Absolutely brilliant

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Just because there are worse movies with similar themes are still made today doesn't buy much credit for this one ... yes, it might have attracted some attention back in the day but i'd say this is BAD even for its time! glad the director admitted it himself too ...

Exhausted pop singer Vicki Robbins (a solid and appealing performance by fetching blonde Suzanne Leigh) decides to take it easy by spending some time at a farm on a remote island. However, things go awry when a swarm of deadly bees start attacking folks left and right.The merely competent direction by Freddie Francis not only lets the meandering narrative plod along at a sluggish pace, but also crucially fails to generate much in the way of either tension or creepy atmosphere. Worse yet, the paint-by-the-numbers script by Robert Bloch and Anthony Marriott doesn't cut the mustard as a mystery thriller, with the identity of the person behind the whole thing being pretty obvious from the get-go. In addition, the chintzy (far from) special effects leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately, the sturdy cast keeps this movie watchable: Frank Finlay excels as friendly eccentric bee expert H.W. Manfred, Guy Doleman portrays gruff farmer Ralph Hargrove with delightfully crusty gusto, Catherine Finn likewise adds some vinegar as Hargrove's snippy rundown wife Mary, Kathy Wild exudes a tremendous amount of perky charm as the chipper Doris, and always reliable character actor Michael Ripper makes the most out of his sizable supporting part as amiable bar owner/constable David Hawkins. Both John Wilcox's sharp cinematography and the shivery score by Wilfred Josephs are up to par. A passable diversion at best.

"Psycho" author Bloch co-writes and the renowned director / cinematographer Francis directs this entry into killer bee cinema that predates the 1978 flicks "The Swarm" and "The Bees" by almost a dozen years. It may work for viewers if they approach it as a camp film but the truth is, it's too silly to be all that successful. The bee attack scenes really aren't bad (the actors certainly sell the hell out of the material), but they'd be better if the (not so) special effects weren't so hilariously unconvincing. The story, based on a novel by Gerald Heard, deals with a pop singer named Vicki Robbins (Suzanna Leigh), who suffers a mental breakdown and is sent to the idyllic, rustic community of Seagull Island for much needed R & R. Unfortunately, things there are going to get ugly as rival bee keepers engage in cutthroat competition. Bees are being sent to do some serious damage to various unlucky human victims. All in all, this viewer would consider this a lesser effort for Amicus Studios. The company always fared best with their omnibus features; their single story features were never quite as strong. Still, this is all fairly watchable regardless; sincere performances really help a lot. The pretty Leigh is engaging as a resourceful lead, but the show really belongs to Frank Finlay and Guy Doleman as the warring farmers, H.W. Manfred and Ralph Hargrove respectively. A fine supporting cast includes Catherine Finn as Hargroves' neglected wife, Hammer and Amicus regular Michael Ripper in a solid turn as part time barman and part time lawman David Hawkins, James Cossins as an investigating coroner, and the appealing Katy Wild as the helpful Doris Hawkins. There's also the chance to see a musical performance by rock group The Birds (not to be confused with American group The Byrds), featuring a young Ron Wood. The movie further benefits from a good score composed by Wilfred Josephs and a reasonably rousing and fiery finish. While it isn't particularly good, it isn't all that bad, delivering some fun moments and coming in at a short enough 84 minute running time. Five out of 10.

This one is pretty much a misfire from the get-go. It's like a Hammer film, only without the energy, suspense, or entertainment value.I'm not one of those people who automatically assume that being covered by MST3000 means that a movie is complete crap (although it is a pretty reliable indicator that the movie will be fairly cheesy or problematic). And in fact, "Deadly Bees" had some potential to be a minor classic. Two major league writing talents were involved in the screenplay (including Robert "Psycho" Bloch!!). The heroine was fairly "hot" (in a Swinging London 60's way). The idea of swarms of bees stinging people to death has a nice visceral impact, And even "B" movie/minor league British actors tend to be more interesting than their American counterparts. Meanwhile the plot involved a mystery of sorts, a domestic situation simmering with tension, anger and resentments, a satiric look at the pop music industry and even a twist or two at the end. And to be fair, I don't think the director had anything more in mind than cranking out a nice, mean-spirited little thriller.Sadly, the results just don't come together. Some decent performances get smothered in a morass of badly paced, tediously staged scenes. The plot isn't allowed to gain any momentum. The bee attack SFX are poorly done and utterly unconvincing. The drab locations and dull cinematography leech away any sense of interest. But mostly, I think that the director's sensibilities and choices simply didn't play out the way he had hoped in the finished product.For instance, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the two opening musical numbers were MEANT to be mediocre and insipid as a way to comment on how dopey and empty the 'swinging' pop music scene really was. And it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Bloch and the director meant for the heroine to come off as shallow and inexpressive as a department store mannequin (she is a pop idol, after all), and gullible and stupid to boot. And I can see where the surprise "villain" was meant to look like Adolph Hitler's brother and to be dumpy and uncharismatic; this might have been meant disturb the viewer by masking the true craziness of the character under such a dull, banal exterior. You have to admit that the film captured the sourness and misery of a marriage gone bad quite well. And the pratfall/reversal at the end, where the villain ends up a victim of his own murder gimmick may have been an intentional bit of slapstick, a bit of ironic comment the inanity of it all, even serial killers. But it just didn't make for a good movie. Watching a bitter middle aged couple quarrel doesn't make for a pleasant viewing experience unless that is what you came to the movie to see ( "Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf" or "Closer", etc), and watching really stupid musical performances featuring utterly disposable plastic pop songs doesn't make for good movie watching either. Even if the drab brown scenery is meant as a comment on British rural living, it makes for tedious viewing as well. Etc. Etc.Still, for all its faults, the small gap between expectation and execution makes "Deadly Bees" faults somewhat forgivable. For the low key performances alone, I'd watch a misfire like "Deadly Bees" a dozen times before I'd watch horrible, over produced messes like "The Cave" or "House Of The Dead" again. That's a backhanded compliment, of course, but it still is a compliment.Oddly, because the "Deadly Bees" wasn't all that bad, the MST coverage of it wasn't nearly as entertaining compared to when they cover amazingly bad films like "Manos" and "Robot Monster". For this one, Mike and the Bots had to roll out the "droll" in gross caseloads. Still, it was fun to watch.