INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (1973)

State Department investigator Neil Agar (William Smith in a rare good guy role) is sent to Peckham, California to investigate a mysterious death. The town is the home of a small government lab and one of their scientists has turned up dead of cardiac arrest even though he had no previous record of heart trouble. Things only look stranger when the coroner lists the cause of death as "sexual exhaustion". Agar quickly discovers that there seems to be a rash of these types of deaths in the town, and once another scientist snuffs it he starts looking for unusual possibilities. Enlisting the aid of pretty lab assistant Julie (Victoria Vetri), it isn't long before he's taking a closer look at entomologist Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford). The supposedly sexually frigid Dr. Harris always seems to be wearing sunglasses and her aloof manner makes Agar suspicious. In a leap of logic that could only be played out with everyone in on the joke, Agar surmises that some type of genetic insect crossbreeding is involved and comes across proof just as Julie is about to become part of the town's deadly female breed. 

Here's a film that knows its dealing with a preposterous idea and just plays it straight hoping the audience is savvy enough to get the joke. Pure smutty fun from beginning to end, this flick revels in nudity, soft core sex, lesbianism and unapologetically chauvinistic behavior the likes of which we are likely never to see in film again. In Peckham every man, whether married or not, is looking to score with whoever he can and it seems that every woman in town was a sexual predator before they started getting their 'bee' on. Gloriously nasty with nearly no redeeming social values, Bee Girls is a wonderful early-Seventies time capsule. Where else are you going to see an amazing ugly man yell out in public that he will not abstain from sex just because he might die? Priceless! This movie has become my second favorite sci-fi/sex film of all time, right behind Barbarella but just ahead of Lifeforce. (Thank you Matilda May!) Indeed, there are only a couple of ladies in this movie that don't get naked at some point in the proceedings, but the real draw for fans of beautiful women has to be Anitra Ford.

The former Price Is Right model only made four theatrical films but my lust for her was kindled when I saw her as the evil Amazonian in the TV movie Wonder Woman. Cathy Lee Crosby had nothing on Miss Ford, and at my young age I could barely understand the strange emotions she sent running through my curious body. Anitra has an extended nude scene here that shows us just what was lurking beneath that game show smile. Add to that her completely unnecessary lesbian kiss later on and you have '70s sexploitation heaven! Of course the film does have its share of detriments... The plot is moved along more by chance and wild guesswork than anything else, and sloppier moments in the story are glossed over by obvious post-production dubbing. Some of the acting is less than convincing, but I find that just adds to the fun in an odd way. A fun movie for anyone with a love of campy science fiction or maybe just dirty minds!