Watching these two movies on back-to-back nights: a po' idea? No, they actually go together quite nicely. (Har har.)
Wasp Woman
Objective Grade: D+
Camp Value Bonus: C+
Roger Corman B&W cheapie about a fashion mogul who uses (ahem) "wasp royal jelly" to regain her youth. Rapidly takes a turn for the silly when it starts playing fast-and-loose with, take your pick, continuity/the facts/our suspension of disbelief. (We're not just talking mixing up wasps with bees, either, though that happens a lot.) The height of absurdity comes in a priceless sequence in which guinea pigs are injected with a serum that reverses aging, but the producers couldn't find any baby guinea pigs for the substitution -- so they used white rats instead! I mean, c'mon, Roger, WTF?
A decent sense of style and pacing, but that can't quite patch the gaping holes in the narrative. The lead, Susan Cabot -- who has a genuinely interesting face -- is well-cast and gives it her all, even while wearing a ridiculous wasp mask. (This was her last film before retiring; twentysomething years later, she was bludgeoned to death by her son!)
Invasion Of The Bee Girls
Objective Grade: D
Camp Value Bonus: B+
We dipped into the Drive-In Movie Classics box set for this hilarious sexploitation piece of crap. Women in an isolated research town mysteriously transform into "bee girls", which basically means they start wearing oversized sunglasses and killing dudes with their deadly hoo-has. If that sounds suspiciously like your typical sorority, well, there you go. (Sorry, Delta Zeta.)
Full of all things gratuitous and ludicrous, and gets going straightaway, i.e. right from the wakka-wakka music at the opening, with only a few dull patches. Exploitation highlights include a scene where bee girls cocoon a newcomer with something that looks suspiciously like Cool Whip, while performing synchronized breast self-exams en masse. Highly recommended for group viewing, with the right crowd.
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