L'esperimento del dottor K.

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.

A slick, clever, engaging and unique (if a bit slow-paced at first) sci-fi story. Although the special effects leave something to be desired, especially if you've seen the incredible (and incredibly nauseating) images of the 1986 remake, the film's restrained approach to horror can be very pleasurable if you get used to it, and the script is stronger and more character-driven than the one of Cronenberg's version. A surprisingly good film. (***)

The "help me, help meeeee" scene revolted and scared me so much as a young child that it was years before I could see this movie again. Even now I cringe when I witness that nightmarish scene. As good as Cronenberg's movie is (and it is very good), there is nothing that surpasses the delirious horror of the man-fly in the spider's grasp.

Elsewhere, the movie is rather subdued. In some spots, almost too much so. Although the first revelation of The Fly's appearance is another classic spot...the multiple reflections was a great touch. Like all great monsters, the Fly has a very sympathetic edge to it. We are revolted by the horror of this monster but we feel overwhelming pity for him as well.

Vincent Price does a workman-like job in a rather blasé part. Usually he adds a special touch to a film, but really, any number of actors could have played his part here.

The scientific basis of this movie is pure rubbish, as there is no way that insect and human parts could biologically interact with each other. The result of such a mixture would be instantly dead in real life.

But that doesn't matter here. A nightmare has its own logic. And "The Fly" is a nightmare.

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!

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.