Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Bees Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf February 26, 2016

In 1978, American audiences were treated to two films about the real-world fury of African killer bees. Creating big screen disaster out of media-fueled alarm, Hollywood was ready to cash in on mounting nationwide panic. The first out of the gate was “The Swarm,” an Irwin Allen production that found Michael Caine and Henry Fonda locked in paycheck mode, out to battle the titular threat with a sizable budget and major studio support. The second effort was “The Bees,” a decidedly less financially endowed picture that refused to bow to the competition, offering its own scale of catastrophe, favoring chaos and bizarre turns of plot to help it stand out in a crowded field of insect-based entertainment.

In South America, Sandra (Angel Tompkins) is the wife of a genetic researcher doing work on African killer bees, or Apis Mellifera Adansonii, trying to understand the aggressive insect before it brings its horror to America. When disaster strikes, Sandra is widowed, returning to Southern California to continue scientific exploration with John (John Saxton) and her uncle, Dr. Hummel (John Carradine). Looking for a way to control the bee population, the trio is met with hesitation from big business types looking to profit from unusual secretion activity, working to sneak a bee colony into the country to get started. When a smuggling job goes south, bees are unleashed on America, quickly constructing a super-hive as a base of operations while swarms are sent out to attack. Working to corral the problem with help from the U.S. Government, John prepares for war, while Sandra and Dr. Hummel work around the clock to decode bee behavior and communication, making a frightening discovery along the way.

Directed by Alfredo Zacharias (“Demonoid: Messenger of Death”), “The Bees” has difficulty deciding if it wants to be a horror extravaganza or a campy exercise in comedy -- almost a parody of a disaster movie. Zacharias seems determined to make one from the heart here, with the screenplay mindful of environmental concerns and respectful of scientific study, but the Mexican helmer doesn’t quite grasp the American posture of the film, giving the whole effort a distinct English-as-a-second-language atmosphere. “The Bees” favors caricature, with big business types depicted as obese, cigar-chomping ghouls who refuse to take concerns seriously as they chase the almighty dollar. Government officials are either warmongering fools or corrupt. And there’s even a romantic connection between John and Sandra, with the widow falling for her partner roughly 72 hours after the death of her husband. Their initial make-out session inside a truck swarmed with ornery bees is one of many bellylaughs in the picture, though few of them seem intentionally created by the production.

“The Bees” lacks considerably in logic and drama, barely making any sense as all hell breaks loose, with the buzzing insects visiting cities across the nation (it looks like a P.A. spraying bags of Honey Smacks on the cast), killing innocents and weirdos, including an older man who pays two pre-teen boys to collect bees for him to use as an arthritis treatment. Thankfully, the dollar-slinging creep is promptly killed. The feature is unexpectedly stunt-heavy, with fire gags and liberal leaping through breakaway glass, giving the endeavor a theme park stunt show vibe that’s immensely engaging, keeping “The Bees” physical and eventful. The centerpiece of the film is an attack sequence set at the Rose Parade, watching the swarm bring the nightmare to floats and bleachers, with panic exploding as people struggle to escape death-by-stingers. Dramatically, the picture isn’t profound, but Zacharias keeps it loaded with threat, allowing the African bees plenty of room to take lives and torment idiots who elect to watch the insects swoop into town instead of running in the opposite direction.

To fatten up his feature, Zacharias brings in the military, leading to extensive use of stock footage to showcase planes and helicopters exploding due to bee attacks, with the 1978 film suddenly jumping back to the 1960s whenever expensive vehicles appear. “The Bees” takes some left turns along the way, with John’s military leadership one of a few question marks the movie doesn’t bother to address, but the escalation is entertaining, peaking with an appearance by a President Carter look-alike who calls the scientist to thank him for his duty. “The Bees” can only go so far on recycled footage, leaving the rest of the picture to debates and study, which is decidedly less fun to watch, though the actors deliver commendable work considering the production’s various limitations.

The Bees Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation poses an interesting visual challenge, with much of "The Bees" employing stock footage to widen the scope of the feature. The viewing experience is so clear and fresh, it's easy to spot where the production cut corners, finding original cinematography looking sharp and clean, with encouraging detail that brings out the best in pained close-ups and set ornamentation, while textures are handy with the more gruesome aspects of the tale. Colors are superbly refreshed, offering bold primaries and lush greenery, and skintones are spot-on. Grain is fine and filmic. Delineation is never a problem, with deep blacks accurate and communicative. Source is fine shape, with speckling detected, along with some minor scratches.

The Bees Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 1.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix remains appropriately active, with a constant blend of elements competing for attention, though nothing reaches distortive extremes. Scoring is repetitive and animated, and while true instrumentation is lacking, the overall force of the music is open for inspection, adding to suspense needs. Dialogue exchanges are clean and understood, handling accents well. Sound effects are the big draw here, with loud buzzing noises encountered throughout the listening event, offering blunt horror and more subtle dramatic changes near the end.

The Bees Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (11:18, HD) with Alfredo Zacharias is an unexpectedly sincere look back on "The Bees" with its writer/director, who seems genuinely moved by his creation. Tracking the feature's origin and production process, Zacharias shares his thoughts on the cast and reveals how the professionals could interact with the bees without being stung. The helmer also discusses a second, Spanish-language version of the film prepared for its international release, and the picture's delay, with Warner Brothers offering distributor Roger Corman a hefty amount of money to hold "The Bees" until "The Swarm" ended its theatrical run.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:14, HD) is included.

The Bees Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Bees" eventually permits a moment for Saxon to show off his martial arts training, and there's a subplot concerning hitmen that gives the swarm a breather, adding a human threat to extend the run time. However, the production goes out there in the final act, way out there, striving to implement the feature with lasting meaning as an environmental protection message evolves into a global warning. The film leans more towards "Phase IV" than "The Swarm," though such a whiplash-inducing turn of plot doesn't seem all that strange in a movie that already has trouble connecting scenes. Zacharias has a higher purpose for his chiller, which is commendable, but I believe most viewers will walk away from "The Bees" still nursing laughs, not taking a cold, hard look at the fragility of nature.