Rene Cradona Jr - the man whose dad brought us the exploitation movie Survive! - turns his attention to the '70s craze for shark movies with Tintorera. To call this movie a Jaws rip-off is rather misleading in some ways. The fact that a shark is running amok is almost completely ignored by the director, who spends more time concentrating on the nudity and the background scenery. Perhaps the budget was so low they couldn't afford to include many shark attack sequences. So, in an effort to pull in audiences, Cardona simply hired as many good-looking actors as he could and bribed them to remove their clothing at every given opportunity.<br /><br />American tourist Steven (Hugo Stiglitz) arrives at a paradise-like Mexican resort aboard his luxury yacht, where he soon falls in love with British tourist Patricia (Fiona Lewis). After a fall-out with Steven, Patricia beds down with local playboy and part-time shark hunter Miguel (Andres Garcia). However, while out swimming in the sea one morning, Patricia is devoured by a tintorera (tiger shark). Steven and Miguel begrudgingly become friends and spend much of the summer hunting for sharks by day and hunting for women by night. They reel in British holiday-maker Gabriella (Susan George), a free-spirited fun-seeker who readily surrenders herself to a three-way sexual relationship with the two charmers. Tragedy soon strikes as the tintorera once more returns to feed in the waters and, after a night-time massacre during which a group of party-goers are killed by the deadly shark, Steven finally decides that the time has come to exterminate the killer fish.<br /><br />Virtually everyone on the cast list spends half their screen time naked. It's hard to imagine what convinced "real" and "serious" actors like George, Lewis, Stiglitz, Jennifer Ashley and Priscilla Barnes to appear in this film. Their characters certainly present no interesting or challenging acting opportunities, and it seems unlikely that any of them could have seen much chance here to further their careers in a meaningful way. The story progresses almost randomly, with practically no sense of suspense, urgency or purpose. The love angle is not slightly credible (Steven and Miguel are just sleazy, promiscuous woman-users, and it's totally unbelievable that every time they speak to a female she becomes putty in their hands). And the shark angle, as mentioned, is neglected for such long spells that it becomes virtually incidental to the plot. I've seen some damned bad movies in my time, but Tintorera is definitely one of the worst of the lot. I'll grant that it has unintentional hilarity if you're prepared to look for it, but on a serious film-making level - heck, even on an exploitation level - it is a truly, truly, truly awful film.<br /><br />Apparently there is a 126 minute version of Tintorera. I have no desire to see it. The 90 minute edition I forced myself to sit through was quite terrible enough, without prolonging my suffering for an additional half an hour.