The Fly (1986)

The Fly (1986)
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Genna Davis, John Getz
Memorable line(s): "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Director Cronenberg decides to re-make the sc-fi- horror classic The Fly (starring Vincent Price) and Cronenberg clearly puts his own stamp on this version. Albeit, a more engaging and gross stamp.

The Plot of The Fly
Seth Brundle (Goldblum) is a scientist attempting the unattainable -- teleportation. Completely convinced, when no one else is, that he can make teleportation a reality, the only interest he garners is from a lone reporter (Davis). As she delves deeper into the story, she becomes romantically involved with Brundle.

Working alone, Brundle has a huge breakthrough and decides it's time for the ultimate test -- teleporting himself. The only problem is that the teleportation process must be pure and his ultimate test is spoiled when a fly enters one of his telepods, causing a genetic fusing of man and insect to disastrous results. Initially, Brundle emerges from the experiment with amazing powers that develop more each day until they start to devolve -- or evolve as Brundle becomes less man and more fly.

The Performances, Writing and Direction of the The Fly
Goldblum's casting seems to be an effort of working against type, but it's this choice and his quirky style that gives the character of Brundle a believability and energy that is both engaging and wins us to the movie. In many ways, Davis is given a thankless role as the supportive and earnest reporter/girlfriend.

The script is a total re-working of the initial film and works quite well, seemingly only using the only using the original movie as inspiration. Brundle has facets and the script displays a deftness with dialog that fits Goldblum's performance accordingly.

Cronenberg has his roots in low budget horror, but his films have always been more thoughtful than the typical monster/slasher movies and The Fly is no exception. Intelligent and sometimes funny, Cronenberg makes The Fly stand out from what could have been a man becomes monster film.

Summary Judgment on The Fly
Some will say that The Fly devolved into a gross out flick about two-thirds into the movie and the special effects are quite graphic and shocking, but there's more to the film than just that. Goldblum makes the Brundle character quite convincing and Cronenberg delivers both the intelligent and visceral and graphic details to make The Fly an enjoyable movie for those who like some depth to their horror films and those that want some gore.