The Savage Bees

**SPOILERS** Growing up in the 1970's I remember that many local new broadcasts would routinely report on the encroaching threat of Africanized honey bees (aka "Killer Bees"). All of this over-reporting led to the production of several killer bee movies.

It still seems ridiculous that after all these years of cinema and all its advancements, that we are still waiting for a good killer bee/wasp/hornet movie. As it turns out, The Savage Bees, in spite of its TV budget production, is the best on offer.

One of the stranger movie trends of the 1970s were the killer bee movies. All this hysteria was spurred on by erroneous reports on the news that these Africanized bees would be invading America and reeking havoc very soon...

Talk about unintentional hilarity take a shot every time they mention the "Africans."Eh, it's a slow-paced version of horror I happen to love: When Animals (or Insects) Attack or WAIA.

The other half of a double-bill in UK cinemas with the other film being the far better The Incredible Melting Man. This was actually made for television in America.

A deadly cross breed of African bee descends upon New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

The Savage Bees is set in Louisiana & starts as a banana boat from Brazil sails into freighter about twenty miles off the coast of New Orleans, the banana boat is completely deserted & her crew are nowhere to be found. Arriving home Sheriff Donald McKew (Ben Johnson) is shocked to see his pet Dog dead, McKew takes the Dog to the nearest hospital & manages to convince assistant medical examiner Dr.

**SPOILERS** One of the first "Killer Bee" movies to come out in the late 1970's "The Savage Bees" starts out with this Brazilian banana boat, the Cornila Rios, limping into New Orleans Harbor with everyone on deck being either missing or dead. later in the movie a local Sheriff Donald McKew, Ben Johnson,finds his dog Zeth dead and despite it being Fat Tuesday and the Mardi Gras parade he takes Zeth's body to the City Coroner's Office to find out what killed him.

I say Ben Johnson and my fellow Canadians say, "Ben Johnson?!" - he was a goddam MOVIE STAR guys, a COWBOY, and by 1976 he was scraping by playing a sheriff in stupid made for TV disaster movies such as this, cashing in on the DEADLY SWARMS OF KILLER BEES that everyone apparently thought were coming to get us at the time.