This is an intellectual version of a killer bee movie. Instead of focusing on bee sting makeup and civilization-ending massive explosions, this film focuses on plot and mystery. Yes, there is a bit of bee sting make up and a couple of small fires, but mystery rules this film. In my opinion, it is the best of all the bee movies.

Freddie Francis was one of the less reliable directors working in horror during the 60s and 70s (often for Hammer and Amicus): at his best, he gave us enjoyable Tales From The Crypt and the serviceable Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, but at his worst he was responsible for The Creeping Flesh, Torture Garden, Trog, The Vampire Happening, and this boring pile of drivel, The Deadly Bees.Suzanna Leigh stars as pretty pop singer Vicki Robbins, who, suffering from exhaustion, goes to stay at a farm on Seagull Island to recuperate. While there, she begins to suspect that the farmer (Guy Doleman) is breeding a strain of deadly bees that will attack anyone who has come in contact with a special serum. With the help of friendly bee-keeper Manfred (Frank Finlay) she tries to find proof of his wrong-doings…Featuring leaden direction from Francis, a predictable script that holds few surprises, and some truly dreadful special effects, The Deadly Bees is utterly abysmal from start to finish, offering absolutely nothing in the way of suspense or scares, no matter how urgent or loud the music gets. In the end, Francis resorts to some cheap titillation to try and keep the viewer from nodding off by having Leigh wander around in her bra for a while, which I'm all in favour of, but it doesn't stop the film from being a disaster.

This one is pretty much a misfire from the get-go. It's like a Hammer film, only without the energy, suspense, or entertainment value.I'm not one of those people who automatically assume that being covered by MST3000 means that a movie is complete crap (although it is a pretty reliable indicator that the movie will be fairly cheesy or problematic). And in fact, "Deadly Bees" had some potential to be a minor classic. Two major league writing talents were involved in the screenplay (including Robert "Psycho" Bloch!!). The heroine was fairly "hot" (in a Swinging London 60's way). The idea of swarms of bees stinging people to death has a nice visceral impact, And even "B" movie/minor league British actors tend to be more interesting than their American counterparts. Meanwhile the plot involved a mystery of sorts, a domestic situation simmering with tension, anger and resentments, a satiric look at the pop music industry and even a twist or two at the end. And to be fair, I don't think the director had anything more in mind than cranking out a nice, mean-spirited little thriller.Sadly, the results just don't come together. Some decent performances get smothered in a morass of badly paced, tediously staged scenes. The plot isn't allowed to gain any momentum. The bee attack SFX are poorly done and utterly unconvincing. The drab locations and dull cinematography leech away any sense of interest. But mostly, I think that the director's sensibilities and choices simply didn't play out the way he had hoped in the finished product.For instance, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the two opening musical numbers were MEANT to be mediocre and insipid as a way to comment on how dopey and empty the 'swinging' pop music scene really was. And it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Bloch and the director meant for the heroine to come off as shallow and inexpressive as a department store mannequin (she is a pop idol, after all), and gullible and stupid to boot. And I can see where the surprise "villain" was meant to look like Adolph Hitler's brother and to be dumpy and uncharismatic; this might have been meant disturb the viewer by masking the true craziness of the character under such a dull, banal exterior. You have to admit that the film captured the sourness and misery of a marriage gone bad quite well. And the pratfall/reversal at the end, where the villain ends up a victim of his own murder gimmick may have been an intentional bit of slapstick, a bit of ironic comment the inanity of it all, even serial killers. But it just didn't make for a good movie. Watching a bitter middle aged couple quarrel doesn't make for a pleasant viewing experience unless that is what you came to the movie to see ( "Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf" or "Closer", etc), and watching really stupid musical performances featuring utterly disposable plastic pop songs doesn't make for good movie watching either. Even if the drab brown scenery is meant as a comment on British rural living, it makes for tedious viewing as well. Etc. Etc.Still, for all its faults, the small gap between expectation and execution makes "Deadly Bees" faults somewhat forgivable. For the low key performances alone, I'd watch a misfire like "Deadly Bees" a dozen times before I'd watch horrible, over produced messes like "The Cave" or "House Of The Dead" again. That's a backhanded compliment, of course, but it still is a compliment.Oddly, because the "Deadly Bees" wasn't all that bad, the MST coverage of it wasn't nearly as entertaining compared to when they cover amazingly bad films like "Manos" and "Robot Monster". For this one, Mike and the Bots had to roll out the "droll" in gross caseloads. Still, it was fun to watch.

THE DEADLY BEESA Freddie Francis shocker Vicki Robbins (one-note Suzanna Leigh) is a pop singer who has worked herself into exhaustion by dancing in front of hot studio lights while wearing thick fur coats. For relaxation, she is sent on a vacation to the lovely Seagull Island, to stay at the farm of Ralph (wooden Guy Doleman) and Mary Hargrove (chain-smoking Catherine Finn). Little does Vicki know that Mr. Hargrove's bees may not be up to any good! The 60's sure were an interesting year for movies. Actors had oily hair. Actresses had beehives on top of their heads. People walked around publicly wearing yellow cardigans. Say what you want about the 60's fashion, but you can't take your eyes off it.THE DEADLY BEES is a movie which is exactly as corny as the title suggests. Representing everything that is wrong with Great Britain, we follow the misadventures of characters so dull and uninspired that we root for them to be killed off as soon as possible. The movie also has a crummy, dirty feel to it, and the hideous locations and sets don't help.BEES' flaws ranges from the most basic goofs (blatant continuity errors such as the sky switching from clear to clouded between shots), to bad casting (Frank Finlay is by far the dullest villain in movie history), to bad special effects (plastic bees that are obviously not alive; bees badly superimposed over characters), to a script with the most obvious "twist" you could possibly imagine. I don't know what went through Freddie Francis mind when he made this abomination, but it certainly wasn't "at least this will be fun to watch!" Overall, THE DEADLY BEES is a tedious, slow, contrived mess filled to the brim with boring characters, offensively ugly locations, bad editing, lame SFX, and a dog that looks like it hasn't bathed for months. All in all a repulsive cocktail that all masochists will enjoy. From me, this movie only warrants a weak 2 out of 10.