Aquatic horror movies involve any kind of scenario where the characters are pitted against a kind of underwater or water-related threat. Although there may be creatures or monsters involved, they are not entirely necessary so long as the peril takes place near a body of water.
With Kristen Stewart's sci-fi movie Underwater coming out soon, there is a renewed interest in underwater horror. Anyone who wants to delve deep and search the bottom floor of horror for some similar films should keep reading. We've got ten of the most underrated, aquatic horror movies. Each one will certainly make you want to stick to dry land.
Red Water (2003)
Lou Diamond Phillips plays the hero in this TV-movie about a bull shark finding its way into Louisiana's rivers. His character is desperate for cash, which reunites him with his ex-wife, played by Kristy Swanson. As they search for sunken treasure, the bull shark rears its toothy head their way.
Red Water managed to rake in high ratings for TBS, the cable network it originally aired on. While crudely made and by-the-numbers in many ways, it's a watchable actioner with admirable shark animatronics effects.
The Beast (1996)
Peter Benchley is best known for Jaws, but he has other works that have been adapted to film. One of which is the 1996 TV-movie The Beast. Benchley drifts away from sharks and focuses on giant, killer squids here.
In The Beast, a coastal town is at the mercy of the mammoth cephalopod, a monster who's come to feast on the locals. It might appear easy to avoid the eponymous entity, but that's not the case here. The practical effects and set pieces should be commended. There's also an important feminist story here that shouldn't be glossed over either.
Shark Night (2011)
Sometimes a 'bad' movie has good things about it. That aptly describes Shark Night, a 2011 horror movie aimed at a young audience looking for cheap thrills and good-looking people being ravaged by killer fish. So long as one is okay with just that, Shark Night will provide some entertainment.
What the movie lacks in sheer plausibility is made up for in non-stop excitement and better than average special effects. In Shark Night, college students spend the weekend at a cabin in the middle of a lake. Little do they know, the water is full of hungry sharks. How they got there, though, remains a mystery. For now.
Frankenfish (2004)
In the 2000s, there was a time when snakehead fish were proving to be a nuisance in New England waters. The problem was, snakeheads aren't native to the United States. So, their presence in American waters obviously was an ecological concern.
Horror movies capitalized on this matter with movies like Snakehead Terror and Frankenfish. The latter was the better of the two, surprisingly enough. The 2004 film followed a medical examiner and a biologist visiting the swamp to investigate a murder. In doing so, they uncover a nefarious plan against nature that resulted in giant snakehead fish. What should have been a throwaway B-movie wound up being a good ol' time with some above-average special effects (for the time) and plenty of scaly carnage.
Beneath (2013)
In what is essentially a reimagining of "The Rift" segment from Creepshow 2, Beneath has several teens trapped on a boat as a large, carnivorous fish prowls the lake. The biggest complaint about this 2013 indie horror is the cast of loathsome characters. It's nearly impossible to root for any of them. That being said, the movie comes up with an interesting conundrum that questions the bonds of friendship.
In Beneath, the group of teens take a boat out on the water, despite one of them being warned not to. The caution isn't unwarranted as a predatory fish haunts the lake. The only way of getting back to shore now is to lighten the load by whatever means necessary.
Creature (1998)
Another of Peter Benchley's lesser known adaptations is the 1998 mini-series Creature, which is based Benchley's 1994 novel White Shark.
Craig T. Nelson and Kim Cattrall headline this tropical thriller about scientific experimenting gone terribly wrong. Set in the beautiful Caribbean seas, a pair of scientists get wrapped up in a mystery originating in a nearby government testing facility. What they find there is a crime against nature. The miniseries feels stretched, but Stan Winston's monster design and effects are sterling.
DeepStar Six (1989)
Thanks to Alien, horror movies in the 1980s sometimes involved extraterrestrials or otherworldly creatures infiltrating life on our planet. This included the sea, as depicted in DeepStar Six. The movie was not going to win any awards for originality, but it involved some impressive monster effects.
In DeepStar Six, the construction of an undersea base disturbs a ferocious monster. Now, the crew of the U.S. Navy engineers is targeted, being picked off by something that must be seen to be believed.
Virus (1999)
The 1998 movie Deep Rising has rightfully found a sizable cult following years after its failure at the box office. Jamie Lee Curtis' Virus was torn to shreds in 1999 by critics — and the actress herself back in 2018 — but the movie is trafficking more affection these days, too. Or, at the very least, general audiences can finally admit they like Virus for what it is.
In the Dark Horse Comics-adapted horror movie Virus, a tugboat comes across a derelict ship after a typhoon. The one passenger aboard warns everyone of an imminent threat, but the tugboat crew only thinks of the money that can be made instead. Nevertheless, an evil alien has now found itself a new batch of victims.
Sector 7 (2011)
South Korea dives into the underwater horror sub-genre with Sector 7, a big-budget suspenser set on an oil rig off the coast of Jeju Island. In the 2011 movie, the crew aboard the aforesaid rig becomes trapped with a sea-dwelling predator.
Sector 7 is no doubt a pastiche of other movies, but anyone who fears the great depths of the ocean will never be bored once the action gets going. The monster itself is achieved with ample CGI. However, the creature is a menacing foe who will make anyone anxious when going out to sea.
Black Water (2007)
Set shortly after the Christmas holidays, a pair of sisters and one of the women's husband all find themselves trapped in a mangrove tree as a crocodile lurks below. Black Water sounds outlandish, but its story is loosely based on a real account. Basically, some Australian boys hid in a tree after a saltwater crocodile snatched their pal. To soften an already sad story, the survivors of the attack were rescued.
Black Water switches things up by replacing the boys with adults. The fear remains the same in this modestly budgeted, earth-toned horror. The use of a real saltie amps up the inherent danger. As far as killer croc movies go, Black Water is the most horrifying.
An unrelated sequel, Black Water: Abyss, is slated for 2020.