Also known as Sea Killer — the name it was originally released in the U.S. — Mein Freund, der Hai (My Friend, the Shark); Peripeteies ston okeano (Adventures In the Ocean); Manidù – Uno squalo ribelle, un indigeno selvaggio, un fiore di ragazza (Oh Italy; this means Manidu – A Rebellious Shark, a Wild Native, A Flower of a Girl); Shark Boy of Bora Bora and The Hero King, Beyond the Reef often has posters that make it seem like it’s going to be sharksploitation.

Shot at the same time as the remake of The Hurricane with the same cast and crew minus Mia Farrow, this was produced Raffaella De Laurentiis, whose father Dino thought Dayton Ka’ne was going to be a star.

Beyond the Reef is a movie about a 16-foot tiger shark named Manidu, which has been named for the old man (Oliverio Maciel Diaz) who introduced him to Tikoyo (Ka’ne) when the shark was only a foot long and the boy was young. He also had a friend, Diana (Maren Jensen), who goes off to America and forgets all about him. Meanwhile, the boy grows into a man and can mentally speak to his shark, like a friendlier version of Mako: The Jaws of Death except when the shark has to protect Tokoyo or Diana, which strangely has her brother Jeff (Keahi Farden) being evil and seeking a cave of black pearls.

All of the underwater footage has been shot by Ramon Bravo, who was a real renaissance man. He was a swimmer who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, then learned how to shoot cameras underwater and discovered the phenomena of sharks sleeping on the ocean floor. He also wrote the novel that Tintorera is based on and is also the zombie that fights the shark in Zombi. When he died, a collection of luminaries, including Jean-Michael Costeau, placed a memorial to him in the ocean that said “Ramón Bravo, protector of the sea and the ocean, sleeps forever next to his sharks in this cave. Isla Mujeres 02–28–98.”

Based on the novel Tikoyo and His Shark by Clement Richer, this was directed by Fred C. Clarke (his only movie) and written by Louis LaRusso II (The Closer) and James Carabatsos (Hamburger Hill). The novel was also made in 1962 as the Italian/French film Ti-Koyo e il suo pescecane.

If you thought it was strange that sharks can roar, this one purrs. Also, this movie has toplessness, which is kind of shocking with how charming it is. It kind of comes out of nowhere.

You can watch this on YouTube.