Classic Horror: The Fly (1986)

“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

George Langelaan crafted a twisted short story in 1957 in which a brilliant scientist builds machines that he dubs disintegrator-reintegrators that allow him to transport things from one unit to the other similar to the way that the transporter beams are used on Star Trek (which debuted almost a decade later in 1966). When the scientist decides to test the unit on himself, a fly sneaks into the pod with him and the two swap atoms, with the scientist acquiring the head and one arm of the fly and vice versa. As the story continues, the scientist’s wife convinces him to try reversing the transport, only to have the family cat’s atoms join the man/fly composite. Ultimately the scientist gets his wife to assist him in suicide and she is taken away to an asylum for being criminally insane.

That short story, The Fly, received the cinematic treatment in 1958 in a film adaptation by the same name. It made Vincent Price a horror star and would spawn two sequels. Almost thirty years after its original publication, the short story returned to the big screen in a film that many consider superior to the original film. 1986’s The Fly starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis (who were dating at the time and eventually married) and was a box office success. It was loosely based upon Langelaan’s story and updated to modern times.

In the film, scientist Seth Brundle (Goldblum) has developed pods that allow him to teleport objects between them. He is only successful with inanimate objects at first, but after meeting reporter Veronica Quaife (Davis), he begins actively attempting to teleport living things. Ultimately Seth uses the pods on himself and a fly slips into the pod with him. After successfully teleporting, Seth begins to feel stronger, craves sugar, displays amazing athletic abilities, and begins exhibiting fly-like behaviors. His sex drive becomes inhuman, driving away Veronica when she becomes tired of his erratic behavior. He attempts to force her into the pods thinking that she’ll have increased abilities like his, but she runs away. Angry, Seth seeks out another woman to share his abilities with and eventually coaxes a woman up to his laboratory for a one night stand hoping that she’ll get into the pod afterwards. Veronica shows up just in time to save the woman.

As the story continues, Seth begins to become even more fly-like, vomiting on his food in order to digest and becoming more primal in his behavior. He realizes what has happened to him and decides to filter out the fly DNA with new human DNA. Specifically, he wants to fuse his DNA with Veronica’s and their unborn child, as Veronica has recently found out that she is pregnant. Going insane, Seth kidnaps Veronica and attempts to fuse with her. Does he succeed? What happens to the baby? You’ll have to watch The Fly to find out!

Director David Cronenberg crafted this film with perfection. Not only does it feature a small but brilliant cast, it also features amazing special effects and tons of gore that actually tell a story. What I mean by that is that the gore isn’t there just to disgust the viewer. Yes, it’s unsettling to watch at times, but the gore helps the viewer see Seth’s spiral into insanity and his physical transformation as well. The film is both terrifying and heartbreaking as well. Seth and Veronica have a somewhat whirlwind relationship, but it’s obvious that they love one another. Geena Davis does an amazing job of conveying her emotions to the viewer and Jeff Goldblum ramps up his primal behaviors as the film plays out on the screen. It’s an excellent film and a true 1980’s classic horror film.

The film was highly praised for its effects and visuals. In fact, the film received an Academy Award for Best Makeup which was handled by Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis. The film was a box office hit and became Cronenberg’s biggest film financially. The movie also spawned a sequel that starred Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga.

With brilliant effects and a wonderful story, I highly recommend The Fly. I hope you enjoyed my look back at this brilliant film and I also hope that you check it out if you haven’t seen it yet. Thanks for reading my post. See you again soon!