Killer Bees

The quick pitch: Gloria Swanson plays Madame Maria von Bohlen, matriarch of a family of South African winemakers. Madame (as her family calls her) controls almost all aspects of the family, the wine business, and even the bees, so integral to the family's success. But when her black sheep son turns-up with a finance in tow, Madame and the bees don't respond too well.

Overall, Killer Bees is about what you'd expect from a 1974 made-for-TV movie - typical made-for-TV cast, poor (and I mean really poor) special effects, and not nearly enough horror for a horror movie (it needed more bee attacks). But one thing Killer Bees has going for it is that final twist in the last act. I'm not going to spoil it - I'll just say that it belongs in a much better movie. It really was a nice finish to what was otherwise a fairly routine film. Nice enough to get a 6/10 from me.

I suppose there are two other things I enjoyed about Killer Bees. First, I always enjoy seeing my favorite of Charlie's Angels, Kate Jackson. Her acting in the final moments of Killer Bees was never better. Second, watching Gloria Swanson in Killer Bees was a real treat. Several times, I thought she was going into full-on Norma Desmond-mode as she overacted her way through this cheap, TV film. Good stuff!