The Fly
| Year: | 1986 |
| Production Co: | Brooksfilms |
| Studio: | 20th Century Fox |
| Director: | David Cronenberg |
| Producer: | Mel Brooks |
| Writer: | David Cronenberg |
| Cast: | Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis |
Still one of Cronenberg's best movies, if only because it's a lot more accessible than most of his films, keeping the mind-bending auteur stuff to a minimum and telling us a cool horror story with great effects.
In hindsight, his obsession with the fusion between flesh and technology made Cronenberg the perfect director to bring The Flyback to the screen in glorious, gory colour after a break of over thirty years.
The remake of the slightly cheesy original shows Seth Brundle (Goldblum), a scientist who's perfected a teleportation system that transports matter between two scary-looking pods.
When he shows it off to science journalist Veronica (Davis, his wife at the time), she's intrigued enough to follow his progress and end up in bed with him after watching the project progress.
The only snag is transporting live tissue - as shown in grotesque glory by the baboon sequence - it tends to reintegrate living beings inside out.
When Brundle finally thinks he's perfected the process, he tests it on himself one night in a drunken, jealous rage as Veronica tries to dispense with the ghost of a love affair with her editor.
All would have gone well if not for the common housefly that gets shuts in with Brundle. Not knowing what to make of it, the computers reintegrate him with the fly in his DNA, kicking off one of the grossest and most memorable monster transformations in movie history.
Goldblum is tailor made for the role as he invokes the tics, splutters and mannerisms of a man (no, I've got no idea why it seems so spot on - it's not like anyone's ever going to see it) slowly turning into a fly.
Apparently debilitating sickness gives way to extraordinary powers, and finally to terror. Goldblum brings the character to life in a way the script never could alone, and the result is a horror sci-fi gem. Very bizarrely, produced by comedy maestro Mel Brooks.
In hindsight, his obsession with the fusion between flesh and technology made Cronenberg the perfect director to bring The Flyback to the screen in glorious, gory colour after a break of over thirty years.
The remake of the slightly cheesy original shows Seth Brundle (Goldblum), a scientist who's perfected a teleportation system that transports matter between two scary-looking pods.
When he shows it off to science journalist Veronica (Davis, his wife at the time), she's intrigued enough to follow his progress and end up in bed with him after watching the project progress.
The only snag is transporting live tissue - as shown in grotesque glory by the baboon sequence - it tends to reintegrate living beings inside out.
When Brundle finally thinks he's perfected the process, he tests it on himself one night in a drunken, jealous rage as Veronica tries to dispense with the ghost of a love affair with her editor.
All would have gone well if not for the common housefly that gets shuts in with Brundle. Not knowing what to make of it, the computers reintegrate him with the fly in his DNA, kicking off one of the grossest and most memorable monster transformations in movie history.
Goldblum is tailor made for the role as he invokes the tics, splutters and mannerisms of a man (no, I've got no idea why it seems so spot on - it's not like anyone's ever going to see it) slowly turning into a fly.
Apparently debilitating sickness gives way to extraordinary powers, and finally to terror. Goldblum brings the character to life in a way the script never could alone, and the result is a horror sci-fi gem. Very bizarrely, produced by comedy maestro Mel Brooks.