Shark movie climbs Netflix chart with dreadful Rotten Tomatoes rating

Deep Fear, a new movie that’s basically “Cocaine Shark”, has made a quick ascent on the Netflix top 10 chart – despite its low Rotten Tomatoes rating.

In 1975, Steven Spielberg changed Hollywood forever with Jaws. Not only was it the first proper summer blockbuster, but it whetted the audience’s appetite for more shark movies; more carnage, more blood, more fear.

In the five-plus decades since, we’ve had all sorts: the real-life nightmare of Open Water, Blake Lively’s white-knuckle face-off in The Shallows, and a host of bargain-bin goodness from the Sharknado and the Mega Shark franchises. The Meg and its sequel have seen a return to the spirit of Deep Blue Sea: a preposterous story with big-screen-worthy thrills.

They can’t all be winners – but despite what critics have said about Deep Fear, Netflix subscribers have been taking the plunge into its bloody, powder-filled waters.

Deep Fear hits Netflix chart with low Rotten Tomatoes rating

Deep Fear has a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of just 13%, but it’s sitting at number two on Netflix’s top 10 movies right now. Check out the full chart below:

1. The Postcard Killings
2. Deep Fear
3. The Hill
4. The Greatest Night in Pop
5. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
6. Badland Hunters
7. Brawl in Cell Block 99
8. Lift
9. The Legend of Tarzan
10. Queenpins

We’ll say this: the film sounds wild. The official synopsis reads: “On a journey across the Caribbean to meet her fiancé, an accomplished round the world yachtswoman goes to aid a sinking vessel. She finds three survivors who, it transpires, are narcos and force her to dive down into the wreck to retrieve 850 kilos of cocaine.

“The plan is thwarted by frenzied man-eating tiger sharks who have been attracted to the wreck by the dead bodies… in a tense and deadly undersea attack, Naomi must use her wits and determination to survive.”

Yes, the sharks end up ingesting cocaine – and yes, it turns them into chum-hungry monsters. According to the Radio Times, “the shark attacks are surprisingly effective when they finally arrive,” but Movie Nation said it reminded their critic of “the superior thrillers with similar stories, characters, and settings that came before it.”

Reacting to the movie, one viewer tweeted: “Anyone who opposes the role of AI in entertainment – I ask you to watch the first 10 minutes of Deep Fear on Netflix. How could AI possibly do worse dialogue? Could CGI actors be more wooden and inhumane? This is such a profoundly bad show it forces philosophical debate.”

“Watched Deep Fear last night, never seen such a sh*t shark horror movie before,” another wrote.