Aquatic Films (2020): Subgenres of Terror

By Steve Hutchison

Included in this book are 50 reviews of horror and horror-adjacent aquatic films.

Aquatic films feature creatures from the water, and take place on lakes, oceans, seas, and underwater.

Each book in the Subgenres of Terror 2020 collection contains a ranked thematic watchlist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Hutchison
• Release date: Mar 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778871894

Steve Hutchison

Artist, developer and entrepreneur in film, video games and communications Steve Hutchison co-founded Shade.ca Art and Code in 1999, then Terror.ca and its French equivalent Terreur.ca in 2000. With his background as an artist and integrator, Steve worked on such games as Capcom's Street Fighter, PopCap's Bejeweled, Tetris, Bandai/Namco's Pac-Man and Mattel's Skip-Bo & Phase 10 as a localization manager, 2-D artist and usability expert. Having acquired skills in gamification, he invented a unique horror movie review system that is filterable, searchable and sortable by moods, genres, subgenres and antagonists. Horror movie fans love it, and so do horror authors and filmmakers, as it is a great source of inspiration. In March 2013, Steve launched Tales of Terror, with the same goals in mind but with a much finer technology and a complex engine, something that wasn’t possible initially. He has since published countless horror-themed books.

Book preview

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Tales of Terror’s

Subgenres of Terror 2020

Aquatic Films

INTRODUCTION

Included in this book are 50 reviews of horror and horror-adjacent aquatic films.

Aquatic films feature creatures from the water, and take place on lakes, oceans, seas, and underwater.

Each book in the Subgenres of Terror 2020 collection contains a ranked thematic watchlist.

#50

Saltwater: Atomic Shark

2016

4/8

A lifeguard sets out to destroy an irradiated shark that has been taking human lives.

You can tell which shark is irradiated because it’s red and angry. Also, everything it touches turns to flames. These ridiculous films are getting better every year. The creators are learning and giving us more of what we want to see. We want protagonists with smiles on their faces, until shit hits the fan. We basically want a fun, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek supernatural slasher.

Saltwater, Atomic Shark, or whatever you want to call it, has the type of gore that makes no sense and it’s hilarious. We’re talking explosive indigestion and death by radiation. The more conventional kills are caused by fire. Surprisingly, this shark isn’t big on biting. The editing can get weird and makes everything funnier, not that the director doesn’t do a bang-up job in the first place.

Jeff Fahey’s presence is scarce. The man should be in every movie. He looks unimpressed, as he often does. Other than that, you’ve got a bunch of good looking lifeguards; no names, really, so get ready for some Baywatch references. This film totally piggybacks on the Shark Week trend. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. It’s dumb, it’s sarcastic and it’s lighthearted.

#49

Sharknado 5: Global Swarming

2017

4/8

A man and his family travel around the globe to chase tornadoes filled with sharks.

He’s got Indiana Jones’ whip and Ash Williams’ chainsaw. He’s back and he’s ready for this. Ian Ziering returns as the sharknado hunter, alongside Tara Reid. Neither are particularly funny. They keep a straight face. Sharknado 5 is a Syfy made-for-television science fiction disaster tongue-in-cheek horror comedy. This franchise has been making fun of Jaws, Shark Week and other pop phenomena.

This fifth installment isn’t much better or worse than the previous ones. It’s incredibly stupid, though. It presents, more than ever, a version of our favorite characters who finally accept the fact that they will be fighting sharks for the rest of their lives. They no longer question the nado. The screenplay is particularly weak. The effects are good, not great, but it’s funnier this way.

The amount of green screen effects, here, almost ruins the experience. Sharnkado 5 has so much bad CG it makes you dizzy. For most of the running time, the characters travel the globe at an alarming speed, visiting the landmarks of major cities. We’ve been here before. Here’s more of it. This is a complicated film, especially for an audience that just wants to laugh.

#48

Open Water 3: Cage Dive

2017

4/8

Three friends