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David Cronenberg's "The Fly" (1986)

BossLackey

BossLackey

Gold Member
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I love 80's horror movies, science fiction, and body horror and The Fly is brimming with all of these elements. I rewatch it at least once a year, but somehow my wife hadn't seen it. Watching it with her for her first time this last weekend and seeing it through her eyes just further cements this movie as one of my all-time favorites.

To me, The Fly is a perfect film. The pacing is impeccable. You start with the two main characters already speaking before quickly moving the plot forward when we see the "lab" for the first time. From then on, the movie is non-stop forward momentum. There's not an ounce of fat on it and it showcases some of the best editing I've seen, especially when accompanied by understated (yet equally brilliant!) cinematography.

Dr. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) has such a journey as a character. In a little over 90 minutes, he has an unforgettable arc containing half a dozen transitions from bookish shut-in and "sexy" confident scientist to superhuman and eventually full-blown Brundlefly.

The practical effects and body horror on display are famous in this movie. The slow transition from "huh, that's strange" to "dear LORD" disgustery by the end of the last act is masterclass stuff and the effects hold up SO well IMO (much like The Thing before). Geena Davis is absolutely paramount to selling the horrific imagery. There are several prolonged closeups of her reactions as she processes the images we've just seen and to me this is her finest role because of it. She sells it SO well and I can't say enough just how great she is. She amplifies these already uncomfortable scenes to even higher levels of horror and disgust. The tension and horror just ratchet up constantly and never stop until the credits roll.

I've subjected my wife to many horror movies, including body horror, and she was still uncomfortable the entire second half of the movie. This is as much of a comfort watch as it gets for me and will forever be one of my favorite pieces of art. Something about the short-story feel, the mad scientist motif, and the simplicity of the elements make it something that is incredibly inspiring as an artist.

They don't get much better than this.
 
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BossLackey

BossLackey

Gold Member
Werewolf Jones said:
Wish we got to see more of The Brundlefly fully realised.
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Agreed. Although I think it was best for the movie to keep it more mysterious and fleeting, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see a much longer version where his end-game (or one of many) could have been realized.
 
J

jason10mm

Gold Member
The Fly 2 is better....change my mind!

But yeah, the perfect example that a tight script, great actors, and unerring focus doesn't need a massive budget (9-15 mill in the 80's). I don't know what changed about the look (transition to video?) of stuff but so many low budget films from the 70's and 80's hold up while they can't now.
 
Mr Hyde

Mr Hyde

Member
"I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it, but now the dream is over, and the insect is awake."

This quote has always stuck with me. It's tragic and beautiful at the same time. The scene is heartbreaking as Brundle has come to terms that his humanity is gone and that he will hurt the person he loves the most. It's just a sad story all around. Not many horror movies have such good writing or as much heart as the Fly. It's why it's consistently ranked as one of the greats, in my opinion.
 
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Grildon Tundy

Grildon Tundy

Gold Member
I love this movie, and OP, you did a good job of explaining why I do. That in media res start really gives you juuuust a bit of "reality" as a base before it dives headfirst into the story proper, which shouldn't be relatable, but somehow endears sympathy. Like you said: there is no fat, and every scene is meaningful.

Something about David Cronenbergs movies are extra immersive to me. I think it's how well the worlds are fleshed out despite being unapologetically weird and alien. Like a David Lynch dreamscape if it actually had internally consistent logic.
 
Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Fun fact: As the film released during peak AIDS time in the 80s, Cronenberg was a bit obsessed and was "inspired" by it, showing a man's body slowly deteriorating and falling apart, much like how the virus itself attacks the body.
 
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BossLackey

BossLackey

Gold Member
Mr Hyde said:
"I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it, but now the dream is over, and the insect is awake."

This quote has always stuck with me. It's tragic and beautiful at the same time. The scene is heartbreaking as Brundle has come to terms that his humanity is gone and that he will hurt the person he loves the most. It's just a sad story all around. Not many horror movies have such good writing or as much heart as the Fly. It's why it's consistently ranked as one of the greats, in my opinion.
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One of my favorite movie quotes of all time. It's so haunting and something his character would absolutely say. The tragic acceptance and the immediate threat he poses right after saying it like he knows he won't be a person the second his sentence concludes. Amazing.
 
Power Pro

Power Pro

Member
As much as this version fucks me up with how gross it is...for some reason, the "help me" scene from the original still fucks with me more. I can't watch it, it freaks me the fuck out.
 
6502

6502

Member
One of the first vhs movies I owned as a kid. Great days when parents didn't know what age ratings were.

Watched it thousands of times, but that arm wrestling bit still turns my stomach.
 
ElRenoRaven

ElRenoRaven

Member
To this day this movie is amazing. Very underrated I feel when people talk about amazing movies from back then. As mentioned It's the superior version of The Fly.
 
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VulcanRaven

VulcanRaven

Member
jason10mm said:
Much like The Thing, The Fly is a remake so good it almost totally wipes the original from memory.

E6KbyDo.jpg
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I like the original more. That photo is actually from the sequel Return of the Fly. It wasn't in color and had worse special effects.
 
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AV

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Fantastic movie and Cronenberg's finest hour. Insane that a movie about a man turning into a fly can have such a tragic and heartbreaking final sequence. Really affected me.
 
INC

INC

Member
"The thing" gets all the practical fx praise, but to me, the fly is also right up there, and honestly more unsettling.
 
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wondermega

wondermega

Member
Really great film, mid-1980s was a peak of filmmaking which is pretty far away at this point. They were in a groove of doing remarkable sci-fi with strong actors, great practical effects, and outrageous (but usually not over-the-top) themes. What Hollywood output from the early 80s through the later part of the decade was irreplaceable, the 90s coasted off of these films but as CGI became more of a crutch/"draw" that cohesion fell further and further apart. Ah well, nothing lasts forever, but at least there is a remarkable catalog which we will have forever.

And not to sound too "old man yelling at cloud-y" but I don't doubt that we will see a similar resurgence at some point, as reliance on tech levels out/becomes mundane once again, and simple storytelling becomes a main focus out of necessity. Lots of interesting times to come..
 
mitch1971

mitch1971

Member
The bit that sticks in my head is the part where he eats like a fly. You hear the slurping and vomiting off scream.
 
J

jason10mm

Gold Member
wondermega said:
Really great film, mid-1980s was a peak of filmmaking which is pretty far away at this point. They were in a groove of doing remarkable sci-fi with strong actors, great practical effects, and outrageous (but usually not over-the-top) themes. What Hollywood output from the early 80s through the later part of the decade was irreplaceable, the 90s coasted off of these films but as CGI became more of a crutch/"draw" that cohesion fell further and further apart. Ah well, nothing lasts forever, but at least there is a remarkable catalog which we will have forever.

And not to sound too "old man yelling at cloud-y" but I don't doubt that we will see a similar resurgence at some point, as reliance on tech levels out/becomes mundane once again, and simple storytelling becomes a main focus out of necessity. Lots of interesting times to come..
Click to expand...
I really feel like CG is just too much of a crutch. There is NOTHING you can't do with CG, even if it's ultimately pretty dodgy, so there are no real limitations. But with practical effects there are limits, be it building a set, using matte paintings, props, stunts, or inserting an animated character or effect. These limitations drive creativity and, when stuff is present on set, INSPIRE creativity and authentic actor reactions that you just don't get when its a ping pong ball on a green stick. Soooo many shows these days have a few actors in an empty room pretending to be in a slightly more awesome but still empty room. Plus a lot of crap flies when it has the 'charm' of looking like an effect in ways CG just doesn't, hard to explain. Why is a bad puppet more "believable" than a low rez 90's and beyond CG animal? Uncanny valley?
 
wondermega

wondermega

Member
jason10mm said:
I really feel like CG is just too much of a crutch. There is NOTHING you can't do with CG, even if it's ultimately pretty dodgy, so there are no real limitations. But with practical effects there are limits, be it building a set, using matte paintings, props, stunts, or inserting an animated character or effect. These limitations drive creativity and, when stuff is present on set, INSPIRE creativity and authentic actor reactions that you just don't get when its a ping pong ball on a green stick. Soooo many shows these days have a few actors in an empty room pretending to be in a slightly more awesome but still empty room. Plus a lot of crap flies when it has the 'charm' of looking like an effect in ways CG just doesn't, hard to explain. Why is a bad puppet more "believable" than a low rez 90's and beyond CG animal? Uncanny valley?
Click to expand...

There's a lot to say, but without getting too involved - back in the day, ANY kind of FX were few and far between, so it was a pretty big deal when there was something going on (a special effect was truly special!) and it became a particularly iconic part of the movie. Otherwise, you'd spend most of the film watching people's heads talking to one another, or perhaps.. driving around in a car, talking to one another. CGI has leveled the playing field, so now instead of having like - 7 VFX shots in a film, there's like 500 (!!!!!) And each shot is tended to by an army of people, and exists with multiple variations for virtually infinite takes. By comparison, the White House explosion shot for Independence Day had 2 actual models built (in case they screwed it up and needed a backup).

Take the new Ant Man Quantumania film. Technically it is literally a marvel of modern filmmaking, each shot is utterly outrageous in design, scope, costuming, etc. I mean, on top of all of that, they threw Bill Murray in there for no other reason than THEY JUST COULD. Ant Man as a concept is still fascinating and the first film is somewhat memorable to me (the notion of a guy who can grow and shrink is still a pretty magical idea that's not been completely done to death in cinema) but this film, love it or hate it, was filled moment to moment with "ok.. we have basically an unlimited budget to do whatever the hell we want for every goddamn scene, so just go hog wild and give each of the umpteen departments a ton of massive hero shots strung together for the entire film, wrap it around a very loose and basic concept, make it kid friendly, GO!" Even the new Guardians movie feels guilty of quite a bit of this. And I don't think these trends will change anytime soon, as the wants and needs of the audience are pretty drastically different than they were 30,40 years ago.
 
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