Abelhas Assassinas

Terrific TV-made vehicle for movie icon Gloria Swanson, a compact and beautifully-shot melodrama-cum-thriller. Gloria plays an outré California oddball living on a vineyard ranch and possessing a strange hold over the bees that hover there. Grandson Edward Albert and girlfriend Kate Jackson (who were dating in real-life at the time) come for a visit and get more than they bargained for. Not "The Swarm", but better; school buses and flower paraders are not interjected, and there is no mass hysteria. Credit director Curtis Harrington with the panache, and Gloria Swanson with the campy kicks--she's mah-vah-loss. It's an atmospheric mood-piece, and the rural locales are refreshing.

Killer Bees (1974)

** (out of 4)

Edward van Bohlen (Edward Albert) brings his friend Victoria (Kate Jackson) back to his family estate years after leaving them behind. Before long the friend begins to realize that some local deaths might have been caused by the bees that Madame Maria von Bohlen (Gloria Swanson) has been raising.

KILLER BEES is another made-for-television horror film from director Curtis Harrington but sadly it's not one of his best. I guess you really can't blame him too much because there really hasn't been a good film dealing with killer bees. you can watch THE DEADLY BEES, THE BEES or even THE SWARM and you'll see that they're all pretty bad in their own way. This film here at least has a couple good performances but sadly there's just not enough going on throughout the 73-minute running time.

The biggest problem with the film is the fact that it's basically a lot of family drama and too much talking. I lost count of how many scenes had Edward talking about leaving his family and the friend talking about how they must discover the truth. There's just way too much boring melodrama here and none of it really has anything to do with the main plot. There are a couple bee attacks but they're not very good as the special effects are certainly lacking.

The one saving grace were the actors. Both Albert and Jackson were good in their roles as was Roger Davis in his role as the family doctor. Then you've got the legend Swanson. I'm not going to say she gave a good performance but it was at least an entertaining one as she certainly sold the role with a somewhat over-the-top performance.

Kate Jackson is spectacular in this movie about bees. The name of the movie is really misleading because this is not just another killer bee movie. There is method to their madness. The movie opens well enough and holds attention for the most part but it does sort of trudge along at places. Near the conclusion i was struck by how similar this was to a Hammer feature. There are no special effects to speak of, which is good in my opinion. And none are really needed as the movie quickly finds a kind of creepy groove. Yes, this is much different than other killer bee movies, don't be turned off by thinking it is as simplistic as that. There is much more here to enjoy. And Kate Jackson is fantastic especially near the conclusion.

The quick pitch: Gloria Swanson plays Madame Maria von Bohlen, matriarch of a family of South African winemakers. Madame (as her family calls her) controls almost all aspects of the family, the wine business, and even the bees, so integral to the family's success. But when her black sheep son turns-up with a finance in tow, Madame and the bees don't respond too well.

Overall, Killer Bees is about what you'd expect from a 1974 made-for-TV movie - typical made-for-TV cast, poor (and I mean really poor) special effects, and not nearly enough horror for a horror movie (it needed more bee attacks). But one thing Killer Bees has going for it is that final twist in the last act. I'm not going to spoil it - I'll just say that it belongs in a much better movie. It really was a nice finish to what was otherwise a fairly routine film. Nice enough to get a 6/10 from me.

I suppose there are two other things I enjoyed about Killer Bees. First, I always enjoy seeing my favorite of Charlie's Angels, Kate Jackson. Her acting in the final moments of Killer Bees was never better. Second, watching Gloria Swanson in Killer Bees was a real treat. Several times, I thought she was going into full-on Norma Desmond-mode as she overacted her way through this cheap, TV film. Good stuff!

Killer Bees is a pretty rubbish film, with a bland plot and dull characters. The main characters are a romantic couple called Victoria and Edward, two very boring characters, but at least they're both likable people. The special effects in the film are very, very poor, and using the word "special" to describe them is an insult to the word special.

The soundtrack is terrible, the plot is bare-bones and a poor attempt at excitement, and the film's logic is laughable. There are few positives to say about this film, but I appreciated some of the actor's bravery in being covered in real bees. Even if the bees were soothed first, and there was at least an attempt at a plot. Obviously the film having almost zero budget mustn't have helped either.

2/10: It gets a point for an ok performance from Gloria Swanson and the fact that they at least attempted a twist ending.