Film Log: “Invasion of the Bee Girls”

Rating: **** Stars

Recommended by Malcolm over at Destructural to my friend Josef, with whom I watched this the other night. An entertaining and thematically engaging film. Good sexploitation with a sci-fi twist. All that you would expect from a good exploitation film: frequent and potentially pointless nudity, some good scenes of violence and gore, as well as some very bad acting and implausible story-writing. The contact lenses they use to indicate women as having joined the “bee women” are particularly creepy. Typical of most films of in the genre, one could apply a typically double-edged feminist reading: is this a narrative about women using their sexuality as a strategy to subvert and attack traditional patriarchal conceptions of womenhood and the men that would exploit it, or is this ultimately an expression of male fear: that women’s sexuality could ultimately be a threat, an intrinsic combination of ‘eros’ and ‘thanatos’. Very Freudian indeed.

Site Update: Films, Films, Films…

So, since I watch so many movies, I’ve decided to start keeping a film log on here. I figure since I’m not posting more substantial material as often as I’d like, I might as well do this. Don’t expect plot synopses, critical analyses, or reviews that often: if I feel the film really deserves a review or critical analysis (i.e., if I can get myself to sit down and write out my thoughts), I’ll do so. But, otherwise, most often, I’ll prob just be posting the film and a star rating, maybe with a couple comments attached. Hope you enjoy!

Star ratings operate as follows:

* = Means don’t waste your time. This is an utter piece of garbage. This rating is mostly reserved for films that are so bad they piss me off.

** = Means it was pretty bad. Has a few redeeming qualities, but ultimately it’s probably not worth your time.

*** = Means the film was a decent film. Not anything well-conceived, but at least mildly entertaining.

**** = Means it was a pretty entertaining film, with some good direction and some thematic content that warrants a second thought, if not some theoretical analysis.

***** = Means the film is an easy favorite for me. If I give it five stars, I feel like it really deserves it. I use the five star rating sparingly, and only when I see a film that is truly auteur-ish in its design and production. I.E., if I give it five stars, I highly recommend it.

-M3