Api selvagge

This is a fun film, very much your typical creatures turning bad kind of movies that the 70's did so well. Surprisingly the misogyny is toned down somewhat (for a 70's movie that is.) The special effects are pretty good and the acting is solid enough.

This is one of several movies that involved killer bees, killer spiders and killer ants. While many of them are pretty low grade, this one does put in the effort.

It is not a perfect movie by any means, but it is one that is fun to watch just for the 70's hair styles and clothes. If you enjoy these kinds of horror/thriller movies this is one actually worth watching.

"The Savage Bees" is a somewhat peculiar entry in the long list of nature-running-amok/animals-going-wild horror movies from the 70s. On the one hand, it's a very prototypic tale, with aggressive animals - African killer bees, to be exact - going on a violent murder spree in a small town near New Orleans just at the same time as the annual Mardi Grass celebrations. But, on the other hand, it's a much more intelligent and scientifically accurate film that often opts for realism and tension instead of sensationalism and gratuitous action. The lead characters, played by veteran Ben Johnson and a young Michael Parks, are plausible and even likeable, the sequences with massive swarms of real bees are more than impressive, and the buzzing killers cause for a couple of atypical victims in town. It's harsh and painful to witness young kids or innocent workmen getting attacked and killed by a swarm, but also admirable. In many comparable movies, the wild animals only seem to wipe the bad, arrogant, and corrupt people. How realistic is that, honestly? The downside of the film's approach, however, is that it's slow and occasionally rather boring, and that the grand finale (albeit imaginative) is very UN-spectacular.

When Sheriff McKew (Ben Johnson) finds his dog dead, he sets out to prove that it was poisoned. With the help of the coroner (Michael Parks), the hideous truth is learned.

Enter Bee expert, Jeannie Devereaux (Gretchen Corbett), and the tiny culprits are identified.

Oh no!

This is all taking place in New Orleans! During Mardi Gras! Will the big party have to be cancelled? Of course not! Let the good times ro... Bzzzz! Eeeaaghh!

THE SAVAGE BEES was made during the "killer bee" craze / scare. As made-for-TV-movies go, it's not bad. Having Johnson, Parks, and Corbett in it, helps to lift it above the average fare.

BEST SCENE: The farmer in the lake sting-o-thon!

Co-stars James Best as a slow-moving politician...

From the writer who brought you "Jaws 3-D" comes this very boring "thriller" about killer bees. Writer Guerdon Trueblood seems to have a one-track mind, as all his "thrillers" involve either bugs or airplanes. There must be something Freudian to that. Nevertheless, there are no airplanes here but plenty of bees. Oooga-booga! Scary stuff! Half of this movie involves people talking about bees, the other half is people driving around looking for the bees. Watch as they discuss for 15 minutes how to get bees off a Volkswagen. Then marvel as they drive the whole carload of bees downtown to see a Saints game! The only purpose of this movie is to sit around with some friends and make fun of it MST3K-style.

Oh yeah, and look for James Best aka Rosco P. Coltrane... um... he doesn't do his funny voice though.

The other half of a double-bill in UK cinemas with the other film being the far better The Incredible Melting Man. This was actually made for television in America.

Killer bees have flown into America and are claiming their first casualties disturbingly close to New Orleans when their Mardi Gras is due to kick off. A bee expert (of course) and a guy who isn't quite a coroner yet (so he isn't taken seriously) are on the case but come up against obstacles in the form of sniffy officials who don't want to see Mardi Gras cancelled- at any cost (hints of Murray Hamilton's character in Jaws here).

We learn that the bees don't like noise and the colours black and red. The first human victim is a coloured girl in a red dress blowing a toy horn. Not her lucky day.

The finale involves Ms Bee Expert being nudged into a sports stadium in her red Beetle which the bees have covered as she was earlier using the horn near them (doh!). The temperature of the Super Dome is then lowered as the bees die when temperatures reach below 35 Degrees Fahrenheit. This sequence is very unexpected and works well with tension being ramped up as the temperatures come down (we see this on huge displays which show the actual countdown).

This is an above average TV movie which received a video release in some territories. There aren't enough action sequences and some of the more talky bits are quite pedestrian. But when it gets going its quite exciting. Because I saw it on TV when I was a small child and loved it then it will always hold a special place in my little black heart.

Look out for the scene in which someone in fancy dress tries to take on the bees with a sword. Yes, a sword!