Killer Bees (2002)

My review of KILLER BEES!, a silly and no-budget TV movie from 2002, will go off on a tangent because of personal reasons. I found the tone of the script particularly offensive, particularly in the depiction of multiple sclerosis. I write as somebody married to an MS sufferer, and I can report that the MS portrayed in this film is even more ridiculous than the stuff involving the killer bees. The character doesn't act like somebody with MS in the slightest, the symptoms as described are wrong, and to top it all they describe MS as a 'terminal illness'. It's sloppy writing, and had me fuming.Still, at least it enlivened what is otherwise an entirely forgettable movie. KILLER BEES! follows the same old hackneyed storyline with a single character (THE HITCHER'S C. Thomas Howell, looking old and tired) who recognises the impending threat while nobody else believes him. Inevitably, there's a big event coming up, and the greedy Mayor refuses to cancel it. What makes KILLER BEES! stand out is how poorly the action is staged, in addition to the terrible calibre of the special effects.The PG rating is the final insult; if this had contained some proper gore effects a la PIRANHA 3D, I could have forgiven it for the rest of the problems. Instead, it plays it safe throughout, and the shots of bees are limited to just a few CGI clouds in the skies. It's nonsense and the cast of badly-acting townsfolk hardly serve to increase the entertainment value. In a world of bad films, KILLER BEES! is the worst bee B-movie yet.

In this film, a town is attacked by deadly killer bees after a truck accident caused them to be released. So, it's up to the the town sheriff to convince everybody that they will have to leave before the bees attacked. Pretty nice action, especially the scene at the Honey Festival (how appropriate to name a festival that when everybody was about to be overwhelmed with killer bees). That scene is probably the most action-packed and suspense filled int he movie. But everything else felt like a bee stung. The acting was cheesy and lame, the special effects were unrealistic and the ending (spoiler ahead) was disappointing-rushed through and undramatic. Overall, a pretty predictable film, with no plot twists or character development.Grade D-

I love Killer Bee movies. If anything would be in my top 30 film genres, it would most assuredly be Killer Bees. Me and my life partner, Jonas, decided to have a Killer Bee movie night. What a night that was! We watched 5 Killer Bee movies in one night and two the next! Definitely, this was one of the best. There's an exclaimation mark on this title for a reason. I don't want to give away too much, but you will never want to drink a beer again after the terrifying bee-in-the-beer segment that kills off a farmer! Holy moses! Killer Bees are a very real and dangerous threat. This movie did not shy away from the truth about them. I found the acting to be understated and subtle, a tone that was definitely necessary and sensitive to the hundreds that have died in killer bee attacks.The lead guy gave a great performance.I give this bee-tastic film a 10 out of 10.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by Dan "The Movie Man" Wolfson!

I don't know when I've laughed so hard at pathetic "effects". Those black blobs (bees??) flying in formation were just too funny! I was surprised to learn this was made in 2002; the effects were reminiscent of something out of a low-budget 50's or 60's movie. Unfortunately, the title Bees were the best actors in the movie. Their human costars were at their best after they were dead. The lucky ones died early in the movie; the rest had to keep screaming in terror, as they realized they were trapped in an atrociously bad movie, with no script to work with, or acting skills for that matter. Besides the swarming black blobs, there were also a few laughs in the "plot"; it was both humorous and painful to watch them try to take seriously the tired, over used, simplistic plot line. There's no need to go into detail: bees arrive in small rural town, people scream, people die... About half way through the movie, I wished I could join them! Rating: 2 out of 10. (It would have been a 1, but those bees so put their little hearts into it!)