It’s summer, which means it’s beach season, but if you’re like me, Jaws ruined beaches for you long ago. Spielberg’s shark movie instilled a phobia of fish in me at an early age that has grown and evolved as I’ve matured. Still, there’s something about sharks and shark horror that attracts me, even if most entries are as compelling as rotten chum. No movie before or after has come even close to reaching the masterful terror of Jaws, but in honor of its 50th anniversary, I bring you ’10 Great Shark Movies That Aren’t ‘Jaws‘ and Where to Watch Them.’ Be warned, I’m using the term “great” pretty loosely here.

1. The Reef (2010)

Directed by Andrew Traucki

The Reef is a straightforward but engaging story about a group of friends stranded in open water with hungry sharks lurking nearby. After their boat is capsized, the friends are left to figure out a solution to their dilemma, but time is limited. There’s nothing new or particularly impactful about its story, but it takes the generic premise a step above the rest with its authentic execution and a couple of moments of genuine suspense.

2. Dangerous Animals (2025)

Directed by Sean Byrne

Jai Courtney plays a homicidal madman in horror master Sean Byrne’s Dangerous Animals. He’s a serial killer with a unique weapon… sharks. It’s less a shark movie than it is a serial killer thriller, but the predatory fish play a pivotal role in the story, so I’m still counting it. This is the newest movie to make the list, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2025.

3. Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Directed by Renny Harlin

“Bigger. Smarter. Faster. Meaner.” That was the tagline for the Thomas Jane (The Punisher, The Mist) and Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Kong: Skull Island) starring Deep Blue Sea. In an attempt to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, the brains of several sharks at a research facility are enhanced. Don’t worry about the setup, the point is… these sharks are intelligent now and working together to take down every human that stands in their way of making it into the open ocean.

4. Something in the Water (2024)

Directed by Hayley Easton Street

Five best friends are spending some relaxing bonding time on the water, the day before one of them is getting married. When one of the women is injured and the boat they’re on begins sinking, the five friends find themselves in a battle for survival amidst a school of hungry sharks. With an all-female cast and a female director, it offers a unique perspective on the genre. While it begins grounded and realistic, it unravels into a bit of cliched lunacy by the end.

5. The Shallows (2016)

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

I still remember the thrill I got from watching The Shallows in theaters. It’s arguably the second-best shark movie in existence. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (Carry-On, Black Adam) has a mixed bag of directing credits, but he knows how to craft tension when he wants to. Blake Lively is acting alone for nearly the entire movie, except for a seagull that she jokingly names Steven Seagull. It’s a simple story of a surfer stranded on the water after a large great white shark sets its sights on her, and it’s delivered in a taut and suspenseful 87 minutes.

6. Bait (2012)

Directed by Kimble Rendall

This one certainly isn’t great. It’s probably the weakest entry on the list. But if you’re in the mood for over-the-top silliness, this is for you. A tidal wave traps shoppers in a supermarket, and the flooded aisles are swimming with hungry sharks. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, but if you go in knowing what you’re in for, you’ll likely have a fun time.

7. Open Water (2003)

Directed by Chris Kentis

Though it received criticism for its simplicity, Open Water is among the most suspenseful entries on this list. Much like The Blair Witch Project, this is a micro-budgeted horror movie where, arguably, not a lot happens. Inspired by the true story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, a married couple who were left behind during a diving excursion in Australia, never to be seen again, the movie was filmed in the open ocean among real sharks.

8. Under Paris (2024)

Directed by Xavier Gens

The French action-horror movie from 2024 became a surprise hit on its streaming home of Netflix. It’s cheesy, and ridiculous, and everything you’d expect from a shark movie. Featuring impressive underwater visuals and a Jaws-like premise of a problematic shark that refuses to leave, the movie proves that the subgenre is versatile and not confined to the sunny beaches of North America.

9. 47 Meters Down (2017)

Directed by Johannes Roberts

Starring Mandy Moore, who at the time hadn’t starred in a noteworthy feature film in nearly a decade (except voicing Rapunzel in the Disney film Tangled), 47 Meters Down takes the incredibly simple, but terrifying plot of being trapped in a cage at the ocean’s floor and makes a compelling story out of it. There’s a desperation and hopelessness in the concept that makes this a stressful and panic-inducing experience.

10. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

Directed by Johannes Roberts

Johannes Roberts returned to the underwater terrors of 47 Meters Down two years later, this time ditching the shark cage in exchange for the horrifying open waters of a mazelike, claustrophobic cave system that serves as the hunting ground for a school of aggressive great white sharks. It’s expectedly silly, but it packs more than a few genuinely frightening moments.

Obviously, nothing compares to Jaws, but if you’re itching to bite into a shark movie that doesn’t star the lovable mechanical fish, these are ten entries that just might hold you over.
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