With the release of The Shallows, we thought we’d have a look at sharks in film history. As we all know, sharks are cold blooded killers who love nothing more than chomping down on some tasty human flesh. Nothing can really compete with the taste of Human and once they get one in their sights, they will stop at nothing to chow down. Yes, this does involve eating through boats or anything else in the way to get to them!

Bad Shark Jokes – I was at the beach today when I saw a man in the sea yelling “Help, shark! Help!” I just laughed. I knew that shark wasn’t going to help him.

If you ask anyone to name a film about a shark, you will get only one answer; Jaws. Spielberg’s 1975 classic has made it next to impossible to create something new in the genre. There are however a multitude of shark films, generally of the low budget variety which feature one or more dangerous creatures lurking in the depths of our oceans. There are such wonderful titles as Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus, Red Water, Shark Night, 2-Headed Shark Attack and even the quite romantic sounding Shark in Venice. I wonder does he visit the all the usual tourist spots? You can find a fairly comprehensive list here.

And here are out favourite Shark Films (without Jaws!)…

Bad Shark Jokes – Water polo. One shark away from being the greatest sport ever.

Deep Blue Sea is one of the more famous shark movies, and was directed by Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin. It’s another case of an experiment that goes horribly wrong. Why do scientists continue to tamper with things that should be left to the Gods? When will they learn? I guess at least it’s never boring in a science lab.

“Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back”.

Bad Shark Jokes – What do you call the mushy stuff between a great white shark’s teeth?  Slow swimmers.

Sharknado is a film that became an internet phenomenon when it was released in 2013 and has so far spawned at least three sequels and a video game to boot. The premise is simple and again, inevitable. Mix a shark with a tornado and what do you get?

“When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, nature’s deadliest killer rules sea, land, and air as thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q

This one shows perils of over staying your welcome when scuba diving. Was it really that pretty? Seriously? I’d say just hang around the boat myself.

Open Water is a tale of two divers that get stranded, and are left to battle a “frenzy of hungry sharks”. It was written and directed by Chris Kentis.

“When two divers find themselves stranded in the ocean, getting rescued becomes the least of their worries when a frenzy of hungry sharks close in on them.”

Rotten Tomatoes score of 72%.

Does this plot sound familiar? See above. The Reef is the 2010 film where “a great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef.” It is directed by horror film regular Andrew Traucki and stars a variety of unknowns.

This one spawned an outrage in Australian with some local tourist boards getting their knickers in a twist about the effects of shark movies on their local tourism. I guess they have a point!

It rates a surprisingly high 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Shark Tales aims to see the more loveable side of sharks, and even featured an A list cast with Will Smith, Robert De Niro and Renée Zellweger. Is this the biggest Shark film ever made? Possibly so, as it grossed over $350m worldwide.

“When a son of a gangster shark boss is accidentally killed while on the hunt, his would-be prey and his vegetarian brother both decide to use the incident to their own advantage”

Bad Shark Jokes – What’s a shark’s favourite movie? The Shaw-shark Redemption.

The Shallows is one of the least trashy shark films of recent times, with a decent budget and a few well known cast members. Where it will fall in the list of shark films, only time will tell. It’s an enjoyable ‘woman versus shark’ film and is actually closer to a monster flick than many of the ones above. It could be the film that launches the career of Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively.

“A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.”