The Ocean’s Got Teeth: 10 Terrifying Journeys At Sea

“Hooper drives the boat Chief,” says Quint to Brody in Spielberg’s Jaws as Amity Island’s lawman begins to get more than a little nervy about their expedition to catch a killer shark. It’s cinema’s most iconic and memorable tension-filled boat trip at sea but like the other great films on this list, it’s not the only one to give the ocean – and its inhabitants – a villainous malevolence.

Time and time again, the ocean proves to have “teeth” in more ways than one. Whether it’s the literal kind in the mouth of a killer great white shark or the figurative form courtesy of the ocean’s seemingly endless scale, its depths not a natural place for man or woman to roam, terrifying journeys at sea can come in many frightening forms.

Terror at sea in movies

Panic at the beach in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.

Steven Spielberg may have created the most famous ocean-dwelling malevolence in the form of a killer shark but filmmakers have understandably been very creative in realising the horrors of the sea when you’re characters are struggling for survival.

We’ve got war movies, films about otherworldly monsters and benevolent aliens, true stories, action-adventures about ocean liners turning upside down, haunted submarines and claustrophobic psychological thrillers. It’s clear the seas offer plenty of scope for movies to be at their cinematic best.

10. Deep Rising

Dir. Sommers (1998)

Roger Ebert hated this film, calling it “an Alien clone with a fresh paint job”. But c’mon, that works doesn’t it? Treat Williams is the hero elect in this film that sees a bunch of heavily armed mercenaries fighting for their life on a stricken luxury ocean liner.

If The Mist was made up of entirely caricatures and set on a boat you’d be close to Deep Rising’s chaotic fun. Fast-paced and filled with terrible one-liners, it’s a film, made by Stephen Sommers before he hit the big time with The Mummy movies, with its own sense of aquatic charm.

9. Below

Dir. Twohy (2002)

Ghosts on a submarine – sounds good doesn’t it? In David Twohy’s 2002 supernatural thriller Below, we find ourselves beneath the waves with the crew of US Navy submarine USS Tiger Shark as it patrols the North Atlantic during World War II.

After picking up survivors from the British hospital ship, things start to go bump in the night (and I’m not just talking about German depth charges). It turns out there’s some bad eggs already on board, their misdemeanours slowly becoming clear as the paranormal activity ramps up.

8. All Is Lost

Dir. Chandor (2013)

There are many great films that feature terrifying journeys at sea but most have large, ensemble casts. Here, it’s just one man – played by Robert Redford in one of his best performances – all alone in the Pacific. This story of a lone survivor on his life raft takes place almost wordlessly as he tries to stay alive with fading hopes of rescue.

7. The Perfect Storm

Dir. Petersen (2000)

Wolfgang Petersen knows a thing or two about telling dramatic stories about sea disasters (his best effort being Das Boot), so it’s unsurprising to see his screen-version of Sebastian Junger’s book be so effective. It tells the true story of the disappearance of fishing vessel the Andrea Gail during the “Prefect Storm” of 1991.

6. The Poseidon Adventure

Dir. Neame (1972)

A classic disaster movie with requisite ensemble cast and big-star names, Ronald Neame’s adventure sees a bunch of survivors desperately search for an escape route after their ocean liner turns upside down and begins to slowly sink.

5. Dead Calm

Dir. Noyce (1989)

A three-hander featuring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane, director Phillip Noyce’s Dead Calm boasts pin-sharp thrills even if its chief villain (Zane) hams it up. The setting – on a couple of boats floating miles away from anyone in the Pacific Ocean – is enough to get the adrenaline going. But after a married couple take on board a strange man who claims his ship is sinking and his crew have died, the mystery that then unfolds features some delicious twists, uncovering a dark, depraved reality that punctures the picturesque ocean sunsets.

4. The Abyss

Dir. Cameron (1989)

The stakes are a little higher than normal for Bud Brigman who becomes the unwitting hero of mankind when his deep sea observatory discovers alien lifeforms in an ocean crevice.

James Cameron’s terrific film features a brilliant power struggle between two opposing groups of people trapped in unforgiving surroundings at the bottom of the sea, the dramatic tension increasing just as the heat rises in the sweaty confines of our characters’ underwater prison.

3. U-571

Dir. Mostow (2000)

There’s something about submarine movies that makes them the perfect backdrop for a terrifying journey at sea. Of course, the claustrophobic, inescapable confines of the submersed vehicle when it’s hundreds of metres below the surface of the ocean is inherently unnerving.

But couple that with World War II’s battle-worn waters and the back and forth of depth chargers and the whole experience becomes one of profound fear. U-571, while taking liberties with its factual accuracy, does however deliver a visceral experience of war at sea.

2. Das Boot

Dir. Petersen (1981)

Das Boot is most effective in its recreation of the horror of living in a tin can below the ocean’s depths. As well as trying to survive depth charges and sea battles, these submarine men have to contend with life confined to a sort of underwater prison.

While the U-Boat itself becomes the film’s defining character, each of the film’s protagonists boast traits, fears and personal qualities that individualise their experience, making Das Boot even more effective.

1. Jaws

Dir. Spielberg (1975)

Through a series of close-up reaction shots to complement the unseen threat off-screen, Steven Spielberg was able to make us believe his misfiring aquatic puppet was actually an unrelenting, unstoppable malevolent creature that was destroying the lives – and economy – of Amity Island.

There are many reasons why Jaws is one of the greatest films ever made – an industry game-changer for one – but the bespectacled scared-of-the-ocean Chief Brody’s rise from understudy to “smile you son of a b*tch” is one of cinema’s perfect hero arcs. And it all takes place aboard the Orca during its ill-fated journey in search of “the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.”

If you enjoyed our look at the terrifying journeys at sea, you may also like:

Top 10 Film Boat Trips To Avoid

Ship Ahoy, matey! Although not all cinematic boat trips end with death and carnage, many of them result in – or are impacted by – life threatening situations.