द फ्लाय

The Fly (1958)

You might be convinced to see a movie just because it has Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall in it--they come from different backgrounds, but both are serious actors with nuance and clearly chiseled personalities. And they definitely raise the movie up.

But it's the story that is the star here. A Ray Bradbury kind of science fiction, where a futuristic idea enters middle America, and where something goes terribly, bizarrely wrong. If you think about it it's disturbing, but the movie doesn't pause to let you think. One of its strengths is that it never flags. And the main character, the handsome father and scientist (who creates the invention of the century in his basement), is brilliant. He's suave, alternately relaxed and obsessed, reasonable and believable even when talking about the unbelievable.

The flaws are so obvious they you can skim over them--the fly effects at the end, their stupidity at catching and losing the fly, the notion of insanity, the television kind of family interactions--but it does make the movie more of an entertainment than some fine art classic. But hey, that's what it's supposed to be, and really enjoyable. Even in parts brilliant. Watch it!

As a child in the theater I screamed and had bad dreams.... Then as a teenager I watched the "Fly" on TV and still Jumped back in fear at the sight of that horrible face! A few years later my friends and I watched it on TV again, but this time I turned down the sound at the scary scenes ( theorizing that the music was the cause of the fear) but even at low volume the haunting cries of "Help me...Help me" gave me the chills. A MUST SEE DF.

In a Montreal machine shop, scientist Andre Delambre (Al Hedison) is found crush to death with his wife Helene (Patricia Owens) at the controls. She calls to confess to his brother Francois (Vincent Price). With the head crushed, Francois identifies the body with a long scar on his leg. Helene's confession seems suspicious and Andre's basement lab is trashed. Helene seems obsessed with flies and Francois pretends to have captured a white-headed fly. Helene recounts the story to him and Inspector Charas. Andre had succeeded in making a teleportation device.

This is much better than a simple 50's B-movie. The story is actually quite compelling. The acting is relatively good. Vincent Price is playing it straight. The production looks good. The directions are a little stiff which is the style of the day. It is still the story that is so great and the reveal is absolutely iconic.

It's been said again and again that this is a good horror film. A Very Good film. But it is more than that.

I can still hear with my mind's ear (is that right?) the sound of the hydraulic press "WHUMP" and the echo. Then again that "WHUMP" ... is there another sound experience that reverberates through a movie like that?

Sure, surround sound, THX, all that tech stuff, but the sound as the manifestation of the crime that encircles this story, the horror as the mind tries to put together the images that (finally) is seen in a flashback as this scene bookends the start and "finish" of the plot.

The inner struggle of the scientist as he fights with his human hand to control the spasms of his "fly" arm is both horrible and heart-wrenching.

The shock as the cloth is torn away from the scientist's head... the fly's POV shot with facets and mirrors of the the screaming face of the scientist's poor wife! The scene at the spider's web as the shrill voice begs "help me... help me"

The horror of murder of a man/thing and a thing/man being shown and even compared in sharp (but obvious) dialogue.

You MUST see this and experience the earlier days of horror -when classics like this, like "The Thing From Another World," like "It, the Terror From Beyond Space" (the original model of Alien) exhibit a freshness and a palpable terror that remakes cannot capture, whatever wonderful special effects are thrown in to add to the creepiness. Sure these later gorefest horror films are good. I buy them all the time. But they are a different genre. The Fly with Vincent Price is NOT the same story as The Fly with Jeff Goldblum. It's not really a remake as a retelling.

See the original. It is rich with emotion and intelligence, not to mention some pretty fine acting for what was really a "B" movie.

The Fly tells the story of an eager scientist named Andre Delambre. He is happily married and has a son. He has the perfect suburban life. That all changes when he invents a device that can transport inanimate objects, but it has trouble transporting live matter. When he tries it on himself, a fly gets into the chamber with him, and their particles mix up giving Andre the head and arm of a fly, and giving the fly Andre's head and arm.

The Fly isn't an overly terrifying film, but the plot is really interesting. The film starts off as a murder mystery, and slowly evolves into a mix of sci fi and horror as we see the transformed Andre Delambre's mind slowly seep away while being replaced with the fly's. The make-up is really good for a 1950's movie, and it's almost believable that the scientist's head was replaced with a giant fly head.

The characters in the film are all portrayed by great actors of the time, such as David "Al" Hedison as Andre/The Fly and horror master Vincent Price as Andre's brother Francois. The Fly offers up good acting and a great plot and should be recognized for its artistic effect on movies. If you're looking for a classic to watch, pick this up.

7/10