THE DEADLY BEES (1966)
Article #345 by Dave Sindelar
Posting date: 7-12-2002
Viewing date: 2-23-2002

A pop star suffering from a mental breakdown goes to an island to have a restful retreat, but gets caught up in a swarm of deaths committed by killer bees.

I have to admit that in all these years I’ve never been able to figure out who Michael Ripper was, so I made a definite attempt to recognize which character he was playing and fix it in my memory so I could learn to spot him. He’s the bartender here, and I will say this about him; he’s one of the few characters in this dull movie that isn’t unpleasant, unlikeable, or tiresome. There’s no doubt that the movie does have a little impact, if for no other reason than that bees are insects that always leave one feeling a little on edge. However, there is little else to recommend in this one; there are a lot of scenes that go nowhere, subplots that are never developed and dropped, and more repeated footage than is strictly necessary. In other words, it has all the indication of having been heavily padded to fill out the running time. And I found Suzanne Leigh quite unconvincing as a pop star, especially during her big number at the beginning. And was that opening group called The Birds? If they are, whatever you do, don’t mistake them for The Byrds!