“Beneath this glassy surface, a world of gliding monsters,” goes a line in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea.

Our fascination with the ocean has long struck a balance between indulging our sense of adventure and wrestling with our fear of the unknown. Cinema was quick to latch onto this winning combination, and there have been hundreds of films featuring intrepid explorers and dedicated scientists being tormented by aquatic predators awash with teeth and tentacles.

As Jason Statham and Li Bingbing face off against a prehistoric giant shark in The Meg, which opens in cinemas this week, we pondered where the high water mark for sea monster movies is, and came up with a list of our dozen favourites, ranked in order of ludicrous fun.
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