ADDITION: Kino Region 'A' - Blu-ray - January 2025: Kino have also transferred Denis Sanders' "Invasion of the Bee Girls" to Blu-ray. Kino have given the HD presentation an improvement via a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. There is an uptick in the quality showing a shade more depth and color balance. The 2017 Shout! Factory Blu-ray appears out-of-print on their website and fetching a healthy boost from the initial price. The Kino Cult is a marginal improvement - we have compared a few captures below.

The first seven Kino Cult Blu-ray titles are Lorna the Exorcist, Alien Outlaw, The Dark Power, Sinner - the Secret Diary of a Nymphomania, Underworld aka Transmutations, Drifter and a Bettie Page Double Feature. We have also reviewed the sub-label's The Classic Ghosts - 70s Gothic Television, Frogs, Empire of the Ants, The Food Of The Gods and Kingdom of the Spiders. I love the idea of this and hope it continues.

NOTE: We have added 94 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Kino Cult's audio is the same as the Shout! Factory's using a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel (24-bit) and it sounds very clear with some depth in the modest effects. The score was by Charles Bernstein (Trackdown, White Lightning, Stoney, Cujo, Deadly Friend, Mr. Majestyk.) -You can also hear, although more discreetly, Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade in the sex scene between Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford) and Herb Kline (Ben Hammer.) Kino Cult add optional English subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is also region 'A'-locked.

This Kino Cult Blu-ray includes a new commentary by film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (1000 Women In Horror, 1895-2018) and Josh Nelson. Alexandra admits to really liking the film as does Josh and they bring up Ebert's guilty-pleasure reappraisal. They talk about writer Nicholas Meyer (novels The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The West End Horror as well as directing features Time After Time, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Day After etc..,) director Denis Sanders and actors William Smith (Seven, Grave of the Vampire), Anitra Ford, Victoria Vetri etc. They are always good together and it's a fun, informative, commentary. There are also two trailers and two radio spots. 

Denis Sanders directed "Invasion of the Bee Girls" which has become a cult-classic. He is notable for directing the debut performances of Robert Redford and Tom Skerritt in the 1962 film War Hunt, as well as Crime and Punishment, U.S.A. and other films winning two Academy Awards in his career ('Best Short' and 'Best Documentary'). However, most may remember Invasion of the Bee Girls for Anitra Ford who was known for her work as a model on The Price Is Right and films like The Big Bird Cage, Messiah of Evil, Dirty O'Neil etc. plus she did a swimsuit spread for Life magazine that featured her on the cover. Perhaps more colorfully is a co-star of Invasion of the Bee Girls, Victoria Vetri. She was often credited as Angela Dorian. Yes, she took her stage name from the ill-fated cruise liner The Andrea Doria (Danger Will Robinson, Danger!) She was both Playboy Playmate of the Month for September 1967, and Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1968. Vetri was in strong contention for the titular nubile in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (1962). As an accomplished singer and dancer, she rejected the role of the voice dub for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961), and she was in Roman Polanski's horror classic Rosemary's Baby in 1968. In one scene of the film, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) ironically remarks of her neighbor, Terry Gionoffrio, that she resembles the actress Victoria Vetri. She sure did. Not always making the best choice of acting jobs, Vetri, frequently seemed to find roles of scantily clad, beautiful, women - shamelessly, unafraid to show her gorgeous figure while definitely adhering to the adage "If you've got it, flaunt it." She was in When Dinosaurs Ruled (1970) as a barely clothed naked primitive. Vetri was charged with attempted murder, after she allegedly shot her husband of 25 years, Bruce Rathgeb, at close range in their Hollywood apartment on October 16th, 2010. They had an argument - sounds like he lost. She could not afford bail set by the judge at $1.53 million USD. Hefner refused to help. Over a year in jail, on September 7th, 2011, after pleading no contest to charges of 'attempted voluntary manslaughter', she was sentenced to nine years in prison in the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, California. She was released on parole in April 2018, at age 73. She was in many TV shows; Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Batman, Land of the Giants, Star Trek etc. Invasion of the Bee Girls was her second last film... unless, of course, she makes a comeback. So, "Invasion of the Bee Girls" has a few fascinating back stories (also written by Nicholas Meyer of novels The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The West End Horror as well as directing features Time After Time, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Day After etc.) and the Kino Cult Blu-ray is easily the best edition with superior a/v, new commentary etc. A wonderful nostalgic and erotic ride from the 70s. Kind of a "must own" for any physical media library.

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ADDITION: Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray March 2017: The Shout! factory is over 1-minute 11-seconds longer than the MGM (and even longer than the Secret Key) - without knowing specific scenes or frames - this bodes well from the Shout! Factory possibly be 'complete'. It is probably not from the MGM source. I suppose an aficionado of the film (like Charles P. below) will let us know... Kudos that it shows more information the frame - notably the side and top edges, the colors and detail are miles ahead and, even being single-layered, it looks quite smooth in-motion although I did see a few compression artifacts. It looks better than I thought with warmer skin tones and depth present.

Only a photo gallery, trailer and two radio spots for this classic of 'B' sexploitation schlock. Shout! Factory could have done it up as a Collector's Edition with someone available for a commentary and modern interviews with some of the gals... still a gas.  

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ADDITION: MGM - Region 1 NTSC - June 10': It looks like the Secret Key was taken from an open matte print - but, obviously, one in pretty rough shape. The MGM is anamorphic in the original theatrical 1.85 and we lose some information on all 4 sides. It has been stated that the MGM has a briefly cut scene (or some nudity from that scene) but the Secret Key appears to show no more... but I haven't scrutinized. After watching I actually expected the MGM to be a longer running time as it appeared to me to have more scenes. If both are cut - it is reported to be minor. Both include the attempted 'rape' scene involving Victoria Vetri.

Other notable differences, aside from the obvious (1.33 open matte vs. 1.85 theatrical aspect ratios, cleanliness, etc.) are that the Secret Key starts with the R-rated 'cat' logo and it has 2-3 scenes that are (intentionally?) color-overexposed - see the very last set of captures. I tend to think the effect was meant to be in the theatrical (who would post-invent it) but I have no idea - it seems totally out of place when it is used.

The MGM has optional subtitles (see sample below) and shares the single-layered, dual-sided DVD with only a trailer and has 'Invasion of the Star Creatures' on the opposite side of the disc.

Big difference here and the MGM , beyond everything else, is significantly cheaper - get it while you can - some of these Midnite Movies tend to go out-of-print.

NOTE: Charles P. sent us this in email: "The MGM DVD looks and sounds the best, of course, but it is also missing footage here and there, especially at reel changes. The most egregious bit of missing footage that I noticed (there many be many more deletions, perhaps some very tiny due to damage - I didn't notice) is almost an entire scene! If you watch the scene on the MGM DVD, there is a noticeable cut and jump in the logic of the scene. Some of the footage on the MGM version is extremely cropped on all 4 sides, which is why I went back to the PD version for those shots as I believe a different incomplete source was used to try to cover that gap of missing footage, perhaps a 16mm print that was already cropped to some degree. I don't believe the scene was edited for content, though I can't explain how MGM has the elements and apparent rights to the film and only have a worn, incomplete theatrical print in the vault from which to work.

I uploaded the scene in question HERE, though I don't think it will be up long because of the nudity and this website's "no nudity" policy, so check out this clip while you can! The deleted footage starts at 1:20." (Thanks Charles!)

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ON THE SECRET KEY DVD: Firstly, the Midnite Movie Edition at 1.85:1, available HERE, is going to be the superior edition. We will compare and I think it should blow this 'Secret Key' package away.

The film is very cool, grindhouse/sexploitation stuff. The other two features here are not worthy of the time invested but Invasion of the Bee Girls is! - The alt features are described as: "2069: A Sex Odyssey: Five sexy astronauts from the all-female planet Venus invade a town nestled at the foot of the Alps. Their mission: seduce enough Earth-men to continue their race for another 10,000 years! Dr. Dildo’s Secret: Obsessed with the desire to create a perfect woman, a mad scientist grows facsimiles in his basement – and breathes them into life through sex!" Ho-hum... although the Sex Odyssey has enticingly bad DUBBING (which is amusing).

The print used for this DVD transfer has extensive scratches - which in itself is not such a poor thing to replicate the genre. Most will recall the Rodriguez/Tarantino Planet Terror and Death Proof and how scratches were intentionally added to give this nostalgic effect. But aside from the 1.33 print, reported to be theatrically shown in 1.85, the transfer is very low caliber - interlaced with an appallingly low bitrate, hazy and it shares the dual-layered disc with 2 (count'em 2!) full features and some trailers.

Audio is likewise weak - 2.0 channel with no optional subtitles.

Anyway, bottom line is to not bother with this 'Sleazy Sci-Fi of the 70s' DVD and wait for our Midnite Movies disc comparison. I've ordered it so it should be coming soon... 

Gary W. Tooze