A Picada Mortal

This is an intellectual version of a killer bee movie. Instead of focusing on bee sting makeup and civilization-ending massive explosions, this film focuses on plot and mystery. Yes, there is a bit of bee sting make up and a couple of small fires, but mystery rules this film. In my opinion, it is the best of all the bee movies.

"Psycho" author Bloch co-writes and the renowned director / cinematographer Francis directs this entry into killer bee cinema that predates the 1978 flicks "The Swarm" and "The Bees" by almost a dozen years. It may work for viewers if they approach it as a camp film but the truth is, it's too silly to be all that successful. The bee attack scenes really aren't bad (the actors certainly sell the hell out of the material), but they'd be better if the (not so) special effects weren't so hilariously unconvincing. The story, based on a novel by Gerald Heard, deals with a pop singer named Vicki Robbins (Suzanna Leigh), who suffers a mental breakdown and is sent to the idyllic, rustic community of Seagull Island for much needed R & R. Unfortunately, things there are going to get ugly as rival bee keepers engage in cutthroat competition. Bees are being sent to do some serious damage to various unlucky human victims. All in all, this viewer would consider this a lesser effort for Amicus Studios. The company always fared best with their omnibus features; their single story features were never quite as strong. Still, this is all fairly watchable regardless; sincere performances really help a lot. The pretty Leigh is engaging as a resourceful lead, but the show really belongs to Frank Finlay and Guy Doleman as the warring farmers, H.W. Manfred and Ralph Hargrove respectively. A fine supporting cast includes Catherine Finn as Hargroves' neglected wife, Hammer and Amicus regular Michael Ripper in a solid turn as part time barman and part time lawman David Hawkins, James Cossins as an investigating coroner, and the appealing Katy Wild as the helpful Doris Hawkins. There's also the chance to see a musical performance by rock group The Birds (not to be confused with American group The Byrds), featuring a young Ron Wood. The movie further benefits from a good score composed by Wilfred Josephs and a reasonably rousing and fiery finish. While it isn't particularly good, it isn't all that bad, delivering some fun moments and coming in at a short enough 84 minute running time. Five out of 10.

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.

Deadly Bees, The (1967)

** (out of 4)

Robert Bloch wrote the screenplay to this film, which has a pop singer (Suzanna Leigh) going to get rest at a country home only to arrive as an outbreak of bee attacks start to happen. It appears that these aren't just any bees but instead specially trained by a psychotic beekeeper. Bloch is of course best known for his novel, which turned into Hitchcock's Psycho but he certainly missed the boat here. There's a big mystery wrapped around the film as to who is the beekeeper but it's very obviously from the opening ten minutes. I'm not sure if the screenplay was just bad or if Francis didn't like Block and decided to give away the secret early on. Either way, there's really not too much going for this film as the performances are all rather bland and that includes the lead Leigh. Not for a second did I buy her as a pop singer and the opening music is just torture on the ears. The screenplay introduces several characters and subplots but none of them every come out to anything. This Amicus production does benefit from some rather gruesome death scenes but the special effects don't hold up too well today.

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.