Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)

The concept behind Denis Sanders' film Invasion of the Bee Girls is practically identical to the one that so many European directors used when they shot the popular gialli from the '70s and '80s. It merges elements of horror, sci-fi and erotica primarily within the conventional structure that thrillers use while promoting some type of an exotic ambience. There is a rather big group of Italian directors that were particularly good at this sort of genre blending that went on to create a lot of very interesting films.

Piero Schivazappa directed one such film a couple of years before Invasion of the Bee Girls. It is called The Frightened Woman and it is about a kinky doctor who likes to kill beautiful women while they have intense orgasms. Schivazappa and his production designer did not have a big budget to work with, but the film has a special type of immersive ambience and viewing it truly is one big head trip. The Invasion of the Bee Girls offers a similar experience, though its ambience has less of the psychedelic qualities that define The Frightened Woman. Sanders emphasizes the sci-fi/suspense angle of the narrative and only occasionally gives the beautiful ladies that were cast decent opportunities to impress. The end result is still a pretty moody film but with that kitschy personality that seemed perfect for many drive-in theaters during the late '60s and the early '70s.

Some years ago the great critic Roger Ebert published a review of this film, a portion of which was then quoted on an old double-feature DVD release that MGM produced in the United States. (The other film that was included with it was the more conventional sci-fi comedy Invasion of the Star Creatures). Ebert claimed that "Invasion of the Bee Girls is the best schlock soft-core science fiction movie since The Vengeance of She". As mentioned earlier, the film is quite moody and certainly offers a solid dose of late-night kitschy entertainment, but there is nothing soft-core about it. There are a few prolonged love-making sequences, but they actually introduce some much needed clarity and ultimately help the sci-fi part of the narrative look a tad more credible.

The film has a very unique minimalistic soundtrack that blends interesting psychedelic sounds and music themes. It was created by Charles Bernstein, who would later on score one of the very best psychedelic thrillers from the '80s, The Entity.