La maledizione della mosca

I saw this as a kid and had read that it was the worst of the series. I don't think so! This one is the scariest, weirdest, most atmospheric and most unsettling of the FLY series. I think that if this film wasn't having to be compared to the first two, it would be more highly spoken of. The scene where the heroine discovers just who (or what) is playing the piano in the middle of the night sent chills up my spine. This film has enough ghoulish imagery that really stays with you long after you've seen it (and for me it's been over 20 years). The opening escape scene is ahead of it's time with the mental patient running in slow motion with the title credits over it. Some of the mutants are very quite disturbing to look at and there are plot twists and turns applenty. Basically, no one is safe or sacred in this dark final film in the series. I could talk more but I would spoil it for those who have never seen it. It used to be on television frequently but has now disappeared. However, it's well worth the trouble of finding it. This has the mark of a truly great horror film - it will continue to live in your memory long after your initial viewing. I am wishing for a DVD of it someday. The sad part is that it is the unfavorable comparisons to the original on the part of most critics that probably keep Fox from releasing a video of it. Let's hope they wise up and preserve it on disc before the negative is destroyed. That would be an un-fitting end for CURSE OF THE FLY which is an unsung masterpiece of a horror film.

One of the best horror movies of the 50s is without a doubt the 1958 version of "The Fly", the story of a scientist who gets fused with a common fly when a experiment goes awfully wrong. Directed by Kurt Neumann and starring David Hedison and Vincent Price, "The Fly" went on to become an enormous hit thanks to its effective mix of mystery, suspense and horror. As usual, to the surprising success of "The Fly" followed the making of a sequel, "Return of the Fly", released immediately the following year and with Price reprising his role. However, the change of focus from suspense to shock and horror, together with the rushed shooting and the low-budget made "Return of the Fly" an inferior product that did nothing but give a bad reputation to the series. This reputation extended to the third and final film, 1965's "Curse of the Fly", which is often labeled unfairly as "one of the bad sequels" when actually, it is a minor jewel of science fiction.

"Curse of the Fly" follows once again, Henri Delambre (Brian Donlevy), who despite having been almost destroyed by his father Teleportation machine in his youth, he has spent his life continuing his father's work. Now he has his two sons working with him, and the Delambres have finally achieved transatlantic Teleportation, with Martin Delambre (George Baker) coordinating the Canadian side and Albert Delambre (Michael Graham) the British side. However, not everything is going well for the Delambres, as after a series of disastrous failures both Martin and Albert are disenchanted with the project and are willing to start a normal life. Henri's experiments will become endangered once again when Martin marries Pat Stanley (Carole Gray), as the newly arrived bride has secrets of her own that could unleash the curse of the Delambres, the curse of the Fly.

Writer Harry Spalding does a terrific job in bringing back the series to its original themes of mystery and suspense, and while he downplays horror in favor of sci-fi, the story carries an appropriate feeling of doom. Spalding's script is very respectful of the themes exposed in George Langelaan's original short story, and unlike "Return of the Fly", it recaptures the Gothic atmosphere of the original movie and manages to tie in everything exposed in the previous films and give a proper conclusion to the Delambres' saga. The addition of an element of madness to the story is really clever, and allowed director Don Sharp some chilling scenes. As the backbone of the movie, it is truly Spalding's script what separates "Curse of the Fly" from other b-movies of its time, and returns the series to its former glory, at least for a last dance.

Better known for his work with Hammer Studios, director Don Sharp took the job of bringing Spalding's script to life while he was still at the top of his game. Already familiar with low-budget conditions of work, Sharp hides his monsters in the shadows and employs atmosphere and music to create the horrors of the Delambres' house, and by doing this not only his monsters become more realistic and menacing, he also returns to the series' roots by focusing the horror in the unknown and the unseen. Basil Emmott's excellent cinematography is of great importance for this, as paired with Bert Shefter's eerie score create an ominous atmosphere of dread that suits the Gothic style of the series to perfection. In many ways, "Curse of the Fly" feels like a science fiction version of those low-budget Hammer thrillers of the 60s like "Nightmare" or "Paranoiac".

Being produced in the United Kingdom, "Curse of the Fly" showcases a lot of British talent in its cast, which overall means a significant improvement over "Return of the Fly". Brian Donlevy of "Quatermass" fame appears as the aging Henri Delambre, who despite all the tragedies he has lived insist in fulfilling his father's dream. Donlevy's performance as the tragic scientist is quite subtle, yet of great power. George Baker is for the most part effective, and even when at times appear a bit wooden he manages to carry the film without problems. As the troubled Pat Stanley, Carole Gray delivers probably the best performance of the film, giving a very natural performance in her role. The performances by the supporting cast are nothing special, but most make a good job with their roles. Burt Kwouk and Yvette Rees do have some quite good scenes as the Asian servants Tai and Wan.

As often happens with sequels, low-budgets can really become the Achilles' heel of a movie, and "Curse of the Fly" is no exception. While Don Sharp does a great job into hiding it during most of the movie, it is impossible not to notice that the make-up work in the movie is pretty bad and probably the worst thing in the film. Also due to budgetary constrains, the designs for the Teleportation machines look sadly poor and even anachronistic (they look like something out of a 50s film), cheapening some of the film's best scenes. Still, thanks to the high quality of Spalding's screenplay, most of those quibbles can be easily ignored as the film's story is simply captivating. The masterful direction by Don Sharp also helps in this as for the most part he manages to disguise the movie's flaws.

Often dismissed as another cheesy horror from the 60s, "Curse of the Fly" is actually a fine piece of cinema that ultimately redeems the series in this the last chapter of the saga. One would have wished a better budget for this story, as the epic tragedy of "The Fly" is ended in an amazing fashion here. However, Don Sharp really made wonders with what he got (a true trademark of a Hammer alumni) and delivered a product worth of praise. While of course not as good as Neumann's classic, "Curse of the Fly" is definitely an unfairly hidden gem of science fiction. 7/10

You can tell you are not in the 1950s anymore as the film opens with a salacious scene. The lovely and sultry Carol Grey wriggles out a window in her white nylon bra and panties under a very reflective full moon. She runs away in slow motion giving the leering audience every possible angle of her shapely buttocks jiggling down the lawn. Not only was this an obvious pandering but a significant step away from 50's button-down, pearl necklace sensibilities. She runs away from a lunatic asylum to be picked up by a scientist (who obviously had more sex in mind than good samaritan). Unfortunately he's part of the experiments started in the Fly.

Vincent Price is not in this Fly film since by this time he was under contract to another studio. However, I found this film to be better than its reputation. The Delambres, despite what has happened in the two previous films, have continued to experiment with the teleporter. The result has been more subtle but just has horrific. Now the Delambres are a family with various physical and mental ailments that are in danger of disintegration if an answer cannot be found. Oddly enough, after all the tragedy, they still think the answer to their troubles is the the teleporter. Many people don't like this film because it is quite a departure from the first two, but I think that is its strength.

The production code may not be dead at this point, but it is on life support. Plus this film was made in the UK and not subject to the old production code anyways. Probably worth a look if you liked the first two.

1965's "Curse of the Fly" was a Robert L. Lippert production from the same team responsible for Lon Chaney's 1964 "Witchcraft," a genuinely well crafted script by Harry Spalding directed with real flair by Don Sharp following his Hammer entries "The Kiss of the Vampire" and "The Devil-Ship Pirates," and soon to kick off Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu series. The lack of a similar human creature with fly head may have contributed to its relative failure, at the box office as well as audience interest, but it turns out to be a return to the increased human drama that was such a standout feature of Kurt Neumann's 1958 original, kicking off with a striking opening in slow motion, shattered glass emerging from the broken window of a mental institution and the escape of Carole Gray's Patricia Stanley clad only in her underwear. Running down the dark road in full view of motorists, it's not long before George Baker's Martin Delambre picks her up and takes her to Montreal, a whirlwind romance resulting in a quickie marriage before returning to the country estate owned by his father Henri (top billed Brian Donlevy). Husband and wife also happen to be keeping secrets from each other, she a concert pianist who suffered a nervous breakdown at the sudden death of her demanding mother, he and his London brother Albert (Michael Graham) the offspring of the former Philippe from "Return of the Fly," the renamed Henri now an elderly man more obsessed than ever in continuing the teleportation methods begun by his late father, two lab assistants plus Martin's first wife all failed monstrosities locked away in outdoor cells. Henri's once happy ending in the second sequel was merely temporary, the fly genes making their presence felt by their relatively brief lifespans, Martin suffering from a condition of rapid aging requiring an injection of a special serum to keep him alive, a fate the normal Albert was fortunately spared. Patricia sees her disfigured predecessor playing piano in the middle of the night, wonders if she's losing her sanity all over again, Henri dissuading Martin from revealing the terrible truth to the new arrival until his love for her forces his hand. With the police investigation tightening like a noose around their necks, Henri has his staff set out to destroy every trace of evidence, but after two subjects are reintegrated together into one formless, inhuman blob, Albert takes matters into his own hands to cut off their London destination. Those who dismiss this sequel for its British origins must take into account the Canadian setting for all three titles, a long neglected gem for viewers who had little opportunity to see it. The role of Henri was written for Claude Rains, Brian Donlevy a weak substitute on wobbly alcoholic legs, ten years after his forceful rendition of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass in both "The Quatermass Xperiment" and "Quatermass 2," while returning from "Witchcraft" is the witch herself, Yvette Rees, a Barbara Steele lookalike here made up in stereotypical Asian as Wan, wife of Burt Kwouk's Tai (Tai-Wan?), her mission to terrorize the second wife in defense of the first.

The Curse of the Fly is the third and the worst of the three Fly movies. This was made in Britain in 1965, six years after The Return of the Fly and has very little to do with the first two Fly movies.

The son of the original inventor of the transportation machine is continuing with his experiments and as a result of these, he has created mutants which he is keeping locked up in his mansion. At the end, the transporter is destroyed.

Despite this movie being rather disappointing, it has a decent cast: Brian Donlevy (The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass 2), George Baker (Inspecter Wexford in The Ruth Rendall Mysteries), Carole Gray (Island of Terror) and Burt Kwouk (who can currently be seen in Last of the Summer Wine).

Despite the above, Curse of the Fly is not totally unwatchable.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5.