cult film freak: BRITISH CREATURE HORROR SUSPENSE YARN 'THE DEADLY BEES'

Written by James M. Tate / 8/27/2021 / No comments / action , body count , british , creature , exploitation , frank finlay , guy doleman , horror , sixties , suspense , suzanna leigh

BRITISH CREATURE HORROR SUSPENSE YARN 'THE DEADLY BEES'

8/27/2021 | No comment

title: THE DEADLY BEES year: 1966 cast: Suzanna Leigh, Frank Finlay, Guy Doleman, Michael Ripper director: Freddie Francis rating: ***1/2

Don't mistake THE DEADLY BEES as one of those by-the-number creature-feature bug flicks where bees fly around killing people because of the ozone or military or whatever else causes "beasts" to cause havoc in other films of this type...

Despite the maligned camp status, DEADLY BEES is an intelligent British thriller centering on a beautiful singer who finds solace on an island, at the house of a professor who isn't nice to his wife, or her dog, and might just be mad enough to make bees... deadly. But with too-friendly/science-minded Frank Finlay involved, things are never quite what they seem, and this Amicus production mirroring Hammer Films (with the latter's regulars Michael Ripper, Suzanna Leigh and director Freddie Francis) is more Hitchcock than body count exploitation: building tension and mystery from start to finish. And when the bees do attack (although the effects are rather dated) it's quite a neat buzz.

Suzanna Leigh in THE DEADLY BEES

Share This Post :

Tags : action , body count , british , creature , exploitation , frank finlay , guy doleman , horror , sixties , suspense , suzanna leigh

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)CANYON PASSAGE 5)THE FEARMAKERS 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 10)THE CROWDED SKY 11))THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE SYSTEM 17)WHITE HEAT 18)HOT FUZZ 19)TENTACLES 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)KILLER FISH 25)AIR PATROL 26)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE ROARING TWENTIES 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)JACK NICHOLSON 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)STANLEY BAKER 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN LANDIS 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)VAL GUEST 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER