The Fly (1986)

1986

Directed by David Cronenberg
Starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Round II of Love and Red Stuff, where we explore the connection between love and...um, death, I suppose.  It's as good of a theme as any.  Also, by my calculation, this review will get posted the day before Valentine's Day, so enjoy your heart-shaped review of The Fly, the certifiably awesome 1986 film about love and death.  That's right.  This was planned, people.  I had no idea that this movie was so beloved when I first saw it, but it's easy to see why.  In fact, I have it comfortably slotted at #2 on the all-time remake barometer behind only John Carpenter's redux of The Thing.

I get comments every so often about how good my recall is.  It's just one of those things that I've always been a natural with, and it definitely helps for reviews like this, because I can still remember the DAY that I first saw The Fly.  It was at the end of a particularly trying day of middle school where I had three tests and a boatload of algebra homework to do, and nothing seemed like a better capper for said day than a horror movie about a dude transforming into a giant fly.  Little did I know that this film would connect with me so much as a geeky eighth grader.  This movie is scary, yeah, but it's a lot more than that.  It's about isolation, changing, and eventual death.  If there is a middle schooler alive who wouldn't relate to that...well, you must be the greatest human being alive.  Sorry, folks, couldn't think of a punchline there.  The film was also a mammoth hit when it came out in 1986, with director David Cronenberg (the master of weird - seriously, look up this guy's filmography) shocking, sicking and emotionally walloping audiences and critics alike.  Today, the movie is still quite popular and has a substantial cult following.  So what is this legendary little legend about?  Well, let's get to it.

Meet Jeff Goldblum.  Specifically, Jeff Goldblum in 1986, fresh off the success of The Big Chill and before he would launch himself into stardom as everyone's favorite all-purpose movie oddball with Jurassic Park.  In this movie, Goldblum plays Seth Brundle, brilliant scientist who owns a sweet warehouse/loft where he keeps his prized possession.  More on that later.  As the movie opens, he meets science journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) and the two of them immediately hit it off.  Davis is also really good in this role, and the love story here comes off as quite genuine.  I don't know how many science journalists look like Geena Davis, but stick with me.

It isn't long until Brundle has taken Veronica back to his lair and shown her what he has been working on.  Teleporters.  He has two of them, but he still has difficulty with living beings, as shown by what happens when he tries to move a baboon from one pod to another.  Think that thing from Watchers times a thousand.  This is about where the character of Stathis Borans (John Getz) enters the fray, an old flame of Veronica's and also her former editor who really hates the presence of Seth in his ex's life.  The jealousy factor is what triggers Brundle to make his next move, transporting himself after making some tweaks to the pods...with a common everyday housefly in the pod, unbeknownst to our hero.  Oops.

I'd seen a decent amount of monster movies at the point in my life that I first caught this flick.  As such, I was expecting some good rampaging fly-monster action from this point forward.  What follows is something very different, and much better, frankly.  The script did a great job getting us emotionally invested in these characters from this point forward - and it continues to do so!  Amazingness!  Slowly but surely, Seth begins transforming.  First, he's just much more jumpy and emotional.  Then he notices freakish human strength and sexual energy.  Then he starts losing fingernails.  Then vomiting digestive enzymes.  Yeah.  The movie is REALLY realistic and detailed when it comes to Brundle turning into "Brundlefly" (as he dubs himself), all with Veronica looking on with horror.  I should also point out that Veronica has learned by now that she is pregnant, which gives us what I deem to be the scariest nightmare scene in movie history.  No spoilers here if you haven't seen it.

In order for a horror movie to be, you know, horror, people have to die.  Or at least get severely injured.  Those are the official rules that I came up with just now, and I'm sticking to them, dammit.  Well, The Fly is a horror movie - even more so than the Vincent Price original that I actually just saw for the first time a year ago.  Case in point: the final trimester of the movie, as Brundlefly abducts Veronica after finding out that she plans to abort the baby and brings her back to his lab, with Stathis in hot pursuit (huh-kuh-kuh-kuh).  It's emotional, it's brutal, and it's...pretty stomach-churning.  If you've got a weak tolerance for gore, this is probably a movie to avoid, because there's some disgusting stuff to be had.  Advance warning.

This movie is good.  Like, really good.  As far as remakes go, it's pretty much the gold standard.  I enjoyed the 1958 film for what it was, but it can't hold a candle to what Cronenberg and screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue were able to conjure up here.  They took that basic concept and framework that was provided and just totally let their imaginations run wild, and the result is definitely a labor of love that has stood the test of time.  The special effects are also ungodly; the transformation of Brundle to Brundlefly is especially some amazing stuff, starting off with your basic household rash and eventually winding up at full-on Freddy Krueger-esque hideousness.  Yikes.

More than anything though, this is definitely still Jeff Goldblum's movie.  People slather on the praise for how good he was in this, and every bit of it is deserved.  In the hands of somebody else, the role probably could have been laughable, but Goldblum's natural weirdness an eccentricity actually made this guy likable.  Even a little pitiful, at times, as he spits out lines buried behind something like 97 pounds of makeup.  Because of Goldblum, this movie hooks you and doesn't let go for all 95 brisk minutes.

No surprises here.  This movie gets a **** out of ****, bah Gawd!  You guys know that I don't pass around the "Must-See" moniker very often, but a horror movie about love that manages to repulse you at the same time?  Tell me you're not curious.