Horror fans are no strangers to the unadulterated savagery of an animal attack. Over the years we’ve been witness to a plethora of ferocious assaults against man by almost every species of animal imaginable. From the giant sized, mutant aberrations caused by the mistakes of the atomic age which appear all throughout the black and white cheapies of the 50’s to the more gritty and down-to-earth (uh, kind of, anyway) “nature gone berserk” boom of the 70’s, we’ve really seen the whole gamut - snakes, worms, spiders, scorpions, bats, bears, alligators, sharks, and all variety of insects such as ants, bees, praying mantises, grasshoppers, etc. Even critters that seem highly unlikely candidates for scaring anyone, like frogs or giant bunnies, have joined in the fun and attempted to rise up and destroy us all. And why wouldn’t they? Just because they’re cute doesn’t mean they can’t evoke that same primal fear of Mother Nature’s indiscriminating brutality that nests deep within us all.

Okay, maybe they can’t.

Regardless, it certainly seems like we’ve seen it all when it comes to killer animals, doesn’t it?

What then, would make a film called The Deadly Bees any different from the rest? Well, how about the fact that it’s probably the only film to feature not one, but two characters that can only be described as a cross between mad scientists and beekeepers. Yeah, that’s right, mad beekeepers!!!

Vicki Robbins is a young, swinging pop star who is being pushed too hard by her busy, celebrity schedule and faints on the set of a television performance from exhaustion. On the advice of her doctor, she takes a much needed break, and is sent to spend some time away from it all on peaceful Seagull Island. There she is placed in the care of Ralph Hargrove, a professional bee farmer and long time friend of her doctor, whose spacious property should provide the perfect environment necessary for her recovery. Unfortunately for Vicki, that rest and relaxation won’t last for long. Soon she meets the eccentric Mr. Manfred, the island’s other resident beekeeper, who chooses to house his apiary in a cabinet custom built into the wall of his study rather than in the traditional outdoor boxes. He seems to think that Mr. Hargrove is up to no good, and that he may have created a new strand of killer bees that he can somehow control to do his bidding. This, of course, is when the bodies start showing up, all victims of attacks by vicious swarms of bees. Can Vicki find the evidence she needs to link Hargrove to the crimes? Or will she end up like the others, the target of a circling cloud of yellow and black assassins?

One of the things that makes this early Amicus effort so much fun is that it’s just as much of a suspense thriller as it is a rampaging animals flick. Even though the big, shocking twist is pretty predictable and it’s fairly obvious throughout who the killer is, it still adds something to the film, making it much more than a mindless onslaught of death by bee stings (although that probably would have been pretty cool, too). The end result is rather interesting, playing out like an old fashioned murder mystery with the killer bees acting as the weapon.

If you think that sounds like something that might feel right at home as a segment in one of Amicus’ horror anthologies, undoubtedly what they’re best known for, (films like Asylum, The House that Dripped Blood, From Beyond the Grave, or my personal favorite, Tales From The Crypt) then it should come as no surprise that this was also penned by Robert Bloch (based on H.F. Heard’s novel A Taste for Honey), the man responsible for several of those later screenplays. The distinct Amicus look and feel which would permeate the rest of the studios output is already beginning to take shape here as well, with most of the action taking place in rather quaint looking cottages and farmhouses residing in the picturesque British countryside. The 60’s pop angle which kicks off the film, complete with a performance by Mod rockers The Birds (not to be confused with the U.S. psychedelic folk band The Byrds), which I’m sure was very fashionable at the time, now adds just the right amount of “retro” kitsch to make it fun but without coming off as silly.

But what about the most important part? The real reason that anyone would watch a movie titled The Deadly Bees - to see people experience horrible, swollen, painful death by way of hundreds of venom-tipped stingers, right? Thankfully we do get some of that, but perhaps not enough to satiate the taste of most of today’s blood hungry gorehounds. When we do get to see some of that sweet, swarming action, it’s mostly in the form of some ridiculously bad (aka ridiculously awesome, in my book anyway) interspersed stock footage of bees flying around (with the occasional close up of a sting or two) and what look to be rubber “bees” (which look more like rubber “flies”) stuck to the victims faces. Most will probably find it more laughable than horrifying (unless you suffer from apiphobia - the fear of bees), but hopefully entertaining nonetheless.

All in all, The Deadly Bees ranks in as a fairly solid entry in the Amicus filmography and a rather enjoyable way to waste 83 minutes of your life - a bit of action, a little intrigue, and a healthy dose of swirling insect death. So grab a seat, get yourself some honey roasted peanuts (the most appropriate snack I could think of), and see what all the buzz is about.