Pros: Perhaps David Cronenberg's most human story to date, The Fly still manages to examine all of the standard Croneberg themes. Couple this with a great cast, and a solid score, and you've got another example of why horror remakes are often preferable sequels
Cons: Since the source material isn't his own, the film seems a little less Cronenberg than some of the other films in his filmography
The Fly (1986): Brooksfilms/ 20th Century Fox Rating: USA: R/ UK: 18/ Australia: R
This review is part of a write-off covering David Cronenberg’s The Fly put together by Pyallen and Knix. Other participants include: SqueenbinatorX, tattooedjedi, NealGoodAll, artbyjude, queenlyssa, mrsgrimm, redwolfoz, Grouch, brundledan, logster55, hearseman, megasoul, stone77777, fdknight, memento-mori, rfr, psychovant, and mangiotto. Please be sure to teleport on over to their reviews once you’re through here. Now, onto the review…
Once again proving my notion that horror film remakes are often preferable to sequels (see my review of John Carpenter’s 1982 remake of The Thing for further support) is David Cronenberg’s 1986 film The Fly—an updating of the 1958 version directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Vincent Price.
Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum: Jurassic Park, Mr. Frost) is a scientist working on a device that will change the world—a system of pods that will allow a person or object to be teleported from one place to another, almost instantly. While hanging out at one of those dreadfully boring dinner parties, he meets reporter Ronnie (Geena Davis: Long Kiss Goodnight)—and convinces her to come and check out his masterwork. At first, Ronnie plans to break the story of Brundle’s discovery in a prominent science journal (despite Brundle’s dismay)—however, Seth soon convinces her that she should document his work until it’s completed—and sell a book with the details behind one of mankind’s greatest inventions when he’s finished.
Ronnie likes this idea, and she begins spending a great deal of time with Seth, which eventually leads to romance. Seth’s keeps working on the project, but he can’t teleport any living thing without it being turned inside out by the teleporters. Simply put, he doesn’t understand enough about the flesh (Warning! Recurring Cronenberg theme). Luckily for him, he’s got Ronnie around—and she manages to teach him all about the flesh. This eventually leads to the breakthrough that Seth needed, as he successfully teleports a living baboon…life is good. But nothing in film can ever be too good (or else movies would be boring) and this newfound bliss is disturbed by Ronnie’s ex—magazine editor Stathis Borans (John Getz: Blood Simple). Depressed over the fact that he thinks Ronnie’s still seeing Stathis, Seth decides to teleport himself. Little does he know that he’s not along in the pod—a fly has gone in with him—and when the computer becomes confused about how to recombine the two distinctly different objects, it simply decides to fuse them at the molecular level…crossing Brundle with a common house fly.
Both films were based on a story by George Langelaan, but here Cronenberg and fellow writer Charles Edward Pogue twist that source material and give it a distinctly Cronenbergian feel. Almost all of Cronenberg’s work has dealt with the recurring themes of bodily betrayal from within, ideas on the nature of mutation, cancer, the malleability of the flesh, etc.—and this film is no different. Here, Seth endures a massive metamorphosis (nearly Kafka-esque in nature) as he slowly de-evolves from a human being into some sort of weird human-fly hybrid (the Brundlefly). We’re treated to countless scenes that showcase the changes going on both physiologically (we see Seth lose his ear, his teeth, and more--as well as his medicine cabinet, where he stores all the ‘ancient artifacts’ of who he used to be) and psychologically (we watch Seth basically go through the 12 step program—everything from denial, anger, resignation on through to acceptance). It’s both touching and disturbing—sometimes at the same instance.
However, anyone who would tell you that this film is a horror film is off the mark. At its core, The Fly is more of a romance (with a potential love triangle), or a domestic drama (particularly in the third act where an unwanted pregnancy creates tension) or even one of those melodramatic dying young type films (wherein one person in a relationship succumbs to a deadly disease) than an out and out genre film. Sure, Cronenberg dresses it up so that it appeals to his core audience, but the horror and sci-fi trappings are only of secondary importance to the relationships between the characters and how they cope with these events. For much of the film, the horror tends to stem more from the horror of the situation (watching Seth disintegrate and wondering how we’d deal with the same situation) than out and out gore (although, to be fair, Seth gets progressively more gruesome looking as the film progresses—and that whole ‘puking on his food’ thing is pretty gross too).
Of course, that’s not to imply that Cronenberg skimps on the gross stuff here—because he doesn’t. Chris Walas and crew won an Academy Award for the make-up work in this film, and with good reason—it’s still impressive almost 15 years later. Much like Rob Bottin’s work on The Thing, the FX creations for The Fly helped push the boundaries of what was possible with latex, air bladders, and Karo syrup. The degeneration of Seth Brundle is repulsive, particularly his final transformation at the film’s climax. The scenes where he vomits his acidic bile on one character’s hand and foot is wonderfully disgusting and perhaps the film’s most memorable sequence (at least for me—anytime someone mentions this film, that scene’s the first thing I think of). Gore fans may find the early parts of this film slow going, but rest assured, it gets better.
Still, the real reason this film works is because the cast is so good. Goldblum turns in what is easily one of his best performances ever. He and Davis fell in love while making this film, and that only adds to the onscreen chemistry between the two—and ultimately works to make the film even stronger as the emotional bond between the two characters seems incredibly genuine. John Getz also turns in a fine performance—at first you think you’re going to wind up hating Stathis, but as the film progresses, you come to realize that he’s not only a good guy, but that he also really does love Ronnie. To get even one performance of this high a caliber in a genre film is a rare thing, but to get three is something truly extraordinary—and it’s a large part of why this film is so good. Also, astute film fans will catch Cronenberg himself in a brief cameo as a delivery room doctor.
Another reason it’s so good is because of the score, which was composed by long time Cronenberg associate Howard Shore. Shore’s score here is some of his best work—majestic and profound when the scene calls for it, yet quiet and subversive at other times. Each piece fits the mood of the scene it’s used in perfectly—never overwhelming the visuals or the actors, but always helping to establish the mood.
And finally, there’s David Cronenberg’s direction. Cronenberg is certainly one of the best, most consistent directors working in the genre. Upon reflection, I think one could make the case for most of Cronenberg’s films having an almost clinical approach in terms of filmmaking—the thematic issues of bodily betrayal seem to lend themselves quite easily to this somewhat cold and detached examination. However, I find that The Fly might be the most personal (at least in being more human and not so detached in their approach—I still find that The Brood is the most personal in relation to Cronenberg’s own life) of his movies—mainly because the relationships between the characters seem to garner more attention than the disease/decay issues. The flesh is still here (and figures into the film just as prominently as it does in other Cronenberg movies such as Videodrome) yet there’s an actual warmth and humanity to the story, the way the characters interact, and the filmmaking.
In the end, The Fly is another genre remake that exceeds the source material that inspired it. Cronenberg brings his own unique vision and issues to the table here and essentially recreates the original film. Couple the distinctive Cronenberg style with a rock solid cast, a good script, and some great FX work, and you get a film that is, at the very least, a cult classic. The Fly stands as one of my favorite David Cronenberg films—and with a filmography that includes unmitigated classics like Videodrome and Dead Ringers, that’s high praise, indeed.
Seth Brundle, a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife by offering her a scoop on his latest resea...More at Buy.com
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