To be perfect clear: Insects are not angry. They have no morals or ethical guidelines. They cannot act with malice. They certainly cannot commit murder. It has been said that there is a reason why the Asian giant forest in the North American press has been nicknamed “killer” and not, say, “soft darling”. These top predators look like they flew in from the carbon-like era. They can kill colonies of honey bees within hours and tear the trunk of the small pollinators in half. Their poison causes fright pain in humans at best and death at worst. And when they were discovered in Washington state last spring, the invasion sounded downright demonic. So it’s fitting that director Michael Paul Stephenson’s new film Attack of the murder horns plays like a ghostly true crime story.
The documentary, which is currently streaming on Discovery +, begins with a spectacular massacre. A friendly beekeeper named Ted McFall gives a gruesome look at what happened to his honey bee hive when the horns appeared in his beekeeping farm Whatcom County, Washington: wholesale. McFall chokes and talks about the unexpected deaths. As a professional beekeeper selling his bread with products such as honey and beeswax, the appearance of the Asian giant horn on his property was an existential threat, and he could not help but lose his bees in person. Attack of the murder horns follows McFall as he joins a loose alliance of beekeepers and scientists in the Northwest Pacific looking for the nests of these invasive insects, and rushes to remove them from the local ecosystem before sowing havoc.
Another member of this mission is Washington State Department of Agriculture entomologist Chris Looney, a dedicated, noisy scientist who pulls through the bushes with a net, dissatisfied with the long-term nature of his endeavor. Although the team is trapped, their breakthrough comes from a tiny bit of high-tech equipment: roboticist Vikram Iyer realizes that tracking devices created for robotic flies can also work if linked to the Asian giant forest. to stick trackers on their belly until one finally leads them back to the nest. Although they encounter a series of roadblocks, Stephenson’s subjects are able to capture a large portion of the horns, including many young queen monsters, which would spread the problem throughout the region if they had grown up and started their own nests. . Science does not completely save the day, but it does prevent disaster.
Stephenson’s documentary moves on a fast-paced thriller, and he’s so immersed in the ad hoc detective team of murder, that people talk to him frankly. He catches their pursuit from an intimate look, and picks up quiet moments, like a local child crying at the sight of a horn whose wings have been accidentally glued together in an attempt to attach the robotic tracker. And this is a passionate, engaging group: they are all led into the forest by altruistic hope for science or a true zeal of a crusader. (“If we fail to get rid of this killer horn, God help us all,” McFall says.) The story is a compelling ecological race against time, with real interests: when honeybees are in danger, the whole food chain also at risk.
With so much built-in drama, atmosphere and character, Attack of the murder horns does not have to rely as hard on his nature-doc-as-crime-doc gimmick, with its ominous soundtrack and horror film graphics. Most interviewed scientists are careful to note that insects are not to blame if they follow their instincts. (McCall regrets, however, that he cannot decapitate every hornet himself.) Beekeeper Conrad Berube, who exterminated the first nest discovered in North America, is brought in to help with the mission; although he prefers underpants embroidered with bees and is clearly respectful of insects, he is called the ‘faster man’ because he has experienced destroying these habitats. Yet he holds no animus for the horns he feels compelled to destroy. “Look how beautiful she is,” he says when he sees a queen. “There is a certain problem with being involved in eradicating it.” He explains that he helps to kill the creatures just to protect the ecosystem.