THE BEES

1978, U.S./Mexico

Portion of North American exhibitors’ manual

A theme common to many films of the “nature gone awry” subgenre is that of humans bringing it on ourselves. The twisted morality of needing to assert our dominance over the animal and plant kingdoms, weather systems and our own physiology is often directly answered by whatever it is that we have been abusing. We abuse the soil, and the corncobs uproot and bring about our self-made demise. We abuse the water, and the dead rise from a nearby reservoir. We abuse our pets and livestock, and they grow 10 times their natural size and eat us for lunch. The message is simple: Mess with nature, and it will mess with you, big time.

Funny, then, that the exhibitor manual for THE BEES (a 1978 New World ripoff of THE SWARM starring John Saxon, Angel Tompkins and John Carradine) should advocate just the opposite. What’s an exhibitor manual, you ask? It’s part of a package that the studios send to theaters ahead of release dates. Certain contents can be found under the “ACCESSORIES” heading. It’s what’s under the “PROMOTION” heading that worries me; just give it a read, and tell me what you think is wrong with this picture.

Look out for other, less lawsuit-inducing non-poster promotional materials in the future.

 

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