Invasion of the Bee Girls

Never has world domination seemed more appealing than in "Invasion of the Bee Girls." How can you NOT root for these Bee Vixens from outer space? Their "coming and going" strategy seems "sure-fire" and is definitely a lot more fun (and effective) than in blockbusters such as "Independence Day."

But of course some dumb secret agent is out to spoil all of their over-sexed shenanigans. Nonetheless, Anitra Ford's (an early Barker Beauty on "The Price is Right") performance as top Bee Girl, Dr.Susan Harris, is alone worth the price of admission! I'm definitely going to make it a point to see some of her other movies!

Okay, here's another strong contender for winning the award of sleaziest and absolute most insane B-movie of the 1970's! The human race, and particularly the male species, is threatened with extinction because of … ordinary women turned into life-sized bee monsters! How it is possible for anyone to think of such a plot, I do not know, but this movie honestly handles about a continuously expanding community of women that completely cover the newest members in honey until the pupils of their eyes turn pitch-black and then, subsequently, they celebrate by caressing their own breasts for five whole minutes! God bless 70's cinema… In the small Californian town of Peckham, which is famous for being the hometown of the pharmaceutical Brandt factory, the lifeless bodies of several men are discovered. The cause of death in all cases appears to be sexual exhaustion and, since some of their own eminent scientists were involved, the Brandt Company sends over government inspector Neil Agar over to investigate. The deaths started since the gorgeous Dr. Susan Harris, who's always wearing thick sunglasses and gets invited for lunch by all her male colleagues, launched a bizarre new series of experiments involving radiation. The plot of "Invasion of the Bee Girls" is totally ridiculous and cheesy nonsense, yet the film is very entertaining and spawns an irresistible sense of humor. Multiple sequences are downright hilarious, for example, when during a town's meeting, some doctor suggests a period of total sexual abstention, and the build-up towards each new male victim is a portrayal of pure and gold girl power! Nearly every guy in this town is a horny weakling, ready to cheat on his wife at all times. The ladies, on the other hand, are elegant and charismatic creatures with a lot more brain capacity than the males…even though they fondle their own breasts for no reason. Needless to say "Invasion of the Bee Girls" features tons of gratuitous nudity and lurid situations that don't make the slightest bit of sense. There's an overlong attempted-rape scene that really adds nothing to the plot, while the grand finale seems rushed and amateurish. With the exception of Anitra Ford as the queen bee, the women aren't really attractive, but they unscrupulously take all their clothes off in front of the camera. Respect, ladies! Another interesting trivia-detail: "Invasion of the Bee Girls" was the writing debut of Nicholas Meyer, who went on to script several acclaimed "Star Trek" movies.

In the small town of Peckham, California, many men die for excessive effort during sexual intercourse. When a scientist from the Brandt research laboratory is found dead in a motel, the government sends Agent Neil Agar (William Smith) to investigate the mysterious deaths. He suspects that the deaths may be related to some experiments of Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford), who is researching bees in the Brandt facility.

"Invasion of the Bee Girls" is a delightful and enjoyable B-movie. The dark cinematography is awful with very bad lighting and horrible direction; the flawed screenplay and dialogs are silly and very funny; most of the actors and actresses are ham, with terrible acting and ridiculous dialogs (when one of the guys, referring to his friend that has just died in a motel, says to his colleagues in the bar "- Imagine, coming and going at the same time", I laughed a lot) ; there are many beautiful naked women, free nudity with lots of breasts and hilarious scenes, like, for example, the unique shot of the hero along the whole story is in a lever of a computer that provokes fire and lethal smoke everywhere in the room where the bee girls are gathered together. The actresses undress practically in every scene, without any motive, being a film of soft sexploitation. If you like trash-movies and beautiful nude women, see this flick. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Invasão das Mulheres Abelhas" ("Invasion of the Bee Women")

Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Cult classic science fiction film has a bunch of beautiful women killing men with sex. This film has a rather notorious reputation for its camp value and it certainly lives up to those standards. If you're wanting something serious then go check out The Day the Earth Stood Still as you aren't going to find anything serious here. The film is pure exploitation that only a drive-in could deliver and the movie features plenty of sex, naked women and wacky violence. Even better is some insane dialogue that will certainly make you laugh out loud. The actual story gets boring after a while and I'm sure a little editing would have helped.

Inspired 70's b-movie about a colony of bees that manage to infiltrate the minds and bodies of glamorous women, and use them as vessels for a takeover of mankind. Here's the rub, so to speak: they 'sting' their prey during copulation with the male species. Hence the 'R' rating. A bevy of buxom b-movie starlets (and loops, e.g. Rene Bond, Kathy Hilton), work their way around the campus of a university under the watchful eye of the sultry Anitra Ford, as she pilots their take-over of the town of Peckham. Alarmed at the increasing rate of stiffs being wheeled into the morgue, local police captain (Osmond) welcomes Federal agent William Smith (in fine, fighting form) along with bimbo sidekick Victoria Vetri, sent to investigate the strange phenomena.

Witty dialogue (courtesy of noted word-smith and director Nicholas Meyer) sets this cult sci-fi apart; Denis Sanders' direction isn't especially taut and momentum does tend to sag, but the constant influx of quirky characters and situations is irresistibly entertaining. Some of the special effects used to depict the bee-vision isn't bad either, considering its vintage. The cast is an interesting assembly of talent, with experience (Smith, Hammer, Osmond, King in particular) offset by rank amateurism. Anitra Ford is a beguiling woman, but her acting talents here are lamentable. Fortunately, her looks do tend to compensate.

Don't be mislead by some of the associated press and commentary concerning this film: while it isn't soft porn, nor is it "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in narrative or technical standard. Disbelief aside, if you can appreciate the dry humour and lusty amateurs who adorn the screen (sometimes being smothered in bee wax for good measure) you should enjoy this, one-of-a-kind movie experience.