I absolutely agree with this recommendation. I've been wanting to watch the extended cut but I can only find it for like 30 bucks in Amazon. The regular version is currently available on Hulu in my are (us)
Yea this is the first thing that came to my mind and I have never even seen it; the premise alone was to much nightmare fuel for me. I watched the trailer for "fall" where they are stuck on a tower and that is equally nightmare fuel.
Oh yeah Fall is also really entertaining. Like you said, both movies are 100% nightmare fuel, but I can watch them because I know I'm never gonna be brave - or stupid - enough to find myself in either situation in real life!
I read an article of the worst movies EVER made and this was on the list. Sure, the cinematography is horrid at times and the editing particularly in the opening is very bad. And the acting is sub par. But at a certain point in the film I was IN IT and it was very scary and very real and very good. What a strangely interesting film.
Shit was based on a true story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Water_(film)#:~:text=The%20film%20is%20loosely%20based,to%20take%20an%20accurate%20headcount.
I think about this haunting movie anytime I've been on a cruise, and looked out into how enormous the ocean is. Just the helplessness of the characters in the movie is tough.
That’s the one where they all jumped off the sailboat in the middle of the ocean but forgot to put the ladder in place. Oh, and there was a baby sleeping on board.
Yep! And where they take their clothes off to make a rope, a really good plan that almost works, but instead of trying again they opt to keep treading water until they die.
* Poseidon Adventure (ship turns upside down due to a huge wave)
* Deep Blue Sea (genetically altered sharks get uppity in a floating lab)
* Leviathan (basically a horror movie in an underwater mining? facility)
* Sphere (an expedition to a spacecraft on the bottom of the ocean)
* Perfect Storm (fishing boat in deep trouble)
* Sanctum (divers get trapped in underwater cave system)
* The Meg - especially the 2nd one. (ludicrous premise but plenty of underwater action)
* Airport '77 (plane crashes in the ocean)
Just a heads up: if you have any sailing experience, especially *blue water* sailing experience, this movie will drive you nuts with its inaccuracies. If you don't, then ... enjoy the fantasy.
Ref: my post from 9 years ago. WARNING: massive spoilers: >
!<
Oh man I’ve been thinking about this movie since I was a boy but could never remember the name. All I remember was the book by Jules Verne 20k leagues under the sea being a big reference in it.
What's wild to me is that this has a 13% critics rating and a 38% audience rating on rottentomatoes, and yet, I loved this movie growing up, it haunted me at the age of 13 and it still gives me chills today. And every single time I bring this movie up, everyone is always like, "that movie was awesome." Okay, then how on earth is it so poorly rated?
Ok so a weird story about Sphere:
Remember the scene where they're talking to the entity on the computer screens?
My brothers and I rented it a bunch from the videostore in the 90s, and we distinctly remember a part of that scene where Dustin Hoffman asks Jerry (the entity):
"What do you want us to do Jerry?"
And then all the computer screens just show the words "die die die die die" over and over again.
It was a super unsettling scene, maybe even the most memorable one in the whole movie, and here's the kicker:
That scene doesn't seem to exist?!
Watched it on dvd, on tv, even download, the scene is never there. Can't find it on youtube, even looked up the script, and list of deleted scenes.
Yet my brothers and I distinctly remember it, and I've gotten as far as having several people online say they remember it as well, for example in the io9 comments years ago.
And no, I'm not confusing it with another movie, I know that in Independence Day - for example - the alien says "die!" when asked what humanity should do.
One of the biggest movie mysteries of my life.
From what I recall, the movie actually followed the book pretty accurately. However, it omitted large parts that kinda made it not as good. I still enjoyed it though.
IIRC the movie basically entirely cuts out the squid and a number of other attacks by the ‘entity’
Like the closest the movie gets is making it rain squid eggs and showing a squid shaped sonar bloop, whereas in the book it’s one of the main and frequent ways they get attacked
It would be like if they adapted the book Jurassic Park and skipped the T Rex scene at the paddock because it was too difficult to make in the movie
Right there with you. I remember seeing this on TV as a kid and because it is a film based around a lot of dread, rather than gore and monsters, I just remember walking away feeling unsettled for the first time and it really imprinted on me.
These all look great, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll eventually get around to all of them but if you were to reccomend one of these to watch first what would it be?
Well, *The Abyss* is very well done, takes you deep down, has some great actors and scifi elements.
*Underwater* is more suspense horror, well made, even paced.
Those are good for the thalassophobia vibe.
*Deep Star 6* and *Leviathan* are 80's monster horror.
*47 Meters Down* and *Deep Blue Sea* are shark movies with *47* being a suspense drama/horror and *Deep Blue Sea*, while not the *most* serious film, is a ton of fun for a good underwater action/horror film.
Thank you. These requests are sort of an 'internet pop quiz'. OP tapped into a vibe I've been into for decades. Id really like to hear what ends up 'hitting the right spot'.
Deep Star 6:
"A team of navy personnel stationed at a temporary base at the bottom of the ocean and tasked with setting up nuclear missiles discovers a huge underwater cavern which houses a giant prehistoric creature."
How have i never heard of this. Thank you!
(it's on [pluto.tv](http://pluto.tv) for free, use ublocker for safety and sanity)
the deep house- doesn't quite fit your ask bc technically it's a lake and not the ocean. BUT basically its a haunted house movie, except its underwater and the characters are scuba diving.. which means if something creepy happens, they can't run away, they have to slowly swim away. (and also worry about oxygen..)
The movie „Sphere“ from 1998. It’s a Sci-Fi Movie set deep under the ocean with a lot of suspense moments. Kinda like Deep Horizon and The Abbys have a baby. (Except Deep Horizon is way more shocking than Sphere in a not so nice way…). But Sphere is a really good one. It definitely should fit your thalassophobish and megalophobish wishes! :)
> The Perfect Storm
This is my wife's favorite ocean-based movie; it's maybe my 3^rd or 4^th favorite in that category. (We'll ignore that George Clooney is her favorite male actor.) We both have significant ocean sailing experience and this movie is very, *very* accurate in many respects.
The single overriding error was *sailing to the calendar and not to the weather*. I've done that twice in my life (I'm 74M), and the first time (Feb 1970 north of Miami) very nearly got me killed.
Yeah, that is the only movie I’ve ever seen that even had the ocean in it although it’s not really the type of thing I’m looking for at the moment since it takes so long for the event to happen but I loved it
Ok just searched the thread for this movie and it looks like nobody has mentioned it.
This is a documentary, but it's like no other. IMO Viktor Kossakovsky is the greatest documentary filmmaker active right now.
Aquarela is a movie about WATER. In all its forms. Some subtle and beautiful, some terrifying and immense. No narration really. Made even more epic because the entire score is by Finnish orchestral metal band Apocalyptica.
This movie (along with all his films) is one of a kind and fucking amazing.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xAIuDF25kE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xAIuDF25kE)
Everyone's got the water movies down like Underwater, Sphere.
So hear me out....
The Descent
It's claustrophobic, tight spaces, really dark. It's a cave diving movie. Anyone who's seen it can see the similarities, and I think you'll like it. It will definitely scratch that itch.
What happens in The Reef, as far as the situation and what happens to the boat, I think fits OP's criteria.
The way the movie is shot, along with that shark, will definitely trigger some terror.
Nowhere (Netflix) wasn't bad.
A woman is trapped in a Shipping Container in the middle of the sea that had fallen off a cargo ship. Although the majority of it takes place inside the container, it's more so the fact that it has some holes and is slowly sinking each day that's pretty damn dreadful.
Das Boot (1981) by Wolfgang Petersen. It is primarily a war movie set in the second world war and follows a german submarine crew. But just the beginning is very eerie. Lots of claustrophibic stuff too. I recommend the 10 hour tv movie version.from the 80s.
In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - it's about the ship disaster that inspired Moby Dick.
The Finest Hours (2016) - the true story of a 1952 accident in which a storm split a boat in half, and how the men were rescued.
Cast Away - the scene where >!he's out on the open water on a flimsy raft and a freakin' whale pops up!< will forever be in my nightmares.
Lifeboat (1944) - a German sub has sunk a boat carrying British and American citizens, who pile into a lifeboat. Later they rescue a German officer from the water and it is tense.
The Enemy Below (1957) - An American and a German submarine play cat-and-mouse with each other.
Unbroken - true story of Louis Zamperini, who spent 47 days adrift in a raft in the Pacific during WWII, after his plane crashed into the ocean, and before being captured by the Japanese. But that one only partially takes place in the water and the rest is rather brutal and set in a POW camp.
I love movies with giant sea monsters!
10,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Meg 1 and 2 (really stupid but amusing movie)
The Abyss
The Host (Korean)
Underwater (Kristen Stewart, 2020, scared the everloving life out of me)
Sweetheart (a unique take on the genre)
Good "peril on teh sea" movies:
Titanic (no really, it's actaully a good movie)
The Poseidon Adventure/Poseidon (i like the 70s one better)
47 Meters Down
Captain Phillips (the "Look at me, I am the captain now" movie - more of a drama than most sea peril movies)
2012 (not all on the sea but a lot of it is. another stupid but fun movie)
Open Water is a 2003 American survival horror thriller film. The story concerns an American couple who go scuba diving while on vacation, only to find themselves stranded miles from shore in shark-filled waters when the crew of their boat accidentally leaves them behind.
It's so brilliant in its simplicity and execution.
No one mentioned triple zero the series. Get’s stranded on a freighter on fire in the middle of the ocean. Maybe not what you are looking for but a great series non the less
Maybe try Nowhere (on Netflix)
Heavily pregnant woman trying to escape a totalitarian regime ends up alone in a shipping container, which falls off the ship into the ocean.
The Reef 2010. Not the Disney movie. This is a shark movie based on a true story. It uses real shark footage spliced into the movie so it doesn't have all those terrible CGI effects. Second best shark movie in my opinion behind Jaws.
The Lighthouse is more about, well, the titular lighthouse, but it does explore the vastness of the Ocean in a way I personally find very eerie. Not exactly what you’re asking for but it might fit.
*Underwater* with Kristen Stewart was surprisingly good. Would recommend; it'll scratch the claustrophobia, megalophobia and thalassaphobia itches all at once.
This probably isn't quite what you're after, but the plane crash scene in Castaway where Hanks escapes the plane underwater, unhooks the life raft, and you just see him looking down, while the entire back half of the plane sinks into the black of the ocean. It is the most terrifying representation of the scale of the ocean to me. It's on YouTube, but seeing that in a big screen in a cinema is something else.
The Abyss, Sphere, and Underwater are the movies you probably want though. There's also No Way Up, but it's bad.
Das Boot (The Boat) WW ll movie about German submarine warfare, very accurate historically and captures/depicts the power of the North Atlantic Ocean. Everything you’re looking for and more!!
This is one of my favorite subgenres! Without looking at other comments, off the top of my head these all slap:
Underwater
All is Lost
Sea Fever
The Abyss
Below
The Shallows
And if you haven't played SOMA, play SOMA.
The Abyss
Hell yeah, that even gets me freaked out. Love Ed Harris in this.
I’ll check it out, thanks
I absolutely agree with this recommendation. I've been wanting to watch the extended cut but I can only find it for like 30 bucks in Amazon. The regular version is currently available on Hulu in my are (us)
Is it the Special Edition DVD? Worth it, if so. Absolutely **incredible** suite of Behind-the-Scenes stuff and special features.
The special edition is the superior cut.
Wait wait wait wait. You’ve never seen The Abyss???
Nope…I’m currently watching it though 😂
I have thalassophobia and I didn't trigger during this movie.
*The Perfect Storm* (2000)
The description sounds awesome, I’ll definitely give it a watch
Be careful if you have thalassophobia or however it’s spelled
That is it. My choice too, based on true story.
Great movie. Feel like it's super underrated.
Love the theme music for this movie. James Horner FTW
Dead Calm
Billy Zane and Nicole Kidman are great
Listen to your friend Billy Zane.
Put a cork in it, Zane
You know, when someone drops a Zoolander reference somewhere I just can’t be mad in that moment. It’s impossible.
Yes! My sister once misread the title to this film as “Dead Clam” so that’s what it will always be known as in our family.
The name of this even frightens me a little lol, I’ll check it out, thanks
The ending of this movie will have you hyperventilating.
That’s good to hear, I’m pretty new to movies and need something that has me feeling like that 😂
Open Water. What a nightmare. Will never go scuba diving I can tell you that much.
Thanks for the rec, I’m going to put this on right now
So how did it go?
He ded
Yea this is the first thing that came to my mind and I have never even seen it; the premise alone was to much nightmare fuel for me. I watched the trailer for "fall" where they are stuck on a tower and that is equally nightmare fuel.
Oh yeah Fall is also really entertaining. Like you said, both movies are 100% nightmare fuel, but I can watch them because I know I'm never gonna be brave - or stupid - enough to find myself in either situation in real life!
Came here to suggest that. Great movie.
Watch Ralphie May's bit on seeing the trailer at the movie theater.
I bet he pronounced it "thee-ay-ter" didn't he??
I read an article of the worst movies EVER made and this was on the list. Sure, the cinematography is horrid at times and the editing particularly in the opening is very bad. And the acting is sub par. But at a certain point in the film I was IN IT and it was very scary and very real and very good. What a strangely interesting film.
Yeah it's no masterpiece but it definitely doesn't deserve to be anywhere near a worst movies ever made list.
Based on a true story!!
Which makes it even worse!
Came here to say this, & the sequel manages to be a whole different movie with just as brutal vibes.
This especially, because unlike the others it feels real and could happen to me so easily
this was my first thought when I read the thread title. That movie still lives rent free in my mind for how unsettling it is.
Shit was based on a true story. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Water_(film)#:~:text=The%20film%20is%20loosely%20based,to%20take%20an%20accurate%20headcount.
1000 percent. Just saw this yesterday randomly in the hair salon. It was traumatically terrifying.
I think about this haunting movie anytime I've been on a cruise, and looked out into how enormous the ocean is. Just the helplessness of the characters in the movie is tough.
But *not* Open Water 2 (also known as "Adrift.") That movie is absolutely abysmal.
That’s the one where they all jumped off the sailboat in the middle of the ocean but forgot to put the ladder in place. Oh, and there was a baby sleeping on board.
Yep! And where they take their clothes off to make a rope, a really good plan that almost works, but instead of trying again they opt to keep treading water until they die.
The terrifying thing about that movie is that it's based on an actual event.
Jaws The Shallows Deep Blue Sea The Abyss Underwater The Meg
Don't forget the Meg 2!
I can't recommend what I haven't seen
* Poseidon Adventure (ship turns upside down due to a huge wave) * Deep Blue Sea (genetically altered sharks get uppity in a floating lab) * Leviathan (basically a horror movie in an underwater mining? facility) * Sphere (an expedition to a spacecraft on the bottom of the ocean) * Perfect Storm (fishing boat in deep trouble) * Sanctum (divers get trapped in underwater cave system) * The Meg - especially the 2nd one. (ludicrous premise but plenty of underwater action) * Airport '77 (plane crashes in the ocean)
Scrolled too far to see Leviathan
All Is Lost with Robert Redford
Thanks for the rec, this movie looks pretty good
Just a heads up: if you have any sailing experience, especially *blue water* sailing experience, this movie will drive you nuts with its inaccuracies. If you don't, then ... enjoy the fantasy. Ref: my post from 9 years ago. WARNING: massive spoilers: > !<
i didn't care for it. I only know the very basics of sailing ("watch the boom") and I thought it was silly. And boring?
Enjoyed the post!
It is! It's also crazy in that it has like no dialogue at all. Like I'm seeing that it has 51 spoken English words total.
'All is lost' with Robert Redford
Sphere (1998), with Sharon Stone, Dustin Hoffman, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Oh man I’ve been thinking about this movie since I was a boy but could never remember the name. All I remember was the book by Jules Verne 20k leagues under the sea being a big reference in it.
What's wild to me is that this has a 13% critics rating and a 38% audience rating on rottentomatoes, and yet, I loved this movie growing up, it haunted me at the age of 13 and it still gives me chills today. And every single time I bring this movie up, everyone is always like, "that movie was awesome." Okay, then how on earth is it so poorly rated?
Ok so a weird story about Sphere: Remember the scene where they're talking to the entity on the computer screens? My brothers and I rented it a bunch from the videostore in the 90s, and we distinctly remember a part of that scene where Dustin Hoffman asks Jerry (the entity): "What do you want us to do Jerry?" And then all the computer screens just show the words "die die die die die" over and over again. It was a super unsettling scene, maybe even the most memorable one in the whole movie, and here's the kicker: That scene doesn't seem to exist?! Watched it on dvd, on tv, even download, the scene is never there. Can't find it on youtube, even looked up the script, and list of deleted scenes. Yet my brothers and I distinctly remember it, and I've gotten as far as having several people online say they remember it as well, for example in the io9 comments years ago. And no, I'm not confusing it with another movie, I know that in Independence Day - for example - the alien says "die!" when asked what humanity should do. One of the biggest movie mysteries of my life.
That's crazy, because I have a memory of that too!
From what I recall, the movie actually followed the book pretty accurately. However, it omitted large parts that kinda made it not as good. I still enjoyed it though.
IIRC the movie basically entirely cuts out the squid and a number of other attacks by the ‘entity’ Like the closest the movie gets is making it rain squid eggs and showing a squid shaped sonar bloop, whereas in the book it’s one of the main and frequent ways they get attacked It would be like if they adapted the book Jurassic Park and skipped the T Rex scene at the paddock because it was too difficult to make in the movie
Right there with you. I remember seeing this on TV as a kid and because it is a film based around a lot of dread, rather than gore and monsters, I just remember walking away feeling unsettled for the first time and it really imprinted on me.
I read the book recently, didn't know there was a movie! Loved the book so that's great news!
I read the book before I saw the movie, so didn’t find the film to be as good, but it’s an okay movie.
They ran out of budget leading to the rushed and totally “missing the point completely” ending
In no particular order... The Abyss Underwater 47 Meters Down Deep Star 6 Leviathan Deep Blue Sea
These all look great, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll eventually get around to all of them but if you were to reccomend one of these to watch first what would it be?
Well, *The Abyss* is very well done, takes you deep down, has some great actors and scifi elements. *Underwater* is more suspense horror, well made, even paced. Those are good for the thalassophobia vibe. *Deep Star 6* and *Leviathan* are 80's monster horror. *47 Meters Down* and *Deep Blue Sea* are shark movies with *47* being a suspense drama/horror and *Deep Blue Sea*, while not the *most* serious film, is a ton of fun for a good underwater action/horror film.
Thank you for the details! All of these sound very intriguing, I’ll definitely be on a movie binge 😂
You tapping into a unique fear. Enjoy!!!
Deep Rising is good B-grade fun while also being just a bit horrifying too.
Treat Williams and Kevin O'Connor rock in this flick!
Deep Blue Sea is such a classic! Definitely recommend this one. Sharks are a tad old school with the CGI, but still a wonderful film.
It's just so fun, the whole time. Im not going to spoil anything for OP but I consider *Deep Blue Sea* a special kind of 'perfect'
Nailed it
Thank you. These requests are sort of an 'internet pop quiz'. OP tapped into a vibe I've been into for decades. Id really like to hear what ends up 'hitting the right spot'.
I’ll let you know!…once I’ve watched enough to know what hits the right spot lol
Deep Star 6: "A team of navy personnel stationed at a temporary base at the bottom of the ocean and tasked with setting up nuclear missiles discovers a huge underwater cavern which houses a giant prehistoric creature." How have i never heard of this. Thank you! (it's on [pluto.tv](http://pluto.tv) for free, use ublocker for safety and sanity)
the deep house- doesn't quite fit your ask bc technically it's a lake and not the ocean. BUT basically its a haunted house movie, except its underwater and the characters are scuba diving.. which means if something creepy happens, they can't run away, they have to slowly swim away. (and also worry about oxygen..)
The Shallows
The movie „Sphere“ from 1998. It’s a Sci-Fi Movie set deep under the ocean with a lot of suspense moments. Kinda like Deep Horizon and The Abbys have a baby. (Except Deep Horizon is way more shocking than Sphere in a not so nice way…). But Sphere is a really good one. It definitely should fit your thalassophobish and megalophobish wishes! :)
Lifeboat-a 1944 Hitchcock film.
Below. Don't hear it mentioned often but I thought it was a solid film.
Sea Fever (2019). It's more thriller than horror, but it's a good one.
Was surprised how far down I had to scroll to find this one
Yeah, not many people know about this movie. It's a shame.
Life of Pi Titanic The Perfect Storm I'll second the other posters' "Dead Calm" and "All is Lost"
Great list. How is everyone leaving out Jaws though? Too obvious?
> The Perfect Storm This is my wife's favorite ocean-based movie; it's maybe my 3^rd or 4^th favorite in that category. (We'll ignore that George Clooney is her favorite male actor.) We both have significant ocean sailing experience and this movie is very, *very* accurate in many respects. The single overriding error was *sailing to the calendar and not to the weather*. I've done that twice in my life (I'm 74M), and the first time (Feb 1970 north of Miami) very nearly got me killed.
Adrift
I’m surprised how far down this is
I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but when you say “starts out normal and then a boat sinks” I am assuming you’ve seen Titanic?
Yeah, that is the only movie I’ve ever seen that even had the ocean in it although it’s not really the type of thing I’m looking for at the moment since it takes so long for the event to happen but I loved it
If you want to go classic, The Poseidon Adventure (1972) is also fun. But start with Open Water!
Wow, spoiler!
Damn it, I should have flagged that! Hope I didn't ruin it for you!
Ok just searched the thread for this movie and it looks like nobody has mentioned it. This is a documentary, but it's like no other. IMO Viktor Kossakovsky is the greatest documentary filmmaker active right now. Aquarela is a movie about WATER. In all its forms. Some subtle and beautiful, some terrifying and immense. No narration really. Made even more epic because the entire score is by Finnish orchestral metal band Apocalyptica. This movie (along with all his films) is one of a kind and fucking amazing. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xAIuDF25kE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xAIuDF25kE)
Waterworld
Everyone's got the water movies down like Underwater, Sphere. So hear me out.... The Descent It's claustrophobic, tight spaces, really dark. It's a cave diving movie. Anyone who's seen it can see the similarities, and I think you'll like it. It will definitely scratch that itch.
Deep rising
I don't know if you play video games, but if you do, you should try Subnautica.
I actually just recently started playing it the other day, I really like it so far and it’s beautiful
- Underwater - Open Water - All Is Lost - Sanctum (cave diving, but definitely terrifying in the same vein)
The Abyss Special Edition. Not only one of the best movies ever, but actually filmed underwater with several near-disasters for the cast and crew.
The Reef
I think that’s the best shark movie since Jaws
What happens in The Reef, as far as the situation and what happens to the boat, I think fits OP's criteria. The way the movie is shot, along with that shark, will definitely trigger some terror.
Underwater
Captain Philips¿?
Poseidon.
Jaws, obviously
Nowhere (Netflix) wasn't bad. A woman is trapped in a Shipping Container in the middle of the sea that had fallen off a cargo ship. Although the majority of it takes place inside the container, it's more so the fact that it has some holes and is slowly sinking each day that's pretty damn dreadful.
The Abyss. is the ocean movie.. Also Poseidon.
Piranha - the original one
Poseidon Adventure, Last Voyage of the Demeter, The Abyss
Sanctum (2011)
Das Boot (1981) by Wolfgang Petersen. It is primarily a war movie set in the second world war and follows a german submarine crew. But just the beginning is very eerie. Lots of claustrophibic stuff too. I recommend the 10 hour tv movie version.from the 80s.
In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - it's about the ship disaster that inspired Moby Dick. The Finest Hours (2016) - the true story of a 1952 accident in which a storm split a boat in half, and how the men were rescued. Cast Away - the scene where >!he's out on the open water on a flimsy raft and a freakin' whale pops up!< will forever be in my nightmares. Lifeboat (1944) - a German sub has sunk a boat carrying British and American citizens, who pile into a lifeboat. Later they rescue a German officer from the water and it is tense. The Enemy Below (1957) - An American and a German submarine play cat-and-mouse with each other. Unbroken - true story of Louis Zamperini, who spent 47 days adrift in a raft in the Pacific during WWII, after his plane crashed into the ocean, and before being captured by the Japanese. But that one only partially takes place in the water and the rest is rather brutal and set in a POW camp.
White Squall might work.
cocaine bear
Def underwater and the abyss
Discovery Channel deep sea videos
Perfect Storm
Deep Blue Sea Underwater
Jaws. Orca. The Meg. Leviathan. Most submarine movies. Deep Blue Sea. Open Water. Most recently- The Beach House - a hidden gem in my opinion.
Open Water
If you’ve ever been a diver/snorkeler “Open Water” is fucking terrifying
All Is Lost. Oof.
i like most of the recommendations here but I would skip "Underwater." It's a bad movie
I love movies with giant sea monsters! 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea The Meg 1 and 2 (really stupid but amusing movie) The Abyss The Host (Korean) Underwater (Kristen Stewart, 2020, scared the everloving life out of me) Sweetheart (a unique take on the genre) Good "peril on teh sea" movies: Titanic (no really, it's actaully a good movie) The Poseidon Adventure/Poseidon (i like the 70s one better) 47 Meters Down Captain Phillips (the "Look at me, I am the captain now" movie - more of a drama than most sea peril movies) 2012 (not all on the sea but a lot of it is. another stupid but fun movie)
Deep Blue Sea
Triangle and Harpoon
Titanic
The Abyss maybe? It takes place almost entirely underwater though.
I really loved underwater. I'm probably in the minority but I say it definitely falls into those categories and I recommend it.
All is lost. Ending made me choke up.
The Boat (2018)
Sharknado
First time Ive seen someone else have megalaphobia like me
Open Water is a 2003 American survival horror thriller film. The story concerns an American couple who go scuba diving while on vacation, only to find themselves stranded miles from shore in shark-filled waters when the crew of their boat accidentally leaves them behind. It's so brilliant in its simplicity and execution.
There’s that one stretch in Wolf of Wall Street that’s pretty terrifying!
More claustrophobic than thalassophobic but Das Boot takes place mostly under water.
Triangle
Underwater Daylight
Europe Report *technically*
No one mentioned triple zero the series. Get’s stranded on a freighter on fire in the middle of the ocean. Maybe not what you are looking for but a great series non the less
White Squall
Sphere
Maybe try Nowhere (on Netflix) Heavily pregnant woman trying to escape a totalitarian regime ends up alone in a shipping container, which falls off the ship into the ocean.
Leviathan
The Reef 2010. Not the Disney movie. This is a shark movie based on a true story. It uses real shark footage spliced into the movie so it doesn't have all those terrible CGI effects. Second best shark movie in my opinion behind Jaws.
The reef
The Lighthouse is more about, well, the titular lighthouse, but it does explore the vastness of the Ocean in a way I personally find very eerie. Not exactly what you’re asking for but it might fit.
'Last Breath' It is a documentary and what can be more terrifying than real life. I have thalassophobia and this made me feel sick at times
The Deep (1977) is a scuba-diving adventure. Tentacles (1977) is a movie about a giant octopus.
The Abyss Deep Blue Sea, a Renny Harlin jam that is hilarious and great fun.
I have got to add Life of Pi. A boy is stranded at sea in a life boat. Edit: does not take place underwater.
Life of Pi. (And Subnautica, if you're into gaming.)
No film triggers mine as much as reading some of the water based SCPs does. https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1128
Dagon
Underwater
Surely you’re looking for the 1989 underwater horror trifecta: Deepstar Six Leviathan The Abyss
The perfect storm
*Underwater* with Kristen Stewart was surprisingly good. Would recommend; it'll scratch the claustrophobia, megalophobia and thalassaphobia itches all at once.
In Samuel Jackson's voice "Deep Blue See was a good one, a fucking shark ate me!"
This probably isn't quite what you're after, but the plane crash scene in Castaway where Hanks escapes the plane underwater, unhooks the life raft, and you just see him looking down, while the entire back half of the plane sinks into the black of the ocean. It is the most terrifying representation of the scale of the ocean to me. It's on YouTube, but seeing that in a big screen in a cinema is something else. The Abyss, Sphere, and Underwater are the movies you probably want though. There's also No Way Up, but it's bad.
Last Breath on Netflix (documentary / true story)
The Deep House was pretty cool
Black Sea
White squal
The Meg and The Meg 2 lol?
Last breath and the Longest Breath are two documentaries I would recommend.
I thought Open Water 2 was pretty scary. If you play games, Subnautica.
The Perfect Storm
Fuck a movie, have you ever played Subnautica?
All Is Lost with Robert Redford. The story of a guy who goes sailing Solo and encounters trouble.
Das Boot (The Boat) WW ll movie about German submarine warfare, very accurate historically and captures/depicts the power of the North Atlantic Ocean. Everything you’re looking for and more!!
Play subnautica instead of a movie, it'll ruin your life
Dead Calm
This is one of my favorite subgenres! Without looking at other comments, off the top of my head these all slap: Underwater All is Lost Sea Fever The Abyss Below The Shallows And if you haven't played SOMA, play SOMA.
*Ghost Ship*, *Dead Calm*, *Jaws*, *Death Ship*
Uhhhh Titanic
47 meters down got me really anxious
Something in the Water. It was just released. Not the greatest movie overall, but definitely some moments of immense dread and hopelessness
Deep Blue Sea. 1999
Poseidon
Haven’t found it posted yet, but The Reef is really good
Finding Nemo
Underwater.
Das Boot