L'invasione delle api regine

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...

Yes, this is quintessential 70's B movie stuff that has it all: bad acting, crazy plot strands, a far-out story about girls becoming human bees and killing men with over-exhaustion in the sexual act, and lots of pretty, bosomy girls not afraid to keep you abreast of their physical attributes. Government agent Will Smith goes to Peckham, California, to look into the death of a researcher at Brandt Research. He comes in the midst of a huge death tally as in one day or soon the number of men that have died from over-exhaustion rises to 10. We get to see some of these deaths and there is absolutely nothing scary about them. The whole film seems to have a very campy edge to it. That is a credit to first time screenwriter Nicholas Meyer who wrote The Seven-Percent Solution and the scripts for several Star Trek movies as well as directed many good films later on. Meyer's script is absurd at times but he along with the director are able to keep it not quite real - if you know what I mean. The budget is a bit higher than many films of this era but has obvious constraints. The bee hive room was impressive as are many of the female leads. Anitra Ford is gorgeous with her long legs and playful eyes, but she is nothing next to Victoria Vetri who fills a blouse beautifully. Both women are adequate thespians as well(I'm sure this is of a grave concern for viewers of films like this). Invasion of the Bee Girls is one of those really fun movies from the seventies that mixes just enough sleaze with other elements like science fiction to come up with a viewing pleasure despite its obvious shortcomings.

Invasion of the bee girls is a unique little movie purely because of its premise: Sexy women, er, loving guys to death to take over the world. Sounds great, huh? The fact that these deadly babes are "bee" girls really isn't that important. They could be just about anything and the premise would still sell tickets. Is this premise well used, though? The answer is, not entirely. For a movie that focuses on sex, there is a surprising absence of sex in the movie. In fact there are only 3 "love" scenes in the whole movie. This wouldn't be so bad if they filled in the rest of the movie with something interesting. Instead, the filmmakers filled in the time with a bunch of "officials" just wandering around wondering what killed all the men. There are a few additional nude scenes (not sex scenes though) scattered about that make the more pointless scenes bearable, but the movie would be better if it were played as more of a camp/comedy/action/horror/porn flick rather than a dull mystery yarn. There is a surprising lack of humor in all this as well. The filmmakers even go as far as to put looks of fear and pain on the faces of the bee girls' mates rather than go for the obvious joke of putting smiles on them. This review may sound like I hate this movie but in fact, it is just the opposite. This movie is a real favorite of mine. This is probably due to the premise, which is alone worth the price of admission, the excellent acting, the sex (of course), and the well-done but scarce cheese/humor elements. I give Invasion of the Bee Girls **** out of **** but most viewers would probably rate it a * or ** out of ****.

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")

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.