The Bees

The idea of a low-budget quickie made to take advantage of publicity surrounding THE SWARM - of all movies! - will undoubtably sound irresistable to many trash fans. However, most of the movie is boring talk, without the campy sight of big-name stars making fools out of themselves or large-scale but silly special effects. And while it's shorter than the full-length cut of THE SWARM (which runs about 2 1/2 hours!), it feels *longer* due to a sluggish pace. Still, the movie has some mirthful moments, the best being the whole segment in the park with the old man and the little boys.

1978's "The Bees" was inspired by Irwin Allen's upcoming big budget bee effort "The Swarm," as well as director Alfredo Zacharias's gift from his son of a jar of honey, New World producer Roger Corman on board but not Jack Hill, whose many suggestions were ignored by Zacharias, shooting from January 30 for eventual release in November. Exploitation legend Angel Tompkins joins the always reliable John Saxon in keeping a commendably straight face during proceedings, the discovery of a more aggressive strain of African killer bees transported from Brazil to Mexico City, enabling a far swifter invasion of the US. As usual, thuggish profiteers and imbecilic thieves ignore all the warning signs, resulting in special effects just as disappointing as Allen's epic but on a much lower budget, an early exit for Claudio Brook, who kicked off his screen career opposite Lon Chaney in 1955's "Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer," with more international roles in "Samson in the Wax Museum" (Santo), "The Devil's Rain" (William Shatner), and "Licence to Kill" (Timothy Dalton). The only other cast member worth his salt is aging veteran John Carradine as Dr. Sigmund Hummel, noted bee expert and Angel's beloved 'Uncle Ziggy' (Hummel is actually the German word for beekeeper). To this end, the actor struggles to maintain a German accent that renders many lines unintelligible, but with over 15 screen time he enjoys one of his more sizable roles of this busy period. Director Zacharias would continue as a trend follower (a swarm of killer bee movies never made the insects the least bit scary) with 1981's "Demonoid," a curious addition to the 'disembodied hand' fad that kicked off with Michael Caine's "The Hand," Samantha Eggar and Stuart Whitman on hand for this one.

O.K. heres the basic plot: we have been poisoning the air for so many years that nature has fought back by sending us KILLER BEES. Now if that doesn't grab you how about this: This film features a swarm of bees addressing the United Nations, as Angel Thompkin's screams "You have to listen! You have to listen (sic) what the bees are trying to tell you!" I really had fun watching this, but I am truly amazed at how bad it is. There are surprising continuity errors. (In one scene hit men shoot a man as he is sitting in a chair. In the next shot, it's a different older chair.) Many of the shot's of the bee swarms look like they are just clouds of smoke. However, Nightmare On Elm Street's John Saxon is in it, and Claudio Brooks gets hit in the head with a rock. All in all I highly recommend it.

If you would like to laugh at a truly silly, truly original, truly awful film, then this is the movie for you. I won't lie to you- it's terrible! If you're looking for an evening of suspense and drama go rent JAWS. If you're looking to see a Mexican farmer stung to death by several hundred special-effect bees while shouting for his honey, THE BEES is for you.

It stars the King of the B's himself, John Saxon, as some sort of scientist bee expert. Or something. He and a nearly-attractive blonde try to warn the world about the over-breeding of the killer bee, and the inevitable disasters to come. But those greedy fat cats have only one thing on their minds: Honey. I swear to you I laughed so hard while watching this movie that I choked. If you like B movies, you will love THE BEES!

This film is a film about wildlife striking back like in Kingdom of the Spiders, Day of the Animals or another bee film, The Swarm. This one, however, seems to play it out in the same fashion as those films and at other times seems to want to go in weird directions like in the ant invasion film Phase IV. Then there is the music that seems to think the film is a straight up comedy. Kids and adults being stung to death in a park, you get music that makes it sound like someone has just been hit in the face with a pie. Bees taking down military planes and helicopters, music sounds like the A-team has just eluded capture in hilarious fashion. The film also has a lot of dead space, where there are no bee attacks, but instead we get hitmen!

The film starts out with a father and son stealing honey, because when I want to eat that is what I go for. The kid dies so everyone attacks the place releasing the killer bees! A husband dies but his wife survives and she brings bees back to John Saxon and John Carradine. Meanwhile, somehow the bees have increased in number that they form a dark cloud and begin killing. Plans are devised as we see the bees attack, then no bees and finally super smart bees!

John Saxon and Carradine are good in this and make it more enjoyable than it should be considering the plot. The effects are pretty good, but at times it looks like the actor are being pelted with popcorn. Once again, the music is terrible as it seems as if it were lifted from a comedy caper film and it really undercuts the bee attacks.

So the film was entertaining enough to watch, but it is not good by any means. At times they try to make the film seem light-hearted, but the film starts with a boy being stung to death and ending up face down in a river. Stupid plots involving hitmen and a bit too much downtime after the initial batch of bees is defeated make this one feel totally uneven. Then you get a strange Phase IV type ending that worked for that film but is out of place here.