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My 5 Favorite (Single-Headed) Shark Movies

As we enter day two of what I'm dubbing "2 Headed Shark Week" - leading up to next Tuesday's DVD release - I thought I'd share something I've been asked about a lot lately: my 5 favorite shark movies (that I didn't write). Now, if you're a regular reader of Committed, or you read me yesterday, you know that I LOVE shark movies. I have seen every shark movie in existence multiple times, my favorite movie ever is a shark movie (see below), I haven't been in the ocean past my ankles since 1984, and the good lord willing, I never will be again. Bottom line, shark movies mean a lot to me, and these are the cream of the crop, in my book.

Jaws: Where else would you start? Not only do I consider Jaws to be the no-brainer best shark movie, and the best horror movie, it's also my favorite film of all time. I watch it purposely at least twice a year and stop what I'm doing every time I come across it on TV. I know every scene, every line by heart; this, to me, is cinematic perfection. There will never be another shark movie like Jaws, there can never be; like the beast it depicts, the film is top of the food chain, an apex predator that will always devour the competition.

Shark Swarm: This 2008 TV miniseries from director James A. Contner and writers David Rosiak and Matthew Chernov is a staple of every SyFy shark marathon, and rightfully so. It's a shark movie lover's dream: a really long shark movie! This one hits all the high notes of a Saturday Afternoon Classic: greedy suit-type, toxic chemicals, scores of enraged, altered and organized sharks, not to mention a top-notch cast including Darryl Hannah, John Schneider, Heather McComb, Armand Assante and Academy Award Winner F. Murray Abraham. Put it all together and you get 167 minutes of bloody bliss.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus: Of course this was going to make my list. There are a lot of giant shark movies out there, but for those of us for whom this wasn't quite enough, The Asylum gave us a shark that was truly mega. Homeshark grabbed planes from the sky, ripped out a chunk of the golden gate bridge, and survived both a giant octopus and Lorenzo Lamas. It's a thrilling B-movie epic, the kills and effects are awesome, it made a household name of Debbie Gibson again and at the end of the day, it might just be the most fun shark movie ever made. (For now...)

Spring Break Shark Attack: I cannot believe it took so long for someone to come up with this concept. Spring Break. Shark Attack. They're like the peanut butter and chocolate of horror movie elements. And though this too was made for TV - CBS at that, go figure - so it can't be as gory as I'd like, it's another fun flick with lots of bikinis, lots of tanned bro's, and lots of sharks.

The Reef: Australians know sharks. Well. The Great Barrier Reef is Great White central. So it stands to reason a shark movie from an Australian would be pretty good. The Reef, by Australian Andrew Traucki, is that movie. Like Open Water with balls, the tension in this one never lets up. If you still dare to go in the water, this one just might shake that conviction once and for all.

UPDATED RE-POST: A Comprehensive List of Shark Movies ... Just Cuz

There's nothing I like more than a good (or bad) shark movie. They scare the crap out of me, always have, ever since the questionable parenting of my father plopped me down in front of Jaws when I was about seven. Thus was born a primal fear/obsession that has only grown as the decades have passed. I've since seen Jaws more than 100 times, and every other shark movie I could get my hands on at least twice. Awesome, okay, terrible, shitty - it doesn't matter, they had me at "shark." And so when I started thinking about The Asylum's 2 Headed Shark Attack - out 1/31/12 from director Christopher Ray, based on a story by Ed DeRuiter and a script by me and starring Carmen Electra, Charlie O'Connell and Brooke Hogan, whew! - being the latest entrant of this distinguished canon, I decided I wanted to see a comprehensive list of shark films. But there wasn't one. So I made one, chronological to boot. I should clarify: these are movies with sharks as the primary antagonist, not just any old movie in which a shark swims by. That said, if I've left anything out, let me know on the comments board and I'll rectify the error. Enjoy!

Shark! (1969)

directed by Sam Fuller
written by Sam Fuller and John Kingsbridge
starring Burt Reynolds

Jaws (1975)

directed by Steven Spielberg
written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb
starring Roy Scheider

Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976)

directed by William Grefe
written by William Grefe and Robert W. Morgan
starring Richard Jaeckel

Shark Kill (1976)

directed by William A. Graham
written by Sandor Stern
starring Jennifer Warren

Tintorera (1977)

directed by Rene Cardona Jr.
written by Rene Cardona Jr
starring Susan George

Cyclone (1978)

directed by Rene Cardona Jr
written by Rene Cardona Jr
starring Arthur Kennedy

Jaws 2 (1978)

directed by Jeannot Szwarc
written by Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler
starring Roy Scheider

The Last Shark (1980)

directed by Enzo G. Castellari
written by Vincenzo Monnino
starring Vic Morrow and James Francisco

Jaws 3D (1983)

directed by Joe Alves
written by Richard Matheson and Carl Gottlieb
starring Dennis Quaid, Louis Gosset Jr, Lea Thompson

Jaws The Revenge (1987)

directed by Joseph Sargent
written by Michael De Guzman
starring Lorraine Grey, Michael Caine, Mario Van Peebles

Night of the Sharks (1988)

directed by Tonnino Ricci
written by Tito Carpi
starring Treat Williams

Mission of the Shark (1991)

directed by Robert Iscove
written by Alan Sharp
starring Stacy Keach

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

directed by Renny Harlin
written by Duncan Kennedy and Donna Powers
starring Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Sam L. Jackson

Shark Attack (1999)

directed by Bob Misiorowski
written by Scott Devine, William Hooke
starring Casper Van Dien, Ernie Hudson

Shark Hunter (2001)

directed by Matt Codd
written by Sam Wells
starring Antonio Sabato Jr.

Shark Attack 2 (2001)

directed by David Worth
written by Scott Devine, William Hooke
starring Thorsten Kaye

Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002)

directed by David Worth
written by Scott Devine, William Hooke
starring John Barrowman

Red Water (2003)

directed by Charles Robert Carner
written by J.D. Fiegelson, Chris Mack
starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Kristy Swanson

Dark Waters (2003)

directed by Philip J. Roth
written by Philip J. Roth, Brett Orr
starring Lorenzo Lamas

Shark Zone (2003)

directed by Danny Lerner
written by Sam Parish
starring Dean Cochran

12 Days of Terror (2004)

directed by Jack Sholder
written by Jeffrey Reiner
starring Colin Egglesfield, Johnathan Rhys-Davies

Open Water (2004)

directed by Chris Kentis
written by Chris Kentis
starring Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis

Megalodon (2004)

directed by Pat Corbitt
written by Gary J. Tunnicliffe, Stanley Issacs
starring Leighanne Littrel

Shark Attack in the Mediterranean (2004)

directed by Jorgo Papavassiliou
written by Roland Heep
starring Ralf Moeller

Blue Demon (2005)

directed by Daniel Grodnik
written by Brett Thompson
starring DeeDee Pfieffer

Hammerhead (2005)

directed by Michael Oblowitz
written by Kenneth M Badish
starring William Forsythe

Raging Sharks (2005)

directed by Danny Lerner
written by Les Weldon
starring Corin Nemic

Spring Break Shark Attack (2005)

directed by Paul Shapiro
written by James LaRose
starring Shannon Lucio

Shark Swarm (2007)

directed by James Contner
written by David Rosiak, Matthew Chernov
starring Darryl Hannah, John Schneider

Sharks in Venice (2007)

directed by Danny Lerner
written by Les Weldon
starring Stephen Baldwin

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (2009)

directed by Ace Hannah
written by Ace Hannah
starring Lorenzo Lamas, Debbie Gibson

Malibu Shark Attack (2009)

directed by David Lister
written by Keith Shaw
starring Peta Wilson

Dinoshark (2010)

directed by Kevin O'Neill
written by Frances Doel
starring Eric Balfour

Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus (2010)

directed by Christopher Ray
written by Naomi Selfman
starring Jaleel White, Robert Picardo, Gary Stretch

Sharktopus (2010)

directed by Declan O'Brien
written by Mike MacLean
starring Eric Roberts

Swamp Shark

directed by G.E. Furst
written by Eric Miller & Charles Bolan
starring Kristy Swanson, DB Sweeney, Robert Davi

The Reef (2011)

directed by Andrew Traucki
written by Andrew Traucki
starring Adrienne Pickering

Shark Night 3D (2011)

directed by David R. Ellis
written by Will Hayes
starring Sara Paxton

2 Headed Shark Attack (2012)

directed by Christopher Ray
story by Ed DeRuiter, screenplay by H. Perry Horton
starring Carmen Electra, Charlie O'Connell

Sand Sharks
directed by Mark Atkins
written by Cameron Larson
starring Corin Nemic, Brooke Hogan, Vanessa Lee Evigan

Supershark
written and directed by Fred Olen Ray
starring John Schneider, Jimmie Walker, Sarah Lieving, Shane Van Dyke, Gerald Webb, Dylan Vox, Ashley Carr, Erica Duke, Harmony Blossom and a whole host of other Asylum reg's

Dark Tide
written by Ronnie Christensen and Amy Sorlie
directed by John Stockwell
starring Halle Berry, Oliver Martinez

A Comprehensive List of Shark Movies ... Just Cuz

There's nothing I like more than a good (or bad) shark movie. They scare the crap out of me, always have, ever since the questionable parenting of my father plopped me down in front of Jaws when I was about seven. Thus was born a primal fear/obsession that has only grown as the decades have passed. I've since seen Jaws more than 100 times, and every other shark movie I could get my hands on at least twice. Awesome, okay, terrible, shitty - it doesn't matter, they had me at "shark." And so when I started thinking about The Asylum's 2 Headed Shark Attack - out 1/17/12 from director Christopher Ray, based on a story by Ed DeRuiter and a script by me and starring Carmen Electra, Charlie O'Connell and Brooke Hogan, whew! - being the latest entrant of this distinguished canon, I decided I wanted to see a comprehensive list of shark films. But there wasn't one. So I made one, chronological to boot. I should clarify: these are movies with sharks as the primary antagonist, not just any old movie in which a shark swims by. That said, if I've left anything out, let me know on the comments board and I'll rectify the error. Enjoy!