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)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER