"Vicki Robbins" (Suzanna Leigh) is a British pop singer who has a nervous collapse due to her hectic schedule and is sent by her doctor to a remote place called "Seagull Island" for some rest and relaxation. When she gets to the local hotel she meets the owner by the name of "Ralph Hargrove" (Guy Doleman) who seems rather aloof and prefers to spend his time tending his bee hives.
For many years I've been waiting to see this movie again, I saw it was on early nineties, my first impression was pretty good horror picture and 7 out 10 was my rating, but I never had another opportunity ever since, looking the picture on IMDB when I'd subscribed at 2012 I'd stayed astounded for so low grade, l tried figure out if I was wrong, this movie just came out officially here in Brazil, the Box-Set from Amicus, I pick up Deadly Bees at once, the plot is quite convincing, the actors are fine, Freddie Francis on direction made a good job, when the deadly Bees which were created as new breed, supposedly by the quiet and bitter Ralph Hargrove, the Goddess Vicky Robbins (Suzanna Leigh) who was on the Island to rest also suspect him, all happenings let us to believe that Hargrove was the mastermind of such crimes, the Dog and his own wife, after tried kills Vicky, the primitive special effects on Bees's attack is really crappy, all remainder is acceptable indeed, then folks I will keep with my early thoughts over this interesting picture 7 out 10!!
Exhausted pop singer Vicki Robbins (a solid and appealing performance by fetching blonde Suzanne Leigh) decides to take it easy by spending some time at a farm on a remote island. However, things go awry when a swarm of deadly bees start attacking folks left and right.
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.
I went into this film wanting to like it. I am a fan of Freddie Francis who directed the masterful GIRLY (one of the best and unique films I have ever seen) as well as actors Suzanna Leigh (LUST FOR A VAMPIRE) and the great character actor Michael Ripper (THE REPTILE) but there was nothing of value in this film.
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.
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.
Given the fact that Hammer rival Amicus were behind this, not to mention the contribution of scriptwriter Robert Bloch and director Francis, I made sure to acquire it immediately when the opportunity arose. Unfortunately, the edition I ended up with not only featured the wrong aspect ratio (which noticeably lopped off the top of both the credits and, on occasion, the actors themselves!
Throughout the mid 60s and early 70s Amicus Productions churned out a series of wonderful little horror anthologies including my favorite, TALES FROM THE CRYPT.But, before launching into the more-profitable horror genre, where low-budgets were more easily forgiven, Amicus produced some full-length features, including THE DEADLY BEES.
