Le dard mortel

The Deadly Bees would be much more aptly titled were it called The Deadly Bore. Made by the company Amicus (a half-hearted sixties rival to Hammer) and directed by the usually reliable Freddie Francis, this is a truly terrible film.

Suzanna Leigh looks pretty but acts badly as a pop star suffering from exhaustion. Her agent sends her to Seagull Island to recover, and she finds herself lodging at a strange, isolated little farm run by Guy Doleman and his unhappy wife. Doleman breeds bees, as does nearby resident Frank Finlay, and things start to go wrong when a mutant breed of killer bee begins to attack and kill people and animals on the island. Finlay persuades Leigh that the bees responsible have been bred by Doleman, and solicits her help in gathering evidence to have him arrested.

The special effects are pitiful. The bee attacks look so unconvincing that they provoke humour rather than terror. All right, so it's a limited budget 60s film, so the effects are hardly likely to be the best, but surely they could've done better than this! Furthermore, the characters make no sense whatsoever. For instance, some of the events going on simply don't seem to perturb Doleman in the slightest; Leigh reacts strangely much of the time; and Finlay's character seems to be a different person from one scene to the next. Even the "shock" twist at the end is telegraphed miles in advance. I won't reveal the solution here, but as you're watching this film the likelihood is that you'll figure out what's going on long before the heroine does!

Amicus production studios never looked more like a poor man's Hammer than with this silly and totally fright-free creature-feature revolving on behaviorally manipulated bees. You surely can't expect much from a movie about killer bees ("The Swarm" made that more than clear) but at least I was hoping for something a little better than this, considering the great names that were involved in the production. "The Deadly Bees" was scripted by Robert Bloch (he wrote "Psycho", for God's sake!) and directed by Freddie Francis (who also did "The Creeping Flesh" and "The Skull"). Eminent names, for sure, but this is a film better left undiscovered. The story is ordinary and full of holes and illogicalness. We're introduced to a pop-singer on the verge of a total breakdown and her doctor orders her to take a vacation on a calm, remote farmer-island. She agrees to spend two weeks on Ralph Hargrove's farm, but it soon becomes clear that he only has eyes for his beehives. Vicky makes friends with another bee farmer and they both suspect that Ralph intends to train his bees as killer devices. Isn't it remarkable how this tiny island homes two bee farmers whereas another guy is the local doctor, detective and pub-owner all at once? The script is full of similar stupidities like this, altered with some of the cheesiest dialogs. The special effects and make up are poor, but that's forgivable since it's not easy to make bees look horrific in front of a camera lens. The "surprise" twist at the end is one you can see coming from miles away and the seriousness of the actors only make it hilarious. Still, there are some neat exterior filming locations and a unique guest appearance from rock band "The Birds".

A London pop star suffering exhaustion is sent to convalesce in the country-side where she encounters a toxic mix of deranged ambition and a hybridized strain of killer bees that threatens not only her fragile sanity, but also her life. Leigh is a relative lightweight amongst her accomplished co-stars, with Doleman as the no-nonsense farmer and Finlay as his eccentric neighbour jostling for position as the dominant bee keeper. It's a rather unusual premise on which to base a complex whodunit, but provides a surprisingly strong basis for the mystery to unfold. Doleman's strained relationship with his apparently invalided wife, and the curiosities of relationships in an isolated rural community serve as an intervening backdrop to the troubled Leigh and her increasing concern at the strange events she witnesses.

Veteran Hammer-horror director Francis has crafted an eerie little mystery, lacking none of the essential ingredients of a conventional mystery, with the notable exception of an impartial investigator. Most of the detective work is done by the protagonists, drip feeding the naive Leigh with twisted facts to conjure alibis and implicate the culprit. Francis does a fine job of concealing the mystery, carefully playing the doubt card, and tempering clues with red herrings and faux staging.

Opening to the groovy fusion of art-house pop culture, Leigh's character is framed as a victim of excesses in a progressive London scene (there's an implied drug addiction, but it's vague) and from there, the film juxtaposes to the opposite extreme - an ultra conservative, socially incestuous rural setting, a deep isolation both geographically and socially for the central character. It's an engaging tussle between old-fashioned values and an emerging modern liberalism.

Slated by critics, the film almost cheats itself with its bold title, because it's not ostensibly a movie of this genre. The bees are present as a vehicle only, and certainly they have comparably little to offer by way of shock value. But the intrigue that the many layers build, is compelling. Try it from a different angle and you may like what you find.

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.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Freddie Francis; Produced by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, for Amicus Productions. Released by Paramount Pictures. Screenplay by Robert Bloch and Anthony Marriott, from Gerald Heard's novel; Photography by John Wilcox; Edited by Oswald Hafenrichter; Music by Wilfred Josephs. Starring: Suzannah Leigh, Guy Doleman, Katherine Finn, Frank Finlay, Michael Ripper, John Harvey, Katy Wild and Tim Barrett.

Bees several times their normal size, and with potent stingersterrorize the folks and whip up some suspense and excitement in this British B movie.