There’s no better place to lose your mind than at the beach. The tides whisper promises of peace and rebirth—but dig a little deeper and you’ll find something hungrier in the surf. Sometimes it’s a monster. Sometimes it’s an entire town. Sometimes it’s just you, alone with whatever awful thing you brought with you.
Bad beach vibes is a new subgenre we’re spinning up in celebration of Lorcan Finnegan’s The Surfer, in theaters now and starring Nicolas Cage at his most soul-shattered.
I grew up in Florida going to the beach, surfing and avoiding drum circles at all costs. But my mom, who had some near misses with sharks while living in Australia, frequently reminded me that paradise can turn punishing in a heartbeat. So we learned the stingray shuffle, what to do if you get caught in a rip current, and not to swim at sunset when the sharks love to snack.
Whether it’s body horror hidden under golden rays or something sinister slithering up from the tide pools, we’ve gathered twenty films that prove some beaches are best left unvisited. Slather on some SPF 666 and get ready for some seriously bad vibes.
