The Fly (1986)

 

Genre: Horror/Sci-fi

Time: 1h 36mins

Director: David Cronenberg

EXPLICIT IMAGES

Quick Summary: A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

The special effects are really what holds this film up. I really liked that it slowly got grosser over time, and it also pushes it to the extreme. 

An interesting take which really paid off, in the end, is that it focuses on the romance plot between the two main characters. I liked this because it really makes you care for them. The Main character (Jeff Goldblum and his wonderful bug eye stare he had in this) goes through a horrible transformation that also has a lot of emotional depth to it.

Another interesting thing, the gore factor isn't really ramped up until the end and a few small scenes throughout the movie, otherwise it's actually really restrained. I liked this as well as that made the ending much more stomach-turning. There is one scene where a monkey goes through the teleporter, and comes out the other side which has its body turned inside out, but it's still alive somehow.

Jeff Goldblum was really good in this, the way he was able to mimic fly-like behaviour but as a human was so interesting, and to see him get more and more frantic and energetic. There are a few odd scenes in which I sat there and wondered why is this happening, like one where Jeff Goldblum performs a whole gymnastics routine which lasts a full three or four minutes which no dialogue.  

Going back to the romance plot. It did become hard to believe right near the end that the full transformation had happened and the main woman was still willing to be by his side. I guess that does show how much she truly loves him, and she could see that the main she loved was this mentally there. It was a bit heartbreaking. But at the same time, she was hugging him while parts of his body were falling off and he was throwing up acid every five minutes. 

An interesting take on transformation horror, and a good look into how far love can drive someone. The science side of things was really in-depth which I liked, although it was of its time so a lot of the information is really outdated and really unbelievable now compared to back then when it could have passed as believable. I liked how every part of the transformation was explained, like what is happening to his body, what it is for, what the fly needs it for, and why is his body now rejecting this part of the human anatomy. 

7/10

"I'm saying... I'm saying I - I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over... and the insect is awake."

" Are you a bodybuilder, or something?

Yeah, I build bodies. I take them apart and put them back together again."