The Deadly Bees
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| The Deadly Bees | |
|---|---|
 A promotional poster for The Deadly Bees |
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| Directed by | Freddie Francis |
| Produced by | Max J. Rosenberg Milton Subotsky |
| Written by | Robert Bloch Anthony Marriott H.F. Heard (novel) |
| Starring | Suzanna Leigh Guy Doleman Frank Finlay |
| Music by | Wilfred Josephs |
| Cinematography | John Wilcox |
| Editing by | Oswald Hafenrichter |
| Distributed by | Amicus Productions Paramount Pictures (1967 – U.S.) |
| Release date(s) | 19 May 1967 (NYC) |
| Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Deadly Bees is a 1966 British horror–thriller film based on H.F. Heard's novel A Taste for Honey. It was directed by Freddie Francis, and stars Suzanna Leigh, Guy Doleman, and Frank Finlay. It was featured in a 1998 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Critics invariably deride the film, generally citing its uninspired acting, ludicrous special effects, including plastic flies glued to actors' faces to show them being "stung", and continuity errors.
[edit] Plot outline
The film opens with two men from an unnamed ministry commenting a spate of letters from a beekeeper claiming to have developed a strain of killer bees. They dismiss him as a lunatic, though his letters claim he will start killing people if he is not taken seriously.
Meanwhile, pop singer Vicki Robbins (Suzanna Leigh) collapses from exhaustion on television, and is sent to recuperate in a cottage on Seagull Island. The proprietors of the "rest home" are a depressed and disgruntled couple, Ralph and Mary Hargrove (Guy Doleman and Catherine Finn). Ralph is a beekeeper, as is his neighbor, H.W. Manfred (Frank Finlay).
Vicki begins noticing a spate of mysterious happenings. Mary Hargrove and her dog are attacked by the bees and killed, leading Vicki to suspect Hargrove. She and Manfred begin to snoop around. He encourages her to search through Hargrove's papers. In doing this, she finds that Hargrove has managed to isolate "the smell of fear" into a liquid form. Manfred tells her this must mean that Hargrove has been baiting the bees with this substance.
Vicki's snooping methods do not go unnoticed; she soon gets attacked by bees in her room at the cottage. She eventually escapes to Manfred's house, where she decides to stay until she can catch the next boat off the island. Manfred begins acting suspicious, so Vicki decides to do some more of her own detective work. She discovers his secret laboratory, which leads him to admit that he indeed is the one who has been causing this all along. He tells Vicki he has been intending to kill Hargrove all along, but now that she knows the secret, he will have to kill her too. She thwarts his attempt, leading him to be stung to death and her to set the house on fire. She escapes the burning house, and leaves the island the next day just as someone from the ministry finally arrives to investigate the deaths.
[edit] Cameo Appearances
The television sequence toward the beginning features a performance by British pop group The Birds (not to be confused with American group The Byrds, of "Turn Turn Turn" fame). The group's lead guitarist is Ronnie Wood, later of The Faces and The Rolling Stones.
[edit] External links
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