Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)

A powerful cosmic force is turning Earth women into queen bees who kill men by wearing them out sexually.

Director:

Denis Sanders

Writer:

Nicholas Meyer

Stars:

William Smith, Anitra Ford, Victoria Vetri

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Smith	...	Neil Agar
Anitra Ford	...	Dr. Susan Harris
Victoria Vetri	...	Julie Zorn
Cliff Osmond	...	Captain Peters
Wright King	...	Dr. Murger
Ben Hammer	...	Herb Kline
Anna Aries	...	Nora Kline
Andre Philippe	...	Aldo Ferrara (as Andre Phillippe)
Sid Kaiser	...	Stan Williams
Katie Saylor	...	Gretchen Grubowsky (as Katie A. Saylor)
Beverly Powers	...	Harriet Williams
Tom Pittman	...	Harv
Bill Keller	...	Joe
Cliff Emmich	...	Coroner
Al Bordighi	...	Herm (as Al Bordiggi)

Storyline

In the small town of Peckham, California, many men die for excessive effort during sexual intercourse. When a scientist from the Brandt research laboratory is found dead in a motel, the government sends Agent Neil Agar (William Smith) to investigate the mysterious deaths. He suspects that the deaths may be related to some experiments of Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford), who is researching bees in the Brandt facility.

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Plot Keywords:

female full frontal nudity | bee | female rear nudity | seduction | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

Ordinary housewives turn into ravishing creatures,

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 67894 delivered on 5 February 1976.

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Goofs

At 37:27 Herbert Kline is sitting alone at a table with two ashtrays at the center of the table. One ashtray is brown and appears to match those at the other tables. The second ashtray, full of cigarette butts, is also on the table in front of a pad. When Dr. Susan Harris arrives the second ashtray is gone.

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Quotes

Neil Agar: [to Stan] You're the geneticist, aren't you? Can you cross a man and a horse?
Stan Williams: You're asking me?
Neil Agar: Yes.
Aldo Ferrara: I told him you'd get a Centaur - mythologically speaking.
Stan Williams: [irritated] Realistically speaking, you'd get a summons for bestiality. Come on, Agar, what's with the asinine questions?

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Alternate Versions

The recent MGM DVD is missing footage. Part of the scene where Beverly Powers (Hills) seduces her man is missing, deleting some of her nudity. This may have been due to damaged materials used to create the DVD, as the scene is intact on the old VHS (and on a couple of budget DVDs that used the VHS for the source). The MGM version looks the best this low-budget film has ever looked, but the missing footage rankles. The same incomplete print runs on pay cable and MGM did not fix the problem and reissue the DVD.

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Connections

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 7 (2002)

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Soundtracks

Also Sprach Zarathustra
(uncredited)
Composed by Richard Strauss
[End title music]

User Reviews

"They're Dropping Like Flies'

Yes, this is quintessential 70's B movie stuff that has it all: bad acting, crazy plot strands, a far-out story about girls becoming human bees and killing men with over-exhaustion in the sexual act, and lots of pretty, bosomy girls not afraid to keep you abreast of their physical attributes. Government agent Will Smith goes to Peckham, California, to look into the death of a researcher at Brandt Research. He comes in the midst of a huge death tally as in one day or soon the number of men that have died from over-exhaustion rises to 10. We get to see some of these deaths and there is absolutely nothing scary about them. The whole film seems to have a very campy edge to it. That is a credit to first time screenwriter Nicholas Meyer who wrote The Seven-Percent Solution and the scripts for several Star Trek movies as well as directed many good films later on. Meyer's script is absurd at times but he along with the director are able to keep it not quite real - if you know what I mean. The budget is a bit higher than many films of this era but has obvious constraints. The bee hive room was impressive as are many of the female leads. Anitra Ford is gorgeous with her long legs and playful eyes, but she is nothing next to Victoria Vetri who fills a blouse beautifully. Both women are adequate thespians as well(I'm sure this is of a grave concern for viewers of films like this). Invasion of the Bee Girls is one of those really fun movies from the seventies that mixes just enough sleaze with other elements like science fiction to come up with a viewing pleasure despite its obvious shortcomings.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Graveyard Tramps

Filming Locations:

American Theatre, 24527 Spruce Street, Newhall, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sequoia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1