Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 19, 2017

Denis Sanders' "Invasion of the Bee Girls" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Shout Factory. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; radio spots; and a gallery of promotional materials. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Dangerous

The handsome agent Neil Agar (William Smith) is sent to a sleepy desert town in California to find out why all of a sudden its male residents have started dying like flies. Upon arrival, he is offered a few incomplete reports that quickly frustrate him, so he asks government researcher Julie Zorn (Victoria Vetri) to help him connect the dots. While discussing different theories that could explain what might have happened in the town with Julie, Neil meets Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford), who is running some very unusual tests with live bees at Brandt Research. Neil decides to trust his instincts and keep an eye on Dr. Harris, and eventually begins suspecting that there might be a connection between her work and the puzzling death cases he was sent to investigate.

The concept behind Denis Sanders’ film Invasion of the Bee Girls is practically identical to the one that so many European directors used when they shot the popular gialli of the ‘70s and ‘80s. It merges elements of horror, sci-fi and erotica primarily within the conventional structure that thrillers use while promoting some type of exotic ambience. There is a rather big group of Italian directors who were particularly good at this sort of genre blending that went on to create a lot of very interesting films.

Piero Schivazappa directed one such film a couple of years before Invasion of the Bee Girls. It is called The Laughing Woman and it is about a kinky doctor who likes to kill beautiful women while they have intense orgasms. Schivazappa and his production designer did not have a big budget to work with, but the film has a special type of immersive ambience, and viewing it truly is one big head trip. The Invasion of the Bee Girls offers a similar experience, though its ambience has less of the psychedelic qualities that define The Laughing Woman. Sanders emphasizes the sci-fi/suspense angle of the narrative and only occasionally gives the beautiful ladies that were cast decent opportunities to impress. The end result is still a pretty moody film, but with that kitschy personality that seemed perfect for many drive-in theaters during the late '60s and early '70s.

Some years ago, Roger Ebert published a review of Invasion of the Bee Girls, a portion of which was then quoted on an old double-feature DVD release, produced by MGM. (The other film included on the release was the more conventional sci-fi comedy Invasion of the Star Creatures). Ebert claimed that “Invasion of the Bee Girls is the best schlock soft-core science fiction movie since The Vengeance of She”. This description is rather misleading. As mentioned earlier, Invasion of the Bee Girls is quite moody and certainly offers a solid dose of late-night kitschy entertainment, but there is nothing soft-core about it. Indeed, while there are a few prolonged love-making sequences, they introduce much-needed clarity and ultimately help the sci-fi part of the narrative look a tad more credible.

Invasion of the Bee Girls has a unique minimalistic soundtrack that blends interesting psychedelic sounds and music themes. It was created by Charles Bernstein, who would later score one of the very best psychedelic thrillers from the ‘80s, The Entity.

Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Denis Sanders' Invasion of the Bee Girls arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory.

The release is sourced from a very nice and very healthy master that must have been prepared fairly recently. My one and only criticism pertains to the presence of a couple of vertical lines that quickly pop up in the fist half of the film. They look like something that a power shock would introduce, but I am unsure what their origin is. The rest of the film looks terrific in high-definition. Delineation, clarity, and depth are very pleasing, while color saturation and balance are about as good as I expected them to be. Grain is nicely exposed and free of digitally introduced anomalies. It could look slightly tighter and better resolved, but the current quality of the visuals is indeed very good. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is very good. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film has a very interesting soundtrack that accomplishes a lot with, I dare say, very little. For example, there are some very nice psychedelic sounds and noises that can completely alter entire sequences, while elsewhere Charles Bernstein's music themes adds some nice retro flavor. So while the film might have been shot with a modest budget, its sound design is indeed surprisingly good. The dialog is always clean, stable, and very easy to follow.

Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Invasion of the Bee Girls. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Photo Gallery - a lovely gallery with original arhcival production and promotional stills, lobby cards, and posters for Invasion of the Bee Girls. (Some photos courtesy of Brett Cameron). In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080i).

• Radio Spots - two original radio spots for Invasion of the Bee Girls. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Invasion of the Bee Girls is exactly the type of moody B-movie I like to see very late at night. It has an attractive kitschy personality and a retro psychedelic ambience that is just about perfect. Shout Factory's new Blu-ray release is sourced from a solid organic master, and has a small but very interesting collection of archival promotional materials. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.