Horror films often use isolation and foreign environments to create an eerie, and oftentimes terrifying, atmosphere. This is something that the upcoming aquatic thriller Underwater looks to be doing. Directed by William Eubank from a script by Brian Duffield, the movie pits Kristen Stewart against the dark and unforgiving ocean floor, as well as all the creatures it hides, as she tries to escape an undersea research facility.
A location not new to the horror genre, the fear of what could be lurking out in the deep has always been used to thrust viewers into the unknown. Here are 10 of the very best thrillers to make you second guess going back into the water.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
The 1954 film based on Jules Verne's classic novel was a massive technical achievement. The story of an obsessive Captain Nemo going out in search of the cause of ships sinking is still a great tale and enjoyable watch today, but the real reason it deserves a spot on this list is because of its undersea scenes.
The film was the most expensive of all time when released due to the intense amount of work it took to make the effects, most notably the battle with the giant squid at the film's climax. While not as riveting or scary as the other films on the list, it is worth seeing only to see firsthand how far movies have come in regards to showcasing underwater action sequences.
Deepstar Six
A team working in an undersea research facility accidentally awaken a creature hellbent on killing them. A product of an aquatic horror boom of the late eighties, and directed by Sean Cunningham of Friday the 13th fame, Deepstar Six tries to be Jaws on the ocean floor but winds up being more in line with the generic slasher films Cunningham helped create.
This isn't a terrible thing, as it makes for a pretty fun creature feature with some decent practical effects and enjoyable death scenes.
The Rift
The crew of a submarine set out to find out what happened to the recently disappeared crew of the last sub sent out. A movie that came out around the same time as Deepstar Six, The Rift beats it out by the nature of simply not trying as hard.
Whereas Deepstar Six seems to want to be taken seriously, The Rift leans into its B-Movie style and wears it as a badge of honor. The movie tries to be Alien, Jaws, The Thing, and something new all at once, and the result is a schlock drive-in monster movie that is well worth your time.
47 Meters Down
The divisive horror film from 2017 is the only shark movie on the list. While not the best shark movie by any margin, it earns its spot by being almost entirely set underwater. The film follows two sisters who are trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a shark cage surround by, well, sharks.
With oxygen running out, the two must quickly devise a plan for survival. There are some genuinely tense undersea moments and the movie doesn't waste much of its tight runtime.
Crawl
The oversized alligator thriller was one of last year's most surprising gems. While trying to protect her father from a hurricane, a young woman quickly finds herself in a flooded house full of massive alligators. While not featuring any fictitious sea beasts, Crawl easily delivers on the feeling of being hunted by a monster. The entire runtime is a stressful joy to watch, and it features some fantastic underwater sequences that are an instant reminder of how limited movement becomes when humans are submerged.
Below
Below is the film on this list that proves undersea horror doesn't require sharks or sea monsters. Set on a WWII submarine, this one is a typical haunted house movie, only the house is 1,000 feet underwater. When the crew of the sub rescues three survivors strange things begin occurring on board.
The movie uses the claustrophobia of a submarine and infinite black that is the ocean to create a genuine feeling of entrapment. With the crew forced to face the supernatural presence on board, things escalate at a good pace and the film's single setting never becomes boring.
The Descent
While this one might be cheating a bit, Neil Marshall's horror film about spelunking deserves a place on the list. When a group o women go cave diving in an unexplored cave, they find a deadly threat. This film has the elements that Underwater seems to be going for in spades.
Claustrophobia, isolation, being lost in the unknown, and then after all of that, having to contend with the creatures that consider this hopeless place home. The film is one of the best horror movies about purely surviving the day, and it by far the scariest on the list. Plus, there's water in it and they go into that water, so it counts.
Deep Rising
Did someone say schlocky giant fish movie? Probably the least scary film on the list, Deep Rising is more action than horror, but it still deserves a spot on this list for being an unforgettable piece of the 90s. When well-armed hijackers board a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, they find it completely deserted.
While exploring the ship, they quickly learn that they weren't the first to come aboard, as it is crawling with giant tentacle creatures that feed on human flesh. The movie switches tones and genres in a flash throughout, and despite the poorly aged CGI, it is by far the most fun movie on the list.
The Host
The South Korean monster movie by director Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) is a gripping and creepy tale about a massive fish creature that surfaces from a river in Seoul. Like most of Joon Ho's work, the film is layered with satire and subtext and goes far beyond being a schlocky giant fish movie.
The emergence scene is one of the best sequences of chaos ever put to film, but what follows is a personal story about how far a family is willing to go after the beast takes their daughter. The movie is stunning, scary, and funny at times, making it a truly unique take on the monster mythos that everyone needs to see.
The Abyss
While not a straight-up horror film, James Cameron's undersea science fiction is eerie throughout, and downright scary at times. When an oil rig crew is sent on a rescue mission to a sunk submarine, they find they aren't alone down there, and that the stakes of their mission are much higher than originally believed.
Part claustrophobic thriller, and part grandiose sci-fi epic, The Abyss is wonderfully shot and paints the seafloor better than anything that came before it. It also explores the ideas of undiscovered life in the deep with a much calmer hand than the other films on this list, making it a truly unique experience.