Edward Van Bohlen (Edward Albert) is the grandson of “Madame” Maria Van Bohlen (Gloria Swanson), the matriarch of the Van Bohlen family. Her sons are Helmut (Roger Davis), Mathias (Don McGovern) and Edward’s father, Rudolph (Craig Stevens). The Van Bohlen family has lived in California for decades and has built a large estate and vineyard. Madame rules the family with an iron fist, but Edward broke from tradition and went to college. Now he is returning at the insistence of his girlfriend, Victoria Wells (Kate Jackson). Kate was an Army brat and traveled all over the world with her father, never settling down. Her wish is for Edward to reconnect with his family.
The reception they receive is rather cold. Madame objects to Edward’s lifestyle and the family is distrustful of strangers. The other family members are also distant and cold, even Edward’s father. Victoria tries her best to ingratiate herself with everyone, especially Madame.
Victoria learns that the wine the Van Bohlen’s make is special due to the bees that inhabit the vineyard. The bees are an Africanized version that add a light sweetness to the wine. The bees also seem to have a psychic link to Madame. They swarm over her as if she were the queen bee and are attuned to her emotions.
When people begin to die near the Van Bohlen estate, Victoria starts to believe that Madame had something to do with it. Sergeant Jeffreys (John S. Ragin), from the police department is also suspicious of Madame’s bees, but without any proof that they are the ones responsible for the deaths, he can do nothing about it.
Madame wants Vitoria to go back to San Francisco and leave Edward to take responsibility for his place in the family. Eventually things come to a head resulting in a showdown between Madame and Victoria. Victoria tells Madame that she and Edward have been living together for two years and that she is pregnant. She also says that she and Edward are family now and will be leaving together. The news causes Madame to have a fatal heart attack. But how will the bees react to losing their queen?
“Killer Bees” was released in 1974 and was directed by Curtis Harrington. It is a low budget horror film with some supernatural vibes. It is also a made for television movie for ABC’s “Movie of the Week”.
Even though the film was done at the height of the “killer Bee” phenomenon, this is not your normal killer bee movie. The bees are actually not the stars of the film, the family dynamic is, and in particular, Gloria Swanson as Madame. The bees themselves don’t really do any hands on killing but manage to cause the deaths of a couple people that basically killed themselves. What they are is very protective of their queen, the same as in any hive. If you’re looking for swarms of bees killing dozens of people, you will be disappointed. If, however, you’re looking for something a little more on the gothic side, you may like it.
The movie was filmed at what would eventually become Francis Ford Coppola's house and winery. Reportedly some 700,000 bees were employed for the film. Supposedly, Betty Davis was to play Madame, but being allergic to bees, her doctor would not allow her to take the part.