The Power of the Element: 5 Most Unnerving Films about the Ocean
After these five, you'll be excused for avoiding the ocean this summer.
Taking up most of the Earth's surface, the ocean is a mesmerizing thing. It's full of beauty, danger, and mystery. No wonder it has fascinated people for centuries, with dozens of movies dedicated to it.
These five are perhaps the most evocative.
DeepStar Six (1989, 5.3 on IMDb)
Available on: Paramount+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime
Following the crew of the eponymous state-of-the-art underwater research station that doubles as a military outpost, this sci-fi horror centers on the crew as they struggle to survive the attacks of a giant sea monster that has been disturbed by their inadvertent arrival. The movie is a reminder of how vast and unexplored the ocean is, and how many secrets it may hold.
47 Meters Down (2017, 5.6 on IMDb)
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Johannes Roberts' horror film tells the story of Kate and Lisa, two sisters on vacation in Mexico who go on a cage dive to see great white sharks. But the dive goes awry when the winch breaks and the cage with Kate and Lisa in it sinks to the bottom of the ocean, forty-seven meters below the surface. The characters have about an hour of oxygen left and must swim to safety, but they are too far from land and surrounded by the ravenous sharks.
The Meg (2018, 5.7 on IMDb)
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Starring Jason Statham, this sci-fi horror follows Jonas Taylor, a disgraced rescue diver hired to save the crew of a sunken submarine attacked by a giant creature while exploring the Mariana Trench. As Jonas saves the day and rescues the crew, they discover that the giant creature that caused their ship to sink is a Megalodon, a giant ancient species of shark thought to be long extinct. Now the characters must exterminate the creature.
The Perfect Storm (2000, 6.5 on IMDb)
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Adapted from Sebastian Junger's novel of the same name, this disaster drama follows the Andrea Gail, a fishing ship that was lost at sea with its entire crew in the middle of the perfect storm of 1991. Although not a horror film, this movie shows how powerful and unpredictable the ocean is, and how small and helpless humans are compared to it.
The Abyss (1989, 7.5 on IMDb)
Available on: Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime
James Cameron's sci-fi movie tells the story of the submarine USS Montana, which sank near the Cayman Trough after contact with a mysterious object. With Soviet ships out to recover the sunken submarine, the US government sends a team of SEALs, aided by scientists from a nearby underwater drilling and research station, to investigate the wreckage and neutralize the nuclear missiles on board. During the mission, the team is confronted with something they can't even fathom.