Killer Shark Movies that Audiences Eat Right Up

We love danger. Well, that sentence may need clarification: Audiences enjoy the excitement that comes from movies with dangerous situations. Whether it’s theme parks with terrible lizards, gang wars or high-speed car chases, we are often attracted to stories about big threats. One of the trustiest, most reliable threats out there that inspires our cinematic tradition is the shark. This is warranted by so much, like their seemingly dead eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and even the restless stalking they seem to perform before closing in on prey. Sharks are real-life nightmare creatures, which makes them perfect for films throughout the decades. Whether it’s a summer blockbuster or a kitschy “what if” flick, there’s room for excitement whenever a shark shows up on the silver screen. Here is a collection of our favorite shark movies to download for free. 

Scripts from this Article

Jaws

Jaws 2

The Shallows

Jaws 3-D

Deep Blue Sea

The Meg

Jaws (1975)

Let’s start with the film that started the craze. Jaws is not only the first major motion picture about shark attacks — it’s also the very first blockbuster film in cinematic history. The mechanical contraption that became the menacing great white in this 1975 tastemaker caused a lot of trouble during production, but it’s the appearance onscreen where you can truly feel the shark’s impact.

Jaws (1975)

Its reign of terror becomes a source of mounting tension for police and scientists alike as the deadly sea spawn finds a taste for human flesh. Eponymously based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Universal’s producers heard about the book before publication and agreed on this high-concept story being the perfect fodder for a Hollywood changemaker. It most certainly made an impact as the Spielberg film that made the then-young director a household name. The kind of danger brought by a creature this tenacious can only be met in the end with something huge in response— a lesson learned for the future action thrillers that came in the wake of one of the greatest shark movies of all time.

Read More: Jaws: Defined The Modern Blockbuster

Jaws 2 (1978)

More death and destruction find a way back to the same island years after the events of Jaws, and it’s up to Sheriff Brody (Roy Scheider) yet again to figure out how to make the town safe once more. More shark-related deaths give Amity Island some hell, but there’s more to it all. This time, the panic is deeper and more pervasive — the whole town fears the return of something they didn’t understand last time. And sometimes, knowing what you’re up against is even worse in shark movies. Even Brody has trouble dealing with post-traumatic stress as he encounters the deadly forces lurking below. This film demonstrates how pervasive these dangerous sharks are in the theaters, with a tagline that reads, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…”

Read More: 3 Spielbergian Ways Screenwriters Can Introduce Their Characters

The Shallows (formerly, In the Deep, 2016)

It’s dangerous to go alone. If you don’t believe that, watch this movie. Sure, some locals hang around at first, but Nancy (Blake Lively) soon wanders too far at this secluded beach in her mission to catch one last wave. Finding a carcass in the water, Nancy finds herself too late to head back ashore — caught on the bad side (Is there a good side?) of a great white shark with an appetite.

The Shallows (2016)

As she finds herself stranded way out on a rock in the water with a bad leg bite, Nancy works to survive with her quick thinking while the ticking clock of the high tide brings her doom ever closer. The dangers of a shark encounter are worth exploring onscreen, but it’s all the more compelling when you get to see just one character having to handle it all on her own. The Shallows is the most personal of the shark movies in this collection.  

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

One of the best B horror movies to enter the shark movies zeitgeist, Deep Blue Sea cements a trend that later became a celebration of shark week: the science-fiction killer shark. While some sharks are thrown around by gale-force winds, others are brought into being with genetic engineering. The deadly creatures in Deep Blue Sea are the latter — make sharks with larger brains, which become smarter and deadlier than ever before. The scientists researching these sharks find themselves stuck and their facility flooded as they struggle against these brand-new apex predators and the dangers of the deep blue sea itself.

Read More: Top 10 Best B-Movies

Jaws 3-D (1983)

Yes, Jaws kept it coming, and what’s better, you can see the kitschy result of this franchise’s third installment in 3-D as it was in 1983. In it, your polarized glasses would show you an immense shark coming to get you in SeaWorld Orlando. Brody’s legacy lives on in his sons (Dennis Quaid and John Putch), who are forced to act to protect not only the tourists but the animals of the park as well. Once again, explosives — as well as some dolphins with clever timing — are part of the fun in this predictable but enjoyable romp of an action flick. It also inspired that wave of B movies that made sharks such a common mainstay in action films — which is arguably just as large an accomplishment as a 35-foot shark chomping at you in three dimensions.

The Meg (2018)

Science fiction and action find their way together time and time again, and shark movies are one prime example of that successful combo. In the wake of a new kaiju movie craze and the advent of films like Sharknado came The Meg, a movie about the Megalodon. The name means “big tooth,” which for a shark is scary enough. What’s scarier is the monster itself, a relic of prehistory that rises from the Marianas Trench and brings with it a whole new age of devastation for the scientists that find it. Bigger is not always better and more exciting — but when it comes to the haunting predators of the deep, you can’t deny that a fish this big becomes absolutely spine-chilling.

The Meg (2018)

The changes that animals have made to cinema can’t be understated: Dog movies break our hearts all too often, while horror movies use cats to mislead and jump-scare you at all the best turns. That said, it’s the shark, that ominous shadow in the water, who imprints your nightmares thanks to some of the most interesting, compelling, or shocking movies to make the big screen. If you want to make menacing sea creatures in your scripts, reading and watching these killer sharks may be the best place to start!