Terror out of the Sky (1978)

This time out we have a sequel to a made for T.V. movie, which is sort of rare. Other than Kolchak I can’t think of another one that generated a sequel, at least not a genre one. And before you say anything I don’t count Trilogy of Terror since they are both anthologies. Here we get another helping of killer bees in this sequel to The Savage Bees. I just reviewed that one, so it made sense to check out part two.

The lady friend of the assistant coroner from the Savage Bees is our link between the movies as she is the only recurring character. Though I was a bit confused because they recast her, but it becomes obvious from the nightmares/flashbacks that this is the same Jeannie Devereux. She is now working at a facility that breeds new queen bees so that the domesticated hives are more resistant to outside breeding like what happened in the first movie. Of course, something goes horribly wrong and a whole new batch of killer bees get loose. This sets our main characters of Jeannie, her boss David, and her boyfriend Nick off in search of them.

Now you might think that they would call for help. But David is concerned that a panic might ensue, and everyone would just start killing any beehive they found. He makes it very clear early on that it would be disastrous if that happened. You know because bees pollinate everything, and we wouldn’t have food. David also professes his love for Jeannie, who is with Nick. I only mention this because Nick is portrayed by Dan Haggerty! Dude is hitting on Grizzly Adams’ lady… it is so not ending well for him. Some people die, many bees die, and they kill a little white dog. Killing the dog was not cool movie… not cool at all!

Ladies and Gentlemen I present Grizzly Adams!

Other than the doggie murder I really liked Terror out of the Sky. I thought the story was faster paced and more interesting than that of The Savage Bees. Here we have our three main characters on a road trip trying to track down the bees. Three queens were shipped, and they have to get them all before it is too late. This leads to a car chase for one, dealing with some shotgun toting locals for another, and then the big finale of the huge swarm at the end. This keeps the action moving as they hop on a plane to get to each location before things get out of hand.

Since I’m on the topic of the finale it really doesn’t end well for David. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. does a good job in the role as he jockeys for position with Nick in continuing to vie for Jeannie’s attention. Though it is Dan Haggerty so Efrem has no chance. Haggerty plays Nick like he plays every character he portrayed in his career. I love the guy, but he didn’t have a lot of range. There are other familiar faces that have had roles in so many television shows and movies that I’ll not list them here. Part of the fun with Terror out of the Sky is too see who shows up on screen next, so no cheating with IMDB!

This is another fun bit of nostalgia from the ‘70s that I recommend checking out. The link at the top of the review should take you to a landing page on YouTube where you can watch the movie. It is a surprisingly nice copy compared to some of the other flicks I’ve found.

© Copyright 2018 John Shatzer