Film Review - Invasion of the Bee Girls directed by Denis Sanders

Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973, dir: Denis Sanders; script: Nicholas Meyer; cast: Anitra Ford, Victoria Vetri, William Smith, Cliff Osmond, Wright King, Ben Hammer)

Also released as Graveyard Tramps, Invasion of the Bee Girls is a highly entertaining, cheesy horror/sci-fi film. Some might even call it trash horror.

Many female insects kill their mates upon breeding. I didn't know that was true of queen bees, but apparently it is, at least according to this film.

You see, this government scientist inadvertently creates a "bee girl" (Anitra Ford) in an experiment. She then goes about mating and killing men, while transforming their wives into sister "bee girls."

This is pre-X-Files, so the laboratory transformation doesn't even try to appear realistic. Instead, the transformation process involves a machine with colored flashing lights, bees, nudity, and some very soft-core lesbian kissing.

Victoria Vetri plays a brilliant scientist helping a government security officer investigate the deaths of some male scientists. The scientists all died during sex. (You know why.)

Vetri is a former Playboy centerfold, yet we're supposed to believe that she's a brilliant scientist because (1) she wears glasses, (2) has her hair tied up in a bun, and (3) wears a white coat. Whatever, she still looks sexy, especially when she strips, so we don't care if she's not much of a scientist.

This is a fun film. I bought a copy on Beta in the 1980s. I bought it on DVD in 2005, under the title Graveyard Tramps. Unfortunately, that DVD looked to have been struck off a VHS tape of an old film print. It was fullscreen. It had dirt specks on some scenes, and a tape glitch. The colors were faded, like an old movie. My Beta copy, even after several viewings, still looked better than that DVD. Sharper, with more vivid colors.

Luckily for you, Invasion of the Bee Girls is now available as a Blu-Ray widescreen release from the Shout Factory. Do yourself a favor, and spend a little extra for the Blu-Ray on this one.

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