The Deadly Bees (1966)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Trouble strikes when an exhausted pop singer, sent on a vacation to a farm, realizes that the farm's owner raises deadly bees.As far as films featured on "Mystery Science Theater" go, this is one of the better ones. That can be evidenced by the fact it isn't sitting in the "bottom 100" as most of those films are, pushed downward by the fans.Yes, this movie does have its problems. The flashback scene is pretty lame, for example. And among Amicus films, it is probably among the worst. But I still rather enjoyed it. A better editor might have fixed it, possibly. Sticking closer to Robert Bloch's script would have helped. It is not a great film, but there is still enough potential here that it can be admired in some small way.

It's generally considered that production company Amicus were capable of making some top-notch anthologies, but when they concentrated on single-story horror yarns the results were often - not always, but more often than not - disappointing. THE DEADLY BEES may be notable as the first of the (thankfully irregular) "killer bee" movies but on all accounts it's a crushing bore. A dry script (from the usually reliable Robert Bloch, at that), insanely boring direction from Freddie Francis (this coming from a fan of his usually despised film LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF) and a total lack of action and thrills on all accounts drag this one down from the start and only people with really high tolerance levels or an affection for British cinema from the period will find this watchable.The cast of characters is an unappealing one and none of the actors or actresses come away looking good in their roles. The identity of the bee-murderer is insanely obvious right from their very introduction and only a very young child would have trouble spotting which of the two bee-keepers is the secret killer. Come on Bloch, Marriott, et al: surely you can do better than this child's play!? The bee-attack sequences are lacking in technical skill, poorly-superimposed over the action and so detracting from any realism the film strives to create. The music is over the top and works against the film and the only good thing you can say is that the shots are composed well and the cinematography is solid.Suzanna Leigh is quite a respected actress from the period but you wouldn't guess it from this turn, which is undoubtedly her worst performance ever. Looking constipated when she strives to look scared and reduced to running around in her underwear at other times, she's totally lacking in believability and is more often than not laughable - a far cry from the fragile beauty she played in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. Guy Doleman is a wooden jerk and Frank Finlay hams it up so much you'd think he previously worked as a butcher. While it's nice to see some familiar horror faces lower down in the cast - Michael Ripper, typecast again as BOTH a barman and a policeman and former Frankenstein's Monster Michael Gwynn as a doctor, they're uniformly wasted. No wonder this lacklustre film is so often forgotten when in discussion of British horror.

When I rented this movie I was expecting it to contain more "horror scenes", but was pleasantly surprised that it was more of a mystery with some mild sequences.The Deadly Bees has a decent plot and the music fits in very well. This is certainly not a film that is seen or heard about very much in the United States. However, the directing, cast, and sets are all upper rank. Suzanna Leigh's performance is quite good along with the other cast members. Some of the bee scenes are a bit awkward, but overall the movie was well done and worth renting.

This was my favorite horror film when growing up in the 60s. It has everything you want in a horror flick of the time: period clothing and hairstyles, a dreary setting, ugly-spirited people, a common creature of nature whose behavior changes (hints of the future of Africanized bees?). It has been a good 36 years since I've seen this movie, but scenes of the dead dog, of the girl trying to run away and the bees with their relentless swarming -- have haunted my memory throughout the years! Who knows why! Gross horror movies aren't my thing. If you want a movie that gets to those who have fears of bees (not me) or of scary places (me), you'll have fun with this one. It's one of those you can feel a bit embarrassed about liking.