The Savage Bees (1976) (TV)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Bruce Geller

Writer:

Guerdon Trueblood (writer)

Release Date:

22 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller | Action

Plot:

In this horror-drama the festive fun of the annual Mardi Gras celebration is brought to a halt when a swarm of African killer bees escape from a foreign freighter. |

Plot Keywords:

Killer Bee | Bee | Swarm | Mardi Gras | Celebration

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Ben Johnson	...	Sheriff Donald McKew
Michael Parks	...	Dr. Jeff DuRand
Paul Hecht	...	Dr. Rufus Carter
Gretchen Corbett	...	Jeannie Devereaux
Horst Buchholz	...	Dr. Jorge Meuller
Bruce French	...	Police Lieutenant
James Best	...	Deputy Mayor Pelligrino
David L. Gray	...	Coast Guard Lieutenant
Richard Charles Boyle	...	Coast Guard Chief
Eliott Keener	...	Freighter Boatswain
Boardman O'Connor	...	Freighter Captain
Danny Barker	...	Taxicab Driver
Don Hood	...	Deputy Churn
Bill Holliday	...	Deputy Stilt
Carol Sutton	...	Mrs. Compher

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Alan Landsburg Productions

Trivia:

Amazingly few bee-related injuries on the set, a testament to Gary's expertise.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bees (1998)

forget "the swarm"

This is a tense thriller that shows, in no uncertain terms how real and deadly the Killer Bee threat really is. This film shows, with scientific plausibility, the City of New Orleans coming under the increasing threat of a large killer swarm approaching town on the eve of Mardi Gras. Unlike Irwin Allen's The Swarm, whose main objective was to show one celebrity guest star after another being stung to death, this film is more like a cross between a tense sci fi thriller and a Hitchcock film. Obviously a TV film cannot posses the cinematic genius of a Hitchcock film, yet this little gem comes close. The team of scientists, (aided by the local sherriff) that are trying to thwart the disaster deal with a slow subtle(at first), steadily climbing stream of attacks. The threat grows as the attacks continue, and for awhile it looks like the bees will win out. The death scenes are the most realistic ever shown in a killer bee film, one senses what it might actually be like to meet this horrible fate. Also a first, this film gives the actual history of how the bees came to invade South & Central America, and deals with the scientific realities of how to stop this menace. Now that there have been killer bee deaths in the United States, this film rings even more true than when it first was telecast in 1976.