This one is often often considered, along with WHEN TIME RAN OUT… (1980), as Irwin Allen’s nadir – not to mention one of the all-time worst films! Michael Caine himself said it’s the worst film he’s ever been in (contradicting his apparent enthusiasm shown in the accompanying promo) – although he must have clearly forgotten THE ISLAND (1980)…
Given the impeccable credentials, it seems that I keep giving it a chance – since this here was already my third viewing (albeit the first via the extended version). It was also one of several ‘attacking insects/small animals’ movies in the seventies – FROGS (1972), PHASE IV (1974), SQUIRM (1976), KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS (1977), EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977), etc.; other semi-notable bee movies are THE DEADLY BEES (1966) and THE SAVAGE BEES (1976; made for TV).
They certainly spared no expenses where the cast was concerned: Michael Caine hams it up as a constantly fuming entomologist; ditto for Richard Widmark’s general (who, at least, has the sense to not take it seriously); Richard Chamberlain has a similar role to the one he played in THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974); Jose’ Ferrer turns up for a thankless one-minute cameo, whereas Cameron Mitchell appears unbilled. While it was nice to see all those Hollywood old-timers, the three-way romance between Fred MacMurray, Olivia DeHavilland and Ben Johnson was embarrassingly corny!
Incredibly, some 40 minutes were salvaged from the cutting-room floor to make up this inflated Extended Version – but the film seriously outstays its welcome in the second half, as it lumbers its way toward a ‘philosophical’ conclusion. Apparently, several incidents in the film are ‘inspired’ by THE KILLER SHREWS (1959) – but also THEM! (1954), especially the huge bug every victim kept seeing (which is shown so often that it eventually becomes risible rather than scary). Even in spite of its great length, there are still a couple of blatant plot holes: Caine, Katharine Ross and Patty Duke Astin get locked inside a freezer during an attack on the town by the killer bees but we never learn how they manage to get out; likewise, we’re not told how the boy (in whom Caine and Ross take a special interest all through the picture) got ‘sick’ again, a ‘relapse’ he actually doesn’t survive!
Ultimately, it’s not the unmitigated disaster most people say it is – but the dialogue is so preposterous as to be unintentionally funny (my favorite being Henry Fonda telling Caine that the raunchiest book he ever read was one the latter had written about the mating habits of the Queen Bee!) and the theme itself simply too far-fetched (despite all the earnest sermonizing and the film’s ecological stance)!
INSIDE ‘THE SWARM’ (Andrew J. Kuehn, 1978; **), included on the DVD, is a fluffy TV featurette made during production of THE SWARM: it’ s no great shakes and is mainly of interest for showing Irwin Allen at work during the 1970s’ “Disaster Movie” heyday…when the all-star cast are not trying to convince us that the film’s earnest warning – that a catastrophic bee attack upon the whole of humanity is imminent – should not be taken lightly and we are therefore instructed to take every precautionary measure necessary (the first being, I assume, to go watch the film at your nearest local theater)!
