A Picada Mortal

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Freddie Francis; Produced by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, for Amicus Productions. Released by Paramount Pictures. Screenplay by Robert Bloch and Anthony Marriott, from Gerald Heard's novel; Photography by John Wilcox; Edited by Oswald Hafenrichter; Music by Wilfred Josephs. Starring: Suzannah Leigh, Guy Doleman, Katherine Finn, Frank Finlay, Michael Ripper, John Harvey, Katy Wild and Tim Barrett.

Bees several times their normal size, and with potent stingersterrorize the folks and whip up some suspense and excitement in this British B movie.

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.

Amicus production studios never looked more like a poor man's Hammer than with this silly and totally fright-free creature-feature revolving on behaviorally manipulated bees. You surely can't expect much from a movie about killer bees ("The Swarm" made that more than clear) but at least I was hoping for something a little better than this, considering the great names that were involved in the production. "The Deadly Bees" was scripted by Robert Bloch (he wrote "Psycho", for God's sake!) and directed by Freddie Francis (who also did "The Creeping Flesh" and "The Skull"). Eminent names, for sure, but this is a film better left undiscovered. The story is ordinary and full of holes and illogicalness. We're introduced to a pop-singer on the verge of a total breakdown and her doctor orders her to take a vacation on a calm, remote farmer-island. She agrees to spend two weeks on Ralph Hargrove's farm, but it soon becomes clear that he only has eyes for his beehives. Vicky makes friends with another bee farmer and they both suspect that Ralph intends to train his bees as killer devices. Isn't it remarkable how this tiny island homes two bee farmers whereas another guy is the local doctor, detective and pub-owner all at once? The script is full of similar stupidities like this, altered with some of the cheesiest dialogs. The special effects and make up are poor, but that's forgivable since it's not easy to make bees look horrific in front of a camera lens. The "surprise" twist at the end is one you can see coming from miles away and the seriousness of the actors only make it hilarious. Still, there are some neat exterior filming locations and a unique guest appearance from rock band "The Birds".

It's generally considered that production company Amicus were capable of making some top-notch anthologies, but when they concentrated on single-story horror yarns the results were often - not always, but more often than not - disappointing. THE DEADLY BEES may be notable as the first of the (thankfully irregular) "killer bee" movies but on all accounts it's a crushing bore. A dry script (from the usually reliable Robert Bloch, at that), insanely boring direction from Freddie Francis (this coming from a fan of his usually despised film LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF) and a total lack of action and thrills on all accounts drag this one down from the start and only people with really high tolerance levels or an affection for British cinema from the period will find this watchable.

The cast of characters is an unappealing one and none of the actors or actresses come away looking good in their roles. The identity of the bee-murderer is insanely obvious right from their very introduction and only a very young child would have trouble spotting which of the two bee-keepers is the secret killer. Come on Bloch, Marriott, et al: surely you can do better than this child's play!? The bee-attack sequences are lacking in technical skill, poorly-superimposed over the action and so detracting from any realism the film strives to create. The music is over the top and works against the film and the only good thing you can say is that the shots are composed well and the cinematography is solid.

Suzanna Leigh is quite a respected actress from the period but you wouldn't guess it from this turn, which is undoubtedly her worst performance ever. Looking constipated when she strives to look scared and reduced to running around in her underwear at other times, she's totally lacking in believability and is more often than not laughable - a far cry from the fragile beauty she played in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. Guy Doleman is a wooden jerk and Frank Finlay hams it up so much you'd think he previously worked as a butcher. While it's nice to see some familiar horror faces lower down in the cast - Michael Ripper, typecast again as BOTH a barman and a policeman and former Frankenstein's Monster Michael Gwynn as a doctor, they're uniformly wasted. No wonder this lacklustre film is so often forgotten when in discussion of British horror.

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.