''Killer Bees'' is a 1974 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

starring

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

. Directed by

Curtis Harrington Gene Curtis Harrington (September 17, 1926 – May 6, 2007) was an American film and television director whose work included experimental films, horror films and episodic television. He is considered one of the forerunners of New Queer Cinema. ...

, the cast includes

Kate Jackson Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948) is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series ''Scarecrow and Mrs. Kin ...

, Craig Stevens,

John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films. Personal life Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, ...

, and

Edward Albert Edward Laurence Albert (February 20, 1951 – September 22, 2006) was an American actor. The son of actor Eddie Albert and Mexican actress Margo, he starred opposite Goldie Hawn in ''Butterflies Are Free'' (1972), a role for which he won a ...

. The film originally aired as the ''

ABC Movie of the Week ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

'' on February 26, 1974.

Plot

Edward Van Bohlen is estranged from his family and their wine making business. His new girlfriend, Victoria Wells, has convinced him to return to the family at their winery near San Francisco to reconcile despite Edward's warning that his family is eccentric and reclusive. Victoria is treated coolly by the family, but she nevertheless becomes involved in the family power struggle. Victoria discovers that the family has been using the

Africanized bee The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and known colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera''), produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (''A. ...

strain to improve yields at the winery. Madame Van Bohlen, a strong-willed woman and

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...

of her family, runs the family wine business. Her family refers to her as "Madame." She also has a psychic link which allows her control over the swarm of killer bees that reside in her vineyard. Van Bohlen serves as the queen of the hive. Victoria discovers that Van Bohlen is using this power to kill people she perceives as a threat, but the family appears to refuse to accept this. Van Bohlen dies under mysterious circumstances, and although law enforcement is highly suspicious, they are unable to obtain a search warrant to investigate further and close the case. Victoria and Edward plan to leave the family and return to their life as soon as the funeral is over. During the Van Bohlen funeral, the bees attack the church, Victoria is cut off and shepherded by the bees into the attic housing their main hives; however, they do not attack Victoria. Rather than leave, Victoria returns to the winery, now accepted as the queen both by the family, who now call her Madame, and the swarm.

Cast

as Madame Van Bohlen *

as Victoria Wells *

as Edward Van Bohlen *

as Attendant * Craig Stevens as Rudolf Van Bohlen * Don McGovern as Mathias Van Bohlen * Roger Davis as Dr. Helmut Van Bohlen * John S. Ragin as Sergeant Jeffreys *

Liam Dunn Liam Dunn (November 12, 1916 – April 11, 1976) was an American character actor. Life and career The New Jersey native's early career was spent in television in series such as ''Bonanza'', ''Room 222'', ''Alias Smith and Jones'', '' Mannix'' ...

as Zeb Tucker * Heather Ann Bostain as Roseanna / Housekeeper * Donald Gentry as Lineman * Jack Perkins as Salesman * Robert L. Balzer as Minister * Daniel Woodwort as Townsman * George Deangelis as Foster

Reception

Moria found the effects disappointing and the plot dull. It stats that much of the movie keeps the bees off screen and focuses on the family drama instead. However, the twist ending was found to be interesting. The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

found the movie a tedious bore, stating the commercials advertising the movie to be more interesting that the film itself. SF Weekly was kinder to the film. While it found that the effects are laughable, the scenes where Jackson and Swanson allow real bees to crawl on them to be creepy. It also liked the musical score by

David Shire David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage Musical theater, musicals, film and television film score, scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film ''The Big Bus'', ''The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 f ...

and that it avoids many of the clichés that other killer bee movies contain. It does point out that many questions such as how the link with the bees exists remain unanswered

Home Release

Available, as of July 2021, to stream on many services, including

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Awards

References

External links

* *
''Killer Bees'' at Spout.com

''Killer Bees'' at MSN Movies
{{Curtis Harrington 1974 films 1974 television films American natural horror films American science fiction horror films American science fiction television films American horror television films ABC Movie of the Week Films directed by Curtis Harrington Films scored by David Shire Films about bees 1970s science fiction horror films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films