The Fly(David Cronenberg, 1986)
4 Stars
“Be afraid, be very afraid” audiences were warned as they swarmed to David Cronenberg’s horror hit The Fly, and in a time of scientific exploration and somewhat of an obsession with the idea of teleportation, Brooksfilms hit it big with a gory remake of the classic bug-fest of the same name.
The Fly is the good old-fashioned story of boy meets girl, love ensues and boy turns bad. But the boy here is not your everyman; he is in fact scientific prodigy Seth Brundle (the ever enthralling Jeff Goldblum – Jurassic Park, The Big Chill, etc…), who has just created a machine capable of teleporting matter from one place to another. Step in reporter Geena Davis (Beetle Juice, Thelma and Louise), who whilst writing a report on Brundle’s discovery finds herself falling for his nerdy charms.
Of course, everything goes pear shaped (or indeed fly-shaped) when Brundle attempts to use the machine on himself, accidentally fusing his genetic makeup with that of a rogue fly that has entered the transportation pod with him. Brundle’s subsequent deterioration into the fly-beast “BrundleFly” sets us on a terrifying and nauseating examination on exactly what it means to be a man and what it means to harbour a monster within.
Both Goldblum and Davis deliver stellar performances, with Goldblum truly making one sympathise with his condition, yet causing sheer horror when the moment calls for it. The scene in which we see his ever-growing collection of dismembered body parts is one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve witnessed in a long time. And I watched Turtles III the other week. John Getz (Zodiac, Curly Sue) as Davis’ love-scorned boss creates in the audience a wonderful blend of hatred and compassion as he falls victim to the monstrous BrundleFly.
The Oscar winning special effects are as frightening today as they were a quarter of a century ago, and the fate of the kind hearted but ambitious scientist is a true Icarus tale for the modern age, cautioning us that no matter man or insect, no-one should try to fly too close to the sun.
“Be afraid, be very afraid” audiences were warned as they swarmed to David Cronenberg’s horror hit The Fly, and in a time of scientific exploration and somewhat of an obsession with the idea of teleportation, Brooksfilms hit it big with a gory remake of the classic bug-fest of the same name.
The Fly is the good old-fashioned story of boy meets girl, love ensues and boy turns bad. But the boy here is not your everyman; he is in fact scientific prodigy Seth Brundle (the ever enthralling Jeff Goldblum – Jurassic Park, The Big Chill, etc…), who has just created a machine capable of teleporting matter from one place to another. Step in reporter Geena Davis (Beetle Juice, Thelma and Louise), who whilst writing a report on Brundle’s discovery finds herself falling for his nerdy charms.
Of course, everything goes pear shaped (or indeed fly-shaped) when Brundle attempts to use the machine on himself, accidentally fusing his genetic makeup with that of a rogue fly that has entered the transportation pod with him. Brundle’s subsequent deterioration into the fly-beast “BrundleFly” sets us on a terrifying and nauseating examination on exactly what it means to be a man and what it means to harbour a monster within.
Both Goldblum and Davis deliver stellar performances, with Goldblum truly making one sympathise with his condition, yet causing sheer horror when the moment calls for it. The scene in which we see his ever-growing collection of dismembered body parts is one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve witnessed in a long time. And I watched Turtles III the other week. John Getz (Zodiac, Curly Sue) as Davis’ love-scorned boss creates in the audience a wonderful blend of hatred and compassion as he falls victim to the monstrous BrundleFly.
The Oscar winning special effects are as frightening today as they were a quarter of a century ago, and the fate of the kind hearted but ambitious scientist is a true Icarus tale for the modern age, cautioning us that no matter man or insect, no-one should try to fly too close to the sun.
The Fly II(Chris Wallas, 1989)
2.5 Stars
And so we move to the second instalment. I shan’t hark on about horror sequels. I’ve done that enough of late. And although The Fly II certainly doesn’t deliver to the standard of, say, Aliens, it doesn’t do too bad a job of living up to its predecessor’s name. Sure, it’s by no means a patch on the original, and not maintaining any of the former cast doesn’t help, but there’s a flicker of a candle there nonetheless.
The story begins pretty much exactly where the first movie left off; Geena Davis’ character (no longer played by Geena Davis in the three seconds she’s actually in the film) gives birth to the son of BrundleFly (a maggot that for some reason immediately sheds its skin and becomes a baby boy), dying in the process. The child, thereafter named Martin, is taken into the care of pharmaceutical tycoon Anton Bartok (Lee Richardson). Within days, the child begins to exhibit signs of rapid growth, and by the age of five he has become a fully grown adult (Chicago Hope veteran Eric Stoltz).
Martin soon falls for a young lab technician (Daphne Zuniga, doing her very best impression of Geena Davis) and uncovers the sinister truth behind the experiments that his surrogate father has been running on him. He escapes from the facility, only to begin degenerating into the fly creature that his father before him had become. Then cue the beastly rampage. It’s all a bit daft, but it makes sense in the context of the first movie, and is a noble enough attempt to continue the story.
Once again, the special effects are top notch, with BrundleFly V2.0 perhaps even better than the first incarnation. The problem is the characters are kind of naff really… The acting is mediocre at best, so any subtleties the writers had perhaps been going for are rather lost. And, as mentioned, the story is a little all over the place.
The first movie was, at heart, a tragic love story. The second attempts to emulate this, but unfortunately we just don’t care enough about the characters. The young actors who play Martin in his early years do a great job of building the character, but alas, the adult Martin is not a patch on his father. His plight just seems a little dull… “Oh, well, I’m a fly. Ho hum”. But let’s face it, Goldblum leaves some pretty big shoes to fill.
In all, The Fly II delivers exactly what one would expect from a decent stab at a sequel; it builds on the mythology in a logical and believable way (at least as believable as can be in a movie about a mutant fly…), and tries to give us a bolder, brassier version of the original. Unfortunately, something Hollywood has taught us, but never seems to learn itself is that unless you’re Coppolla, a sequel just ain’t worth it. Fact.
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