The Deadly Bees

THE DEADLY BEES is a quiet find, a small, low-budget British offering that I first saw in a drive-in with another film in the States. I am now in China, as readers of my other reviews know. I ordered this film at the same time I ordered and watched two other insect films: THE NAKED JUNGLE and PHASE IV. Both of those are about ants -- one film over ten years older than THE DEADLY BEES; the other tens years newer.I heard the story "Leiningen and the Ants" on Mystery Radio, which I can access here in China. I listened to the under-rated WIlliam Conrad play the part of Leiningen in the radio drama, and it made me interested in see the film that I remembered seeing in my father's small-town movie theatre as a boy. In the film, Charlton Heston plays Leiningen, and WIlliam Conrad plays the lesser part of a South American official. Heston does an admirable job in the role of a tough, self-made man who boasts (maybe too often) about carving his own empire out of the jungle. Some of you may know that William Conrad played Matt Dillion in the radio version of GUNSMOKE. His distinctive voice gave a virile presence to the role of the frontier marshall, much more than the wooden James Arness did for the popular, long-running TV series in the States. Most of you undoubtedly know that Conrad went on to play a tough, but overweight, cop on a TV series, the name of which escapes me at the moment. He also directed suspense films such as TWO ON A GUILLOTINE.PHASE IV is a science-fiction thriller which features awe-inspiring microscopic photography of the world of ants. Why Saul Bass only directed one film is beyond me, because this little paranoid apocalyptic story is certainly worthy of being added to the pantheon of end-of-the-world productions and is certainly superior to the film 2012.All three of the above-mentioned films are excellent productions in their own right. However, unlike the 1950s adventure with Heston and the 1970s sci-fi film featuring tiny but intelligent ants (when they work together, that is) , THE DEADLY BEES (Amicus) is a mystery thriller. The killer bees are being used as murderous weapons in this film -- the question is. . . by whom? At first, the pop singer, played by the lovely Suzanne Leigh (who later played a different type of character in the superior Hammer adventure THE LOST CONTINENT (my review of this is elsewhere on Amazon), believes that one character is the villain. The early scenes are carefully arranged to give her this suspicion. She is led to believe, with the help of mousy beekeeper Frank Finlay, that the surly, brooding, often angry Guy Doleman character is the cause of the deaths in the plot.Doleman, in this film, is his own worst enemy, because his easily-annoyed personality and gruff voice set him up as the villain, particularly when his over-bearing wife is killed. He only seems to have a quiet appreciation for others when he addresses the pub keeper's daughter who has come to help his useless wife on the farm when Leigh is sent there to recover from exhaustion. The pub-keeper is played by one of my favorite British actors who plays so many minor -- but important -- roles in Hammer films: Michael Ripper. Even Ripper's character suspects the Doleman character because the carefully contrived evidence points him, as well as Leigh, in that direction.In the end, we discover that all has not been what it seems, particularly when early scenes are revisited, but manipulated to show what really happened -- sort of the way Downy Jr. and Law reconstruct the evidence to point out what has really happened in the recent film SHERLOCK HOLMES. The special effects of the killer bees swarming to attack humans and a dog may not be particularly effective -- certainly nothing to compare with the close-ups for the activities of the intelligent ants in PHASE IV-- but the reconstruction of the story in order to retell it from a different perspective is certainly well-done.Even though I am a Yank -- now an ex-pat -- I have always had a fondness for British films, particularly the Hammer horror films (many reviewed elsewhere), and I have always liked the actor Guy Doleman, better know as Harry Palmer's boss Colonel Ross in THE IPCRESS FILE, FUNERAL IN BERLIN, and THE BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN. He and Michael Caine play off each other quite well -- the no-nonsense Ross and the crafty, conniving Palmer. Doleman also has a brief role in THUNDERBALL as a villain who dared try to disable the indestructible James Bond. Too bad he is dispatched early in the film with a missile from a motorcycle. Of well, he is still around to give Palmer fits later. Maybe he appeared in many British productions, but I saw nothing of him in other films that made it to the States until THE DEADLY BEES. In this film, he seems uncomfortably out of place as a husband of an unattractive, bitchy woman who owns the farm where he keeps his bees. He seems more at home in a gentleman's club in London -- particularly in THE IPCRESS FILE where he exchanges low-key banter with Nigel Green. Nevertheless, his surly manner in THE DEADLY BEES keeps him at the center of suspicion as the killer.THE DEADLY BEES is certainly worth seeing if, like me, you enjoy low-budget British thrillers. it is also worth seeing for Guy Doleman's moody performance. As for Suzanne Leigh -- she is always worth seeing, whether in a Hammer vampire film like LUST FOR A VAMPIRE where she barely snatches the hero away from the clutches of the beautiful female vampire Carmilla, in the Bulldog Drummond detective thriller DEADLIER THAN THE MALE, or as the sex-starved vixen in THE LOST CONTINENT. With Leigh and Doleman and Ripper, how can you go wrong? Only if you are looking for cutting-edge special effects instead of a tight little thriller,

I bought this movie because I have fond memories of seeing it on TV way back when. It is a fun little non-thriller with not much of a mystery attached. The story features killer bees. There are two beekeepers on the same island. One is obviously a mad scientist who developed the deadly strain of bees and then figured out a means of targeting potential victims through scent. The other is just a beekeeper. That gives you a 50-50 chance of guessing who the villain is (there are no other suspects). Naturally, it takes forever for the authorities to figure out a crime has even been committed. The poor bees get blamed for everything.There's also one and a half pop songs offered, neither worth remembering. The level of acting is sufficient (but arch); no one steals this movie from the bees and the perfectly awful bee FX. Along the way, the lead actress (Suzanna Leigh as Vicki Robbins) gets to play at being Nancy Drew. She also gets to romp about in a bra while swatting bees. As melodramas go, it's a bit dry. But I just had to have it for my collection because it's on the high side of hilarious. I love movies like this. It's suffocating in portent yet nothing grandiose happens to justify the ominous tone throughout. Some will find it a bit flimsy and long in the tooth, some might find it rapturously awful. I think it's great.

I'm a beekeeper and collect videos and films that portray honeybees and other stinging insects.This is a must have for my collection as I remember watching it back when I was a child at the drive-in movies.The characters are all interesting and the nature of beekeepers being guarded and often isolated in their genetic practices makes for a unique story and enjoyable viewing.The scenes, lighting, sets, artificial environments remind me of the Timmy and Lassie set. Very polished and clearly lit by studio lights.If you are nostalgic about video and vintage TV cameras, they show a great sequence in the beginning with cameramen changing lenses on the fly and being wheeled around the studio on those smooth rolling dollies.We've come a long way.Interior scenes are strongly lit with funny shadows falling sharply from the characters.The main character is charming, curious and intelligent as she attempts to get away from it all in the countryside.I'll leave the rest to your imagination as a city girl tries to fit in with country folks while she learns about their eccentric ways of living, including keeping a honeybee apiary which has obviously gone well beyond obsession.You'd have to be truly anxious about insects to get a "scare" from this film, but if you're an amateur cinematographer, the craft is obvious in this wonderful film.I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy late 1960's film with some interesting turns.

I just wanted to vote favorably for this film and Blu and chuck in a few additional words . I own this film in no less than several formats . As part of the triple feature Cult Horror Collection along with The Skull and The Man Who Could Cheat Death . That's a spectacular set of Hammer and Amicus offerings but was not where I first saw The Deadly Bees even though I acquired that collection first . I bought an independent copy of Bees as it was so reasonable at the time and watched and was taken with it for all it's modest charms some may regard as demerits or some such thing . Got the Blu now and wouldn't part company with any of the various copies . It's very fun . Granted , it telegraphs it's "secret" about mid way through (if not earlier) . It's a keeper though friends (pun intended) . Particularly if you enjoy bee films (The Swarm , etc) .

excellent 60s horror film have wanted this film for a while would recommend to all horror film fans

Apparently I have to write something here about this adequate Bee caper, otherwise my star rating won't register. :)

not a bad film but not as good as the swarmwhich was excellent