Die Fliege

I saw this movie for the first time a few days ago, and I took away two thoughts. 1. This is just about the most depressing film ever made. 2. This is not really a horror picture, or a sci-fi picture. Those elements are present, but the story itself is really an existentialist drama. The most fascinating moments, to me, involve Brundle's metamorphosis, and his total disability to figure out who he is, to make any sense of his continually changing identity. It really makes you think while you're being grossed out. You don't get a lot of that anymore.

The Fly (1986)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Reporter Veronica Quaife (Genna Davis) goes back to the lab of scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) who claims to be working on something that will change human kind. Back at his lab she discovers that he's working on a transportation device so she begins to record his progress but when he tries it on himself the results are disastrous.

It's funny how movies can strike you differently at different times of your life. I was only six when this came out and I first viewed it at some point on VHS when I was around ten or so and I really didn't care for it. Yes, I loved the gore but overall I just thought the film was boring. I tried it again as a teenager and felt the same. However, viewing it as an adult for the first time in well over a decade, I couldn't help but really see deep into its tragic story and come away with a completely different opinion.

David Cronenberg's remake of the 1958 classic takes its simple idea and turns it into a true tragedy mixed with romance, outlandish special effects and some graphic content that will certainly shake weaker viewers. Through in a pretty intelligent script and three great performances and you're left with a science-fiction film that manages to work on all levels. The most surprising thing is how smart the picture actually is when you look at what other types of films were out at this time.

The screenplay manages to treat the science material with respect and it never dumbs down the material. The romance between the two lead characters work extremely well and especially when the scientist begins to go through his transformation. You really do care for both characters so you want to see him save while at the same time you can connect with the reporter's heartache of seeing him turn into the title character. Vincent Price, an actor in the 1958 film, said he enjoyed this version of the movie but felt Goldblum turned into a mutant more than a fly. That's perhaps true to a point but there's no question that these are some of the best special effects of the decade. The make- up work on Goldblum's body at the start is simply stunning and very much believable. Once his body starts to fall apart the effects just keep getting better and better. They're certainly stomach-turning at times but the work is exceptional.

Finally, there are the performances by Goldblum and Davis. Both are extremely good but there's no question that Goldblum deserves so much credit for being able to pull off the various temper moods of the character. He certainly makes you believe that he's this genius scientist and once he begins to fall apart, well, you can believe that as well.

THE FLY is certainly one of the better horror films of the decade. It's smart, scary, sad and best of all is that it's made for adults.

During the 1980s, horror was rising, with Friday the 13th started the decade with a bang, with sequels, parodies, and ripoffs in its path. Halloween would have a sequel and many more, and Freddy Krueger started a long running franchise by Wes Craven. What the critics really loved was the remakes of horror movies lured to younger audiences who never saw the originals. John Carpenter's The Thing, while it underperformed at the box office, became a favorite on home video and a cult classic. In 1986, director David Cronenberg, who made heads explode in Scanners and made video horror with Videodrome and changed political horror in the film version of The Dead Zone, would take great risks remaking a 1950s b movie classic, The Fly, by casting Jeff Goldblum as the main character and Geena Davis as his love. Coming out the same year as Aliens and produced by Mel Brooks, The Fly became Cron's highest grossing movie ever and spawned a sequel which didn't do well but became a cult classic in its own right and there are talks of another remake, this time with CGI and a bigger budget. Catch it while its on tv and you'll like the practical effects of the movie as well as the memorable music by Howard Shore. Be afraid, be very afraid...

Director David Cronenberg takes a different approach with THE FLY than in his other horror films. On its surface, it's a story about an experiment gone horribly awry, resulting in a hideous hybrid / mutation. In reality, it's a tragic love story about a woman named Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) and her quirky, scientist boyfriend, Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum).

Indeed, the experiment does go wrong, and notoriously sickening horror ensues. Through the course of the movie, Brundle undergoes an astonishingly repulsive transformation. The special effects and makeup in this movie are phenomenal! However, this is not just about a man in a frightening rubber costume.

This is a movie with surprising emotional depth. Veronica's love for Brundle is tested beyond all measure, right up to the frenzied finale. Ms. Davis is absolutely believable in her devastated role, as is Mr. Goldblum in his series of deteriorating states. These are star-crossed lovers, caught up in something that could very well destroy them both. It's about what happens when someone we adore is stricken with something debilitating / disfiguring and dangerous. Veronica stays with Brundle far beyond the point of sanity. Only her deep feelings for him could allow such devotion.

One of Cronenberg's most intriguing and insightful efforts...

Most science fiction films are big on ideas and special effects, but weak on coherence and character development; most horror films are just the same, except without the ideas. But David Cronenberg's 'The Fly' takes one simple idea, develops it properly, and eschews (its genuinely terrifying) special effects until its truly horrific climax. And by paying some attention to the personalities of its protagonists, it actually makes you care about them (Jeff Goldblum is excellent in the lead role), and adds a level of serious reflection on the very nature of human mortality to the raw shock. The mix amounts to a gruesomely good film.