The Bees – 1978, Mexico/US, 92m. Director: Alfredo Zacharias. Streaming: Tubi
The Deadly Bees – 1967, UK, 84m. Director: Freddie Francis. Streaming: N/A
The Savage Bees – 1976, US, 88m. Director: Bruce Geller. Streaming: YouTube
The Swarm – 1978, US, 116m, 156m (TV cut). Director: Irwin Allen. Streaming: N/A
Terror Out of the Sky – 1978, US, 94m. Director: Lee H. Katzin. Streaming: N/A
THE BEES (1978) The myth of the African killer bee created a cottage industry for filmmakers in the mid-to-late ’70s, with many independent directors ready to cash in on Irwin Allen’s The Swarm. What these filmmakers didn’t take into account was the moviegoing public’s disinterest in the subject matter. But you have to admire people like Alfredo Zacharias who, despite their limitations, make movies as fascinatingly bad as The Bees. A South American apiary operated by a smug scientist (Claudio Brook)—who patronizes the locals by speaking to them in slow, broken English—is destroyed by angry villagers after a child is killed by the “devil bees.” These hybrid bees are the result of a failed experiment to create a bee which can produce more honey, turning the insects aggressive and deadly. The bees make their way to the States, causing chaos in the streets, with a lot of scenes of people waving their arms around wildly in some of the worst “I’m-being-stung-by-bees!” acting you’ve ever seen. Bee experts John Saxon, Angel Thompkins, and John Carradine eventually figure out a plan to stop the killer bees by turning them gay. No, I’m not kidding. Ultimately, they fail and the bees take over the world, even learning to communicate with man. A really idiotic attempt at trying to make honey bees look scary, this is further harmed by too much use of stock footage (one clip clearly originated in the early ’60s) and some truly abysmal music. Saxon gets thrown through a window, while Carradine chews up the scenery—as well as his old Dracula accent. Probably the only killer bee movie to feature a Jimmy Carter lookalike! A real groaner; for hardcore Saxon completists and military stock footage enthusiasts only. What did I expect from the director of Demonoid? D–
THE DEADLY BEES (1967) Mod pop singer Vickie Robbins (Suzanna Leigh) has reached her wits end when she collapses on a Top of the Pops-type television show and is later instructed by her doctor to rest for three weeks. Vickie is sent to recuperate at the island farm of her doctor’s friend, Ralph (Guy Doleman), a beekeeper and all-around sourpuss. When Ralph isn’t mincing words with his equally depressed wife (Catherine Finn), he’s experimenting with his bees, which, unbeknownst to Vickie, are mobilizing to kill selected people via a chemical fragrance known as the “scent of fear.” Despite its silly plot, The Deadly Bees is fairly taut, with a likable protagonist in Leigh and a good performance by veteran Brit actor Frank Finlay as Ralph’s neighbor—who might be keeping a secret of his own. A fun little Amicus production with dated special effects but good direction from Freddie Francis, and a satisfying conclusion. B
THE SAVAGE BEES (1976) Hokey but very entertaining telefilm in which a mysterious freight of South American killer bees is accidentally opened, releasing the massive swarm off the coast of New Orleans and onto an unsuspecting populace—and just in time for Mardi Gras! The simple premise and minimalist production values help with the overall impact, creating a genuine sense of panic and menace. There’s also a good dose of suspense, especially during the final 20 minutes, which help to lift the movie out from some of its inevitable TV-movie trappings. Better than The Swarm and many others of its ilk. Followed by Terror Out of the Sky. B
THE SWARM (1978) Probably the most polished of the short-but-prolific killer bee sub-school of movies of the late ’70s. In the aftermath of a devastating attack by a mutated strain of killer bees on a Texas Air Force base, the military is called in to assess the situation and is informed by a scientist (Michael Caine) that the swarm will most likely form a hive in the nearby area. When the surviving victim of a bee attack tries to firebomb said hive, it sends the swarm on a collision course with Houston. While by no means good, The Swarm isn’t so much bad as underwhelming, with too many scenes of people endlessly talking in underground bunkers when director Irwin Allen should have been showing more above-ground bee action. A good cast does its best (with the exception of Caine, whose performance here makes the one in Jaws: The Revenge seem Oscar-worthy), and the bee attack scenes are well-staged, but the film is hindered by an uneven screenplay littered with uninteresting subplots, including a dopey romance between Olivia de Havilland’s school teacher and Fred MacMurray’s town mayor. A box-office dud that killed the killer bee’s future cinematic escapades, until The X-Files took them to a whole new level. Be on the lookout for a movie theater showing The Towering Inferno. C+
TERROR OUT OF THE SKY (1978) The National Bee Center in New Orleans faces a crisis when one of their own is killed by bees at their adjacent apiary, causing concern with scientist Jeannie Devereaux (Tovah Feldshuh) that the breed of bee might be related to the deadly swarm that attacked and killed so many in The Savage Bees. While Jeannie and her coworkers race to stop a new spread of killer bees, she gets stuck in a ridiculous love triangle involving her insensitive boyfriend (Dan Haggerty) and her more enlightened boss (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). A somewhat lackluster sequel, this spends a good amount of time on its central characters looking for the bees, with too many instances of people poo-pooing the science behind the bee attacks, bringing in to question whether the deaths in the 1976 movie were ever reported. Technically well-made, but with very little terror, or anything else worth recommending. C