L'invasione delle api regine

I was first turned on to this film by Siskel & Ebert a zillion years ago on a program they ran featuring their choices for the best "bad" movies. They were sure right about this one. The plot is so ridiculous it doesn't bear mentioning -- the magic is all in the execution, e.g., Anitra Ford stripping and writhing to the strains of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherezade", a secret laboratory in which women are transformed into seductive automatons by a procedure involving their being bathed in honey and then exposed to bees -- lot's of that kind of thing here. And what's this? The film has the US government sending out an agent to investigate the death of a guy who suffered a heart attack during strenuous sex. Is that where our intelligence agencies put their energies? No wonder they were so clueless about 9/11 and Iraq. Now for some inane reason, this film got reissued on DVD under the tile "Graveyard Tramps". It's true, there is at least one scene in a cemetery, and as to the female characters being tramps . . . no argument. Nevertheless, what kind of moron would throw away a great title like "Bee Girls" for something so prosaic? Oh, and the DVD cover for some reason identifies the female lead as the late Claudia Jennings, who is not even in the film (the lead is her fellow Playmate Victoria Vetri). Go figure. Here's another thing I love about this film -- although it is completely about sex, albeit sex in the context of some loony incomprehensible plot involving a world takeover, and although there is plenty of nudity and seduction, this film from the early 70's is rated PG. Teens could see it without a chaperone. Yep, back when I was a boy, we didn't suffer from the same neurotic fears we now have about adolescents being permanently damaged by the sight of a female breast. Seems we were relatively hardy in those days, although on the other hand, we didn't have to deal with news reports of beheadings and the like. But I digress. There will always be a special place in my heart for Invasion of the Bee Girls, the sine qua non of its genre. And a heck of a lot of fun.

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 is about a string of deaths caused by the buzzy ladies of the title. It seems that male humans are being seduced and "loved" into their untimely departures! Special agent, Neil Agar (William Smith) is enlisted to get to the bottom of things. Could the mysterious Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford) be behind the shagging shenanigans?

Absolutely absurd in every way imaginable, this movie has a certain charm, mostly involving nude women in huge sunglasses being covered in bee goo (aka: white glop that looks suspiciously like marshmallow cream)!

Indeed, this was the sort of film our forefathers would sneak off to see at the drive-in, hoping to catch a glimpse of something "naughty"! Of course, by today's standards, this movie is quite tame, even quaint. Still, it's a bit of fun for anyone who can see it in its proper context. Otherwise, the sting of boredom will be thy only reward...

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.

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!