Top 10 Scariest Movie Shark Attacks

When sharks start reaching for fruit, be worried. It's a sunny day at the beach and the Brodys are all smiles while they celebrate Carla's new sculpture. While Carla's introduction drags on, her daughter, Thea, decides to hop on a banana boat with her friend's family. Just as Carla goes to make a speech, Ellen's connection to the shark turns her attention to the water and she spots the shark approaching the boat. With no way to stop the vengeful monster, the shark jumps out with teeth bared, pulling a mother under to a watery grave. The rest of the film might be hilariously bad, but this is one scene we can really sink our jaws into.

#9: Arm Loss "Soul Surfer" (2011)

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The most frightening attack is the one you don't see coming. In this otherwise uplifting movie about a surfer who discovers a greater purpose in life, the road to that discovery is a shocking one. A day after winning a surfing competition, Bethany and her friends take off for some surfing. During a quick break, Bethany dangles her arm in the water when, without warning, a shark bites her arm clean off, setting the scene in full panic mode. While the tense race to shore adds to the intensity, it's the surprise that sets this one apart.

Sometimes all the money in the world isn't worth missing a good one-liner. As Bond tries to stop drug lord Franz Sanchez, a string of corruption makes his search all the harder. After almost being caught before he bribes DEA agent Killifer, Sanchez escapes and has Bond's partner, Felix Leiter, tortured by being fed to sharks. Discovering the betrayal, Bond goes after Killifer, with no plans of arresting him. As Killifer dangles over the same pit of sharks that Leiter was left in, Bond throws his case of bribery back at him and instead ensures the traitor gets a brutal underwater mauling.

#7: Cut Off "Deep Blue Sea" (1999)

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Samuel L. Jackson is such a powerhouse on screen so his monologues are the last place in a movie that you'd expect to get interrupted. When researchers trying to cure Alzheimer's create smarter sharks, the tables start to turn against the humans. Right as executive Russell Franklin decides to check in on their research, the sharks rebel and start destroying the research facility. Just as everyone's panicked fighting starts to get out of hand, Franklin pulls them together with a rousing speech about the power of man and teamwork. Cutting right into his close-up, a shark jumps out mid-sentence and kills Franklin, jolting everyone on-screen and everyone watching the scene.

If you're forced to choose between fighting some crabs or a shark, fight the crabs. After a group is trapped in a supermarket by a tsunami, the survivors bicker and fight before a great white carried in by the wave forces them to work together. Despite their best efforts to find ways of dealing with the shark themselves, it quickly becomes apparent they need to find help. So they lift up store manager Jessup to a vent to escape. Right as he peeks into the vent, hundreds of tiny crabs startle him and he falls back. At least it wasn’t the shark, right? Moments later though, the shark has its time to scare by jumping out and tearing Jessup in half.

#5: Nancy Gets Attacked "The Shallows" (2016)

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When you spot seagulls fleeing a meal, it's time to run. Nancy is trying to get away from her troubles by taking a surf trip to Mexico when trouble decides to find her. Spotting a whale carcass in the water, Nancy decides to call it a day and rides a wave back to shore. Unfortunately she’s knocked into coral after a shark hits her and then bites her leg. After swimming back to the dead whale to get out of the water, she thinks she's safe and almost manages to call help. But the shark completely upends the creature and sends her swimming in an absolutely terrifying moment..

#4: First Blood "Shark Night" (2011)

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At a lake, the last thing you expect to find is a shark, and that's what makes this particular kill so scary. While there are some crazy deaths, like a shark's aerial chomp at a jet skier later on, it's the unexpected first kill that sends shivers down our spines the most. After some college students decide to hit the lake and are completely unaware that sharks have been let into the water, one of the swimmers is left on her own. Then a jarring cut reveals she is being attacked from below. Jerking back and forth, she almost gets on the dock but is instead pulled screaming to her grave.

A shark that can shake a boat is one thing, but one that can sink a boat is a new level of terror. Out on the water, Brody and Quint can't seem to keep up with where their sharp-toothed adversary has gone and find nothing but calm waters. But just as they let their cage down, the shark jumps out, taking their boat's rear end and tipping the whole ship towards its mouth. With his hand injured by rolling debris, Quint is helpless as he slides right into the beast’s mouth, losing his leg and then his life to its fury.

#2: Exposed "Open Water" (2003)

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Getting stranded while diving in the middle of the ocean is terrifying enough, and having a shark circle while this happens you would be the icing on top. This film tells the story of Daniel and Susan being left behind when they stray from the their scuba crew on a relaxing vacation. Unsure if rescue will ever come, they have to fight the elements, their bodies and even each other in their attempt to survive. While all this is already frightening, they’re soon attacked by a shark while having nothing but open water for miles around them. While Susan escapes with only a little knick, the circling shark takes a big bite from Daniel's leg, and he bleeds so much that it sends him into shock.

#1: Bad Time for a Swim "Jaws" (1975)

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Say goodbye to relaxing swims after this nightmare fuel. Chrissie invites a friend for a flirtatious night swim, running with him along the shore as they both take their clothes off for a dip. After some jokes and a serenely peaceful splash around, something pulls on Chrissie's foot, sending her into a full panic before it drags her around the water. Screaming for help as her friend passes out in a drunken stupor, she's thrown against the buoy before finally going under. There’s something about the sudden silence that ends the attack makes it just as horrific and disturbing as the shrieks throughout it.