Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)

[Hank the Tank]

Scream Factory has announced a Blu-ray release for a old late night drive-in movie classic, Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973).

Invasion of the Bee Girls Blu-ray PRE-ORDER




Wiki Link to Invasion Of The Bee Girls (1973).


Quoting my write-up over on Home Theater Forum:
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Now that I've reviewed this film on DVD, I see it as a R-Rated version of a Star Trek TOS episode if they were allowed to make those back in the day. Imagine a R-rated version of Spocks Brain (bevy of dangerous beauties ) or That Which Survives (stunning beauty Losira who kills all the men she "is for").

However other than Nicholas Meyer, no connection to the Star Trek franchise is either stated or implied in the film.

My earlier write-up:
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For those of us who were around in the early 1970s (and of age) might remember sneaking into those late-night drive in theaters to check out those R-rated films shown. For me I was with my older brother & friends who basically threw me (age 14) into the trunk and then proceeded into a western Pennsylvania drive-in during the Fall of 1973 where of course I was let out to check out a R-rated double feature, first of which was Invasion Of The Bee Girls (1973).

Talk about an education!

Anyway this sex-fantasy sci-fi film has the distinction of being the first effort from Nicholas Meyer who of course went on to lasting film making fame for Star Trek, The Wrath Of Khan (1982).

Some gratuitous nudity (but full-frontal nudity was still prohibited in R-rated films at this time as one can tell in certain scenes) but not enough to call this a skin-flick. But enough to make the jaw of most hetero males drop.

Scream Factory has announced on their FB page a Blu-ray release of IOTBG (73) for Spring/Summer of 2017 but no exact date as of yet (UPDATE: Amazon release date of April 4th, 2017 announced. Link in OP).
More info to come as it becomes avaliable.

And another one off my original Favourite 1970s Films not yet on Blu list.

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[cakefactory]

Additional notes:

Victoria Vetri is in this. She's the one with the terrible cameo in Rosemary's Baby that stops the movie dead in its tracks. She's also the star of When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, the companion piece to One Million Years BC.

Roger Ebert referred to this repeatedly over the years as a guilty pleasure.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Victoria Vetri is in this. She's the one with the terrible cameo in Rosemary's Baby that stops the movie dead in its tracks.

She also almost stopped her (assumedly now ex-) husband in his tracks by shooting him in 2010, and is still serving her nine-year sentence for attempted manslaughter!

[Zillamon51]

I always found this flick overrated. A better title and idea than an actual film. That sums up a lot of old-school exploitation cinema, I guess.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

She also almost stopped her (assumedly now ex-) husband in his tracks by shooting him in 2010, and is still serving her nine-year sentence for attempted manslaughter!

Wow, I hadn't heard that one. I remember a long time ago reading an interview with someone involved with When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth saying she was "a very mixed-up lady." Glad she's kept it going?

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Zillamon51

I always found this flick overrated. A better title and idea than an actual film. That sums up a lot of old-school exploitation cinema, I guess.

yeah, I remember turning this one off on Netflix.... I thought it would be a camp classic! Maybe I was in a bad mood...

[Jobla]

I once screened BEE GIRLS in 16mm for a Seattle film society during the 1980's.

A guy I knew slightly attended the screening with his wife and another couple. After the movie, the group attended a house party. There was a hot tub there, and the foursome disrobed and availed themselves of the hot tub. None of the other partygoers joined them.

Reporting this to me at a later date, the guy laughingly theorized that the nudity in BEE GIRLS may have "inspired" the foursome to disrobe and enter the hot tub.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Rene Bond is in this too blink and you'll miss her though

I love this movie, William Smith is great in anything. Be interesting to see how this looks in HD...classic exploitation flick imo.

[javi92]

Sounds like fun...might have to blind buy.

[Life Without Death]

Looks like DVDBeaver has a review up for it. I have never seen it but looks like a fun blind buy.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by alexcrowder

Looks like DVDBeaver has a review up for it. I have never seen it but looks like a fun blind buy.

I pre-ordered Invasion of the Bee Girls a few weeks back, so I'm looking forward to its arrival at my doorstep.

I always get a warm and fuzzy feeling when a DVDBeaver review includes "NSFW" screencaps. That's usually a good indication of what to expect from any given film.

[NoirFan]

I think it's hilarious that Gary is just now including NSFW spoilers, as he's been seemingly cherry-picking caps to show nudity for about 15 years!

[cakefactory]

Oh my god, this movie is five times more ridiculous than I remembered. The amount of nudity is off the charts. For some reason I was remembering it as PG!! Another thing I found very striking is that most of the men in the movie are HIDEOUS. Like, they just cast budgy, balding guys that look like members of a political cabinet or something. It's great for enforcing the tone of the movie - that the bee girls are the superior species, and that men are gross things that deserve to get wiped out. Haha.

It's occasionally even somewhat witty in its ridiculousness. Here's a great example: some guys attempt to gang rape a woman. Their leader says something like AFTER I DO YOU, THESE TWO WOULD LIKE A CHANCE. But then his next sentences are, verbatim: "Or maybe they'd like to cut you open and examine you as a medical phenomenon!!!! Now what do you think of that, huh?!" Where the hell did that come from?

I had forgotten Victoria Vetri was the wholesome one. It's weird seeing her in a bunch of cardigans and with frumpy hair.

The mass of DVD Beaver caps are a decent representation of the tone of the movie, although he sure liked close-ups of faces. Here are a few others, all SFW.

[Show spoiler]

The main title theme is about as cool as I remember. It's halfway between 70s cop show and Giallo soundtrack.

Great opening credits music from "Invasion of the Bee Girls" - YouTube

[MJD64]

This was on-demand on cable so I gave it a revisit (I'd originally seen it at a 24-hour sci-fi marathon when I was about 13!). It really is pretty awful, with some amusing moments here and there. William Smith is actually pretty cool in it, he reminded me of a more talkative Charles Bronson!

[javi92]

That settles it. Blind buying in my next haul.

[filmo70]

Always loved this movie. Watched the Scream disc last night as was satisfied with the presentation. Also glad it wasn't cut like the mgm dvd.

[bud_brigman]

I saw this late night on Channel 36 in Atlanta when I was 13 or 14.

Uncensored.

Good ol' Channel 36.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bud_brigman

I saw this late night on Channel 36 in Atlanta when I was 13 or 14.

Uncensored.

Good ol' Channel 36.

I loved Channel 36. Elvira's Movie Macabre, Kung Fu Theatre, and all of that.

I once saw Shogun Assassin uncut on that channel.

[PowellPressburger]

I used to have the old MGM a DVD of this film forever ago and I really didn't recall much from the movie and kind of forgot about it.

Watching the new Scream BLU / R rated cut it's really like seeing the movie again for the first time. Great image and audio and I forgot how much fun this film is! Lots of Wtf moments of dialogue.

And the score by Charles Bernstein adds so much to the film. Awesome little 70's flick highly recommended!

[jimqk]

Blind bought the Blu and watched it tonight. This movie was a lot of fun. Totally ridiculous, but not a boring moment throughout. Loved all the beautiful, naked women. Like others have noted, the score was really good, too. The image and sound quality were great.