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Sharksploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film that involves sharks or shark attacks.[1][2] The genre emerged in the wake of the 1975 film Jaws and its sequels, but fell in popularity soon after.[3] The 1999 film Deep Blue Sea brought it back to public prominence. Other examples of sharksploitation films include Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009), Dinoshark, Sharktopus (both 2010), Snow Shark (2012), Ghost Shark (2013), Avalanche Sharks (2014), and the Sharknado film series (2013–2018).[4]
In 2023, a feature-length documentary film about the subgenre, titled Sharksploitation, was produced and released by Shudder.[5][6][7]
Notable sharksploitation films
edit| Year | Films | Series | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Jaws | Jaws | Thriller |
| 1975 | Sharks' Treasure | N/A | Adventure |
| 1976 | Mako: The Jaws of Death | N/A | Thriller |
| 1976 | Shark Kill | N/A | Adventure |
| 1977 | Tintorera, also known as Tintorera: Killer Shark. | N/A | Horror |
| 1978 | Jaws 2 | Jaws | Thriller |
| 1978 | Cyclone (Spanish: El Ciclón), also known as Terror Storm | N/A | Survival/Horror |
| 1981 | The Last Shark, also known as Great White | N/A | Horror |
| 1983 | Jaws 3-D | Jaws | Thriller |
| 1987 | Jaws: The Revenge | Jaws | Thriller |
| 1989 | Night of the Sharks | N/A | Action |
| 1989 | Deep Blood, also known as Sharks or Sangue negli abissi (Italian, lit. "Blood in the Abyss") | N/A | Adventure/Horror |
| 1995 | Cruel Jaws | N/A | Thriller |
| 1999 | Deep Blue Sea | Deep Blue Sea | Sci-fi/Horror |
| 1999 | Shark Attack | Shark Attack | Thriller |
| 2000 | Shark Attack 2 | Shark Attack | Thriller |
| 2002 | Shark Attack 3: Megalodon | Shark Attack | Thriller |
| 2003 | Open Water[a] | Open Water | Survival/Thriller |
| 2003 | Red Water | N/A | Action/Horror |
| 2003 | Shark Zone | N/A | Horror |
| 2004 | 12 Days Of Terror | N/A | Horror/Thriller |
| 2004 | Blue Demon | N/A | Sci-fi/Horror |
| 2005 | Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy, also known as Sharkman or Hammerhead | N/A | Sci-fi/Action/Horror |
| 2005 | Raging Sharks | N/A | Sci-fi/Action/Horror |
| 2005 | Spring Break Shark Attack | N/A | Action/Adventure/Drama |
| 2008 | Shark Swarm, also known as Great White | N/A | Thriller |
| 2008 | Shark in Venice, also known as Sharks in Venice in the U.S. | N/A | Natural horror/Action |
| 2009 | Jaws in Japan, also known as Psycho Shark | N/A (unrelated to the Jaws franchise) | Horror |
| 2009 | Malibu Shark Attack, also known as Mega Shark Of Malibu | It is a part of the SyFy Channel's Maneater series (which is unrelated to the Shark Attack or Mega Shark franchises), along with Shark Swarm, Shark Killer, and 25 other natural horror creature features. | Natural horror |
| 2009 | Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus | Mega Shark Versus | Creature feature |
| 2010 | Dinoshark | N/A | Horror/Comedy |
| 2010 | Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus | Mega Shark Versus | Creature feature |
| 2010 | The Reef | N/A | Thriller |
| 2010 | Sharktopus | Sharktopus | Sci-fi/Creature feature |
| 2011 | Sand Sharks | N/A | Horror/Comedy |
| 2011 | Shark Night | N/A | Thriller |
| 2011 | Super Shark | N/A | Sci-fi/Action |
| 2011 | Swamp Shark | N/A | Thriller |
| 2012 | 2-Headed Shark Attack | Multi-Headed Shark Attack | Survival horror |
| 2012 | Bait 3D | N/A | Horror/Disaster |
| 2012 | Dark Tide | N/A | Action/Horror/Thriller |
| 2012 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | N/A | Horror/Comedy |
| 2012 | Jurassic Shark, also known as Attack Of The Jurassic Shark | Jurassic Shark | Horror/Comedy |
| 2012 | Snow Shark: Ancient Snow Beast | Snow Shark | Horror/Comedy |
| 2012 | Ghost Shark | Ghost Shark | Horror/Comedy |
| 2013 | Sharknado | Sharknado | Sci-fi/Disaster |
| 2014 | Avalanche Sharks | N/A | Horror/Comedy |
| 2014 | Mega Shark Versus Mecha Shark | Mega Shark Versus | Horror/Comedy |
| 2014 | Sharknado 2: The Second One | Sharknado | Sci-fi/Disaster/Comedy |
| 2014 | Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda | Sharktopus | Horror/Sci-fi/Creature feature |
| 2015 | 3-Headed Shark Attack | Multi-Headed Shark Attack | Action/Horror |
| 2015 | Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws | Ghost Shark | Supernatural/Horror/Comedy |
| 2015 | Mega Shark Versus Kolossus | Mega Shark Versus | Sci-fi/Comedy |
| 2015 | Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Sharknado | Action/Horror/Comedy |
| 2015 | Roboshark, also known as Robo Shark vs. Navy Seals | N/A | Action/Adventure/Comedy |
| 2016 | Ozark Sharks, also known as Summer Shark Attack | N/A | Horror/Thriller/Comedy |
| 2016 | The Shallows | N/A | Survival/Horror |
| 2016 | Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre | N/A | Sci-fi/Horror |
| 2016 | Sharkenstein | N/A | Sci-fi/Action/Comedy |
| 2016 | Sharknado: The 4th Awakens | Sharknado | Sci-fi/Disaster/Comedy |
| 2017 | 5-Headed Shark Attack | Multi-Headed Shark Attack | Sci-fi/Horror |
| 2017 | 47 Meters Down | 47 Meters Down | Survival/Horror |
| 2017 | House Shark | N/A | Horror/Comedy |
| 2017 | Open Water 3: Cage Dive[a] | Open Water | Found footage/Survival/Horror |
| 2017 | Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | Sharknado | Sci-fi/Disaster/Comedy |
| 2018 | The Last Sharknado: It's About Time | Sharknado | Sci-fi/Disaster/Comedy |
| 2018 | Deep Blue Sea 2 | Deep Blue Sea | Sci-fi/Horror |
| 2018 | The Meg | N/A | Sci-fi/Action |
| 2019 | 47 Meters Down: Uncaged | 47 Meters Down | Survival/Horror |
| 2019 | Capsized: Blood in the Water | N/A | Survival/Horror |
| 2020 | Deep Blue Sea 3 | Deep Blue Sea | Sci-fi/Horror |
| 2020 | Sky Sharks | N/A | Sci-fi/Comedy/Horror |
| 2022 | The Reef: Stalked | The Reef | Horror |
| 2022 | The Requin | N/A | Horror/Thriller |
| 2023 | Meg 2: The Trench | The Meg | Sci-Fi/Action |
| 2023 | Cocaine Shark, also known as Kanizame Shakurabu[b] | N/A | Crime/Drama/Horror |
| 2023 | Big Shark | N/A | Horror/Comedy |
| 2024 | The Black Demon | N/A | Sci-Fi/Thriller |
| 2024 | No Way Up | N/A | Survival/Thriller |
| 2024 | Something In The Water | N/A | Survival/Thriller |
- ^ a b Open Water 2 has been excluded from this list. Although it is nominally part of the Open Water franchise, it is thematically unrelated to either Open Water or Open Water 3.
- ^ Cocaine Shark does feature character and geographical connections to both the Jurassic Shark franchise and Sharkenstein film, it is thematically unrelated to either film at this stage, with actors playing different characters in each film.
Other sharksploitation films
editThe films below are more shark films that do not yet have their own pages here, or their notability has been unclarified.
| Year | Films | Series | Genre | IMDb/Alternate Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Killer Shark | N/A | Adventure | IMDB Wikipedia.en |
| 1969 | Shark!, also known as Caine and Man-Eater | N/A | Action | IMDb/Wikipedia.en |
| 1981 | Beyond the Reef | N/A | Adventure/Romance | IMDb/Wikipedia.en |
| 1991 | Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis | N/A | Action/Drama/History | IMDB |
| 2001 | Shark Hunter | N/A (Unaffiliated with The Shark Hunter (1979), The Shark Hunters (1963), or The Shark Huntress (2021)) | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDB |
| 2002 | Megalodon | N/A (Unaffiliated with the 2018 film of the same name or The Meg franchise) | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDB |
| 2003 | Dark Waters | N/A | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDB |
| 2003 | Pool Shark (short) | N/A (There are multiple short films that share this title) | Horror | IMDB YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2004 | Snow Shark (short) | Snow Shark (This short is set before the events of Snow Shark: Ancient Snow Beast) | Horror | IMDB YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2004 | Shark Attack in the Mediterranean, also known as Hai-Alarm auf Mallorca (German, lit. Shark alarm in Mallorca) | N/A | Action/Adventure/Drama | Wikipedia.de IMDB |
| 2008 | Marina Monster | N/A | Horror/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2012 | Shark Week also known as Shark Assault | N/A | Action/Adventure/Horror | Wikipedia.fr IMDB |
| 2012 | Jaws of the Shark | N/A | Comedy/Horror | IMDB |
| 2013 | Spreeshark (short) | N/A | Comedy/Horror | IMDB |
| 2014 | 90210 Shark Attack | N/A | Drama/Horror/Sci-fi | IMDB |
| 2015 | Sharknado: Heart of Sharkness | Sharknado | Comedy/Mocumentary | IMDB |
| 2015 | Raiders of the Lost Shark | Jurassic Shark | Action/Adventure/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2015 | Shark Exorcist | N/A | Fantasy/Horror | IMDb |
| 2015 | Shark Lake | N/A | Action/Thriller | IMDb/Wikipedia.de |
| 2015 | Shark Killer | N/A | Action/Horror/Thriller | IMDb/Wikipedia.de |
| 2015 | Shark Island, also known as Zombie Shark | N/A | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDb |
| 2015 | Sand Shark: Not in 3D (short) | N/A | Action | IMDB YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2016 | Ice Sharks | N/A | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2016 | Dickshark | N/A | Sci-fi/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2016 | Piranha Sharks | N/A | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2016 | Planet of the Sharks | Planet Of The Sharks | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2016 | Dam Sharks | N/A | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2016 | Atomic Shark, also known as Saltwater and Saltwater: Atomic Shark | N/A (Unaffiliated with the Lisa Palenica film of the same name)[citation needed] | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2016 | Pool Shark (short) | N/A (There are multiple short films that share this title) | Horror | IMDb YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2017 | Empire of the Sharks | Planet Of The Sharks | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2017 | Land Shark | N/A | Action/Adventure/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2017 | Mississippi River Sharks | N/A | Action/Adventure/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2017 | Trailer Park Shark, also known as Shark Shock | N/A | Action/Adventure/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2018 | Surrounded, also known as Frenzy | N/A | Action/Adventure/Drama | IMDB |
| 2018 | 6-Headed Shark Attack | Multi-Headed Shark Attack | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2018 | Megalodon | Megalodon (The Asylum) | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDB |
| 2018 | Santa Jaws | N/A | Action/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2018 | Shark Attack (short) (also known as Summer Of '89) | N/A | Horror | YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2019 | Bad CGI Sharks | N/A | Adventure/Comedy/Horror | IMDb |
| 2020 | Shark Season | N/A | Action/Horror/Thriller | IMDB |
| 2020 | Ouija Shark | Ouija Shark | Horror/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2020 | Shark Encounters of the Third Kind | N/A | Horror | IMDB |
| 2020 | From the Depths | N/A | Drama/Horror/Mystery | IMDB |
| 2021 | Megalodon Rising | Megalodon (The Asylum) | Action | IMDB |
| 2021 | Great White | N/A | Thriller | IMDb |
| 2021 | Sharks of the Corn | N/A | Horror/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2021 | Noah's Shark | N/A | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDB |
| 2021 | Jurassic Shark 2 - Aquapocalypse | Jurassic Shark | Action/Horror/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2021 | Huge Shark, also known as Red Water | N/A | Horror | IMDb |
| 2021 | Apex Predators, also known as Jaws of Los Angeles | N/A | Horror | IMDb |
| 2021 | Mako (Arabic: فيلم ماكو) | N/A | Adventure/Thriller | IMDB |
| 2021 | Bigfoot Vs Megalodon | N/A | Adventure/Sci-fi/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2021 | Virus Shark | N/A | Sci-fi/Horror | IMDB |
| 2021 | Swim | N/A | Action/Horror | IMDB |
| 2022 | Bull Shark, also known as Blood In the Water | Bull Shark | Action/Horror/Drama | IMDb |
| 2022 | Maneater | N/A | Action/Horror/Thriller | IMDB |
| 2022 | No Shark | No Shark | Drama/Comedy/Horror | IMDB YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2022 | Shark Side of the Moon | N/A | Action/Horror/Sci-Fi | IMDB |
| 2022 | Pool Shark (short) | N/A | Horror/Thriller | YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2022 | Ouija Shark 2, also known as Ouija Shark vs Tarot-Gator | Ouija Shark | Horror | IMDb |
| 2022 | Shark Waters | N/A | Horror/Thriller | IMDb |
| 2022 | Alien Shark | N/A | Drama/Horror/Sci-fi | IMDb |
| 2022 | Thrashed (short) | N/A | Horror | IMDb YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2023 | Blind Waters | N/A | Action/Horror/Thriller | IMDB |
| 2023 | Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge''[a] | Jurassic Shark | Horror/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2023 | Doll Shark | N/A | Horror/Comedy | IMDB |
| 2023 | Invisible Shark | No Shark | Drama/Comedy/Sci-fi | IMDB YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2023 | Everything Will Kill You: Rip (short) | Everything Will Kill You | Horror/Thriller | YouTube - Full film, creators account |
| 2023 | Narco Shark | N/A | Horror/Comedy | IMDb |
| 2023 | Puppet Shark | N/A | Comedy | IMDb |
| 2023 | Deep Fear | N/A | Action/Thriller | IMDb |
| 2023 | Megalodon: The Frenzy | Megalodon (The Asylum) | Action/Adventure/Horror | IMDb |
| 2023 | Bull Shark 2 | Bull Shark | Action | IMDb |
| 2024 | CHUM!, also known as The Last Of Sharks | N/A | Horror | IMDb |
- ^ Jurassic Shark 3 Does feature character and geographical connections to both the Sharkenstein and Cocaine Shark films, Sharkenstein makes an appearance. However it is thematically unrelated to the other film at this stage, with actors playing different characters in each film.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Onion, Rebecca (June 16, 2005). "Sharksploitation! Jaws and the sad decline of the shark movie". Slate. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Squires, John (June 22, 2023). "'Sharksploitation' – Shudder Original Shark Horror Documentary Premieres This Summer". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Choi, Charles Q. (June 20, 2010). "How 'Jaws' Forever Changed Our View of Great White Sharks". LiveScience. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Howard, Jules (August 19, 2018). "The last 'Sharknado' won't be the end of sharksploitation films. But sharks do need saving". NBC News. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ de la Fuente, Anna Marie (August 2, 2021). "Doc 'Sharksploitation' Delves into the Sub-Genre Spawned by Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Squires, John (June 22, 2023). "'Sharksploitation' – Shudder Original Shark Horror Documentary Premieres This Summer". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Mack, Andrew (July 18, 2023). "Sharksploitation Trailer: Shark Horror Doc Debuts on Shudder This Friday". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
External links
edit- "Sharksploitation". sharksploitation.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021.
- Sharksploitation exhibit -- Living Sharks Museum
- Film School Rejects - "Sharksploitation: Feel the Grove According to 'Jaws'
- Smithsonian Magazine - "How Realistic Is The Shark Science in 'The Shallows'?"
- ABC News - "Why Has 'Sharknado' Become Such a Culture Phenomenon?"