Stories of mermaids have been around for centuries. Mythological creatures living deep beneath the surface of the ocean having an upper body of a woman and the tail of a fish.
They have been depicted in literature, art, and movies in various cultures all around the world as beautiful beings often falling in love with humans. In some folk traditions, they are associated with treacherous events such as floods, shipwrecks, and drownings.
The most popular of the fairy tales is the story of ‘The Little Mermaid‘ which was written by author Hans Christian Andersen in 1836. The children’s story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea to gain a human soul.
There have been a number of variations and interpretations of the story throughout the years with most of us most familiar with Disney‘s animated feature film ‘The Little Mermaid‘ which was released in 1989.
A few years earlier, Touchstone Films gave us the live-action movie ‘Splash‘ starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks where a young man reunites with the mermaid who saved him from drowning as a boy and falls in love with her.
As much as we would all like to believe that mermaids are wholesome underwater princesses looking for love above ground, there are two sides to every story and some of these tales are down right scary.
Mermaids depicted as seductive sirens who are actually vicious marine creatures with horrific intent have shown up in movies like ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire‘ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides‘ as well as headlined low-budget thrillers like ‘Night Tide‘ and ‘Killer Mermaid‘.
This past Memorial Day weekend saw the release of Disney‘s live-action version of ‘The Little Mermaid‘ starring Halle Bailey in the title role and poured in over $95 million.
Be sure to check out these ‘good, bad, and horrible’ movies with mermaids below:
