- Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox, Gary Springer, Murray Hamilton, Roy Scheider, and Lorraine Gary
- IMDb Ratings: 5.8/10
- Running Time:1hr 56mins
The seas off Amity Island are stained crimson by yet another undersea predator, similar to Jaws (1975). A group of adolescents, including Mike and Sean Brody, find themselves at the mercy of a greedy, 30-foot great white shark.
Police Chief Martin Brody faced the shark with a string of fatalities, disbelief, and a potential new shark problem, and Mayor Larry Vaughn was unwilling to take anything.
Can Brody free the young sailors who are imprisoned and put an end to the vicious, man-eating monster with the jaws of death? The movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
6. Deep Star Six (1989)
- Director: Sean S. Cunningham
- Cast: Greg Evigan, Taurean Blacque, Nancy Everhard, Cindy Pickett, Miguel Ferrer, Nia Peeples, and Matt McCoy.
- IMDb Ratings: 5.3/10
- Running Time: 1hr 39mins
Several Americans When creating an undersea facility, Navy engineers under the direction of Capt. Laidlaw (Taurean Blacque) accidentally disrupts the home of a massive beast. The crew tries to flee as the monster attacks, but the facility is severely damaged.
The team includes lovers Collins (Nancy Everhard) and McBride (Greg Evigan). The increasingly desperate humans are scared since outside of the facility is breached, and the monster starts to kill them one by one.
7. The Beast (1996)
- Director: Jeff Bleckner
- Cast: William Petersen, Karen Sillas, Charles Martin Smith, Larry Drake, missy Crider, Ronald Guttman, and Sterling Macer Jr.
- IMDb Ratings: 5.8/10
- Running Time: 2h 56mins
In a little maritime town where jobs and fishing are in short supply, tragedy strikes when a young couple vanishes into the water, leaving only a giant claw trapped in their raft.
Therefore, A marine expert explained the result to be from a very rare gigantic squid, and the search is on.
8. The Shallows (2016)
- Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
- Cast: Blake Lively, Brett Cullen, Óscar Jaenada, Angelo Josue Lozano Corzo, Joseph Salas, Brett Cullen and Sedona Legge
- IMDb Ratings: 6.3/10
- Running Time: 1hr 26mins
This movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies. After Nancy’s mother passes away, medical student Nancy quits Galveston’s school and departs for Mexico, traveling to a secret beach that her mother adored when she was younger.
Nancy travels with a bag and a surfboard, and when she meets two other surfers, they warn her about the timing of the low and high tides. She chooses to stay a bit longer after they go from the sea.
Later, She swims up to a dead whale she finds floating in the sea and is startled to discover a white shark.
However, Nancy is a bit on the leg but manages to stay alive on a rock using her medical expertise. However, the high tide is approaching, and the vicious shark is pursuing her.
9. 47 Meters Down (2017)
- Director: Johannes Roberts
- Cast: Claire Holt, Chris J Johnson, Matthew Modine, Mandy Moore, Yani Gellman, and Santiago Segura
- IMDb Ratings: 5.6/10
- Running Time: 1hr 29mins
Instead of going on the happy vacation, she had planned to take with her lover to Mexico, Lisa invites her outgoing younger sister Kate to join her.
The two sisters did run across a couple of friendly locals who, persuaded the girls to go on a shark-diving adventure with them so they can have a close-up view of the majestic 25-foot great white sharks in the security of a cage.
Lisa reluctantly consents, but events take an unexpected turn as the heavy cage suddenly malfunctions and falls 47 meters to the ocean’s seafloor in shark-infested waters.
Now, the only safe place is inside the constricted confines of the rickety cage; yet, how long will it take the gigantic sea predators to shatter it?
10. The Meg (2018)
- Director: Jon Turteltaub
- Cast: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis
- IMDb Ratings: 5.6/10
- Running Time: 1hr 56mins
Five years later, Jonas Taylor, the most excellent deep-sea rescue diver in the world, finds himself in the vast ocean region of the Mariana Trench.
He was being judged insanely for claiming that the failed rescue mission in Philippine waters collapsed because of a predator of epic proportions that appeared to be extinct, the prehistoric Megalodon. However, Jonas will need to act quickly to avenge himself.
However, Three scientists from an underwater research station close to Shanghai become stranded inside a broken submersible and assaulted by an unidentified creature.
Possibly, the theories put out by the disgraced savior regarding the ferocious underwater Leviathan are accurate. This movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
11. The Reef (2010)
- Director: Andrew Traucki
- Cast: Damian Walshe-Howling, Zoe Naylor, Gyton Grantley, Mark Simpson, Adrienne Pickering, and Kieran Darcy-Smith
- IMDb Ratings: 5.8/10
- Running Time: 1hr 34mins
To sail with him and the sailor Warren in a sailboat, Luke welcomes his friend Matt, his girlfriend Suzie, who is visiting from London, and Matt’s sister Kate, who is calling from Sydney.
The ship, however, strikes a submerged boulder and flips over, leaving a gap in her bottom. Warren prefers to stay on the hull waiting for assistance because sharks are in the water.
Still, Luke advises them to swim in the north to reach Turtle Island in Queensland, Australia, while they still have strength because a current is moving the boat in the opposite direction of land. The group swims, but a giant white shark is after them.
12. Open Water (2003)
- Director: Chris Kentis
- Cast: Blanchard Ryan, Saul Stein, Daniel Travis, Cristina Zenato, Michael E. Williamson, Estelle Lau, and John Charles
- IMDb Ratings: 5.8/10
- Running Time: 1hr 19mins
Open Water is one of the best aquatic horror movies. Daniel “Dan” and Susan, a happy couple, plan a tropical vacation in the Caribbean.
After the arduous travel, they endure a bug-filled night while anticipating scuba diving the following day.
Required divers count was upset because Seth, who had forgotten his mask, had persuaded someone to dive as his buddy, following the rules after he had forgotten his own.
They are carried away by the current in open water while desperately trying to catch someone’s eye, dodging stinging jellyfish, and dreading shark attacks.
However, Dan feels compelled to remind Susan that it is hers when she begins to complain and erroneously blame him.
13. Crawl (2019)
- Director: Alexandre Aja
- Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Ross Anderson, Jose Palma, George Somner, and Anson Boon
- IMDb Ratings: 6.1/10
- Running Time: 1hr 27mins
Contrary to all reason, competitive swimmer Haley enters the path of a powerful Category-5 hurricane barreling toward her hometown in Florida to check on her estranged father, Dave.
Haley and her father are trapped in their flooded crawl space in their dilapidated home amid a rapidly sinking and alligator-infested town. There, a ruthless pair of six-meter predators are silently stalking them.
Only their will to live can now, as Haley and Dave are gasping for breath in the cramped cellar, enable them to stand a chance against the formidable jaws of the scaly foes. Can they elude being devoured alive? This movie is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
14. Sea Fever (2019)
- Director: Neasa Hardiman
- Cast: Hermione Corfield, Dougray Scott, Connie Niels, Dougray Scott, and Olwen Fouéré
- IMDb Ratings: 5.7/10
- Running Time: 1hr 29mins
Sea Fever is a fascinating movie regarded as one of the best aquatic horror movies. The stranded crew of a West of Ireland trawler fights a developing parasite in their water source for their life.
Siobhan, a lone marine biology student, spends a week on a rickety fishing boat and struggles horribly to get along with the tight-knit crew.
However, the yacht quickly becomes trapped by an inexplicable life in the deep Atlantic.
Before everyone is lost, Siobhán must get over her resentment and gain their trust as team members are now dying from a weird sickness.
15. Rogue (2007)
- Director: Greg McLean
- Cast: Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Caroline Brazier, Sam Worthington, John Jarrat, Stephen Curry, and Celia Ireland
- IMDb Ratings: 6.5/10
- Running Time: 1hr 39mina
A lovely nature cruise turns terrifying when a group of visitors comes under the gaze of a sizeable man-eating crocodile.
On a river cruise through the waterways of Kakadu National Park, Pete McKell, a pessimistic American travel writer, travels with a diverse group of vacationers.
Pete initially runs afoul of their tour leader, Kate, a sassy young lady who believes he is simply another “city-slicker” looking for a quick sensation.
After a routine day of river sailing, Kate had a certainty of taking their boat into uncharted waters.
They find a remote lake but are terrified when their ship is struck by a hard blow from the murky depths and starts to sink.
Fear overtakes the party as they realize they are stuck in the den of a “rogue” crocodile, driven only by its need to hunt and kill, while the tide rises and there are only 30 minutes of daylight left.
Pete and Kate reluctantly work together to control the panic and begin to see things differently.
When their initial attempt to flee fails, Pete has an idea: they must capture the crocodile so they may escape to the other side of the island while Kate swims for assistance.
Pete offers to be on guard, but the beast runs and attacks Kate when she doesn’t reappear.
A harrowing struggle begins as night falls and the murky waters rise, with only one consequence sure to be death. This movie is exciting and is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
16. Bait 3D (2012)
- Director: Kimble Rendall
- Cast: Xavier Samuel, Sharni Vinson, Adrian Pang, Yuwu Qi, and Alex Russell
- IMDb Ratings:5.2/10
- Running Time: 1hr 33mins
Josh, a former lifeguard, now works in a supermarket an agonizing year after a terrible encounter with a vicious shark.
Then, as if mana ging his ex-girlfriend, her new lover, a juvenile shoplifter, and a potentially hazardous hostage situation during an armed robbery weren’t challenging enough, a massive wave strikes the store, flooding the entire area.
The few survivors realize that a vast, twelve-foot-long great white shark is swimming through the aisles. As a result, the neighborhood grocery store gradually transforms into an inescapable death trap. Is there a way to avoid the ultimate apex predator’s razor-sharp teeth?
17. Black Water (2007)
- Directors: Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich
- Cast: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Ben Oxenbould, Andy Rodoreda, and Fiona Press
- IMDb Ratings: 5.8/10
- Running Time: 1hr 30mins
Gracie, her husband Adam, and her younger sister Lee decide to go fishing on the Blackwater Barry trip while on holiday in Northern Australia. Jim, their tour guide, transports the traveler to an isolated location down the river in a tiny motorboat.
When they pause, a giant crocodile attacks them, turning their boat over and instantly killing Jim. The three survivors try to escape their safe place after realizing that help will never arrive to rescue them and climb a tree.
However, their boat flips over in the murky water, and a crocodile follows the group underneath. This is one of the best aquatic horror movies.
