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3. The Fly (1986 / 91 points)
Directed by: David Cronenberg / Screenplay: Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg
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Why Its Significant - Part of a small trend in the 80s of remaking 50s sci-fi horror films, David Cronenbergs The Fly definitely stands as one of the most memorable, critically acclaimed, and financially successful films in this movement. Its enduring legacy can be seen in the film's special effects, depicting the gradual and horrifying transformation of Seth Brundle; Brundle's teleportation technology, and themes of scientific transgression. Its poster tagline Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. has become a common lexicon in the English language and oft-quoted by many other pieces of media sense. Traces of The Fly are all over media, oft-parodied but never replicated, and some films owing direct influence to the film include movies like Society, Splice, Tusk, Splinter, Mimic, & countless others. The Fly was followed by a sequel, opera, and comic book series.

The Rankers
Bitto - 1
Lightning - 2
Mythiot - 3
Plasmabeam - 3
Fortybelowsummer - 4
Jcgamer107 - 4
Johnbobb - 4
Seginustemple - 4
Rockus - 7
Evilordexdeath - 8
Inviso - 14
Snake - 15
Karo - 22

Bitto - Rating: A

The slow burn works so, so well here. In the beginning, I don't even really like Seth or Ronnie that much, but I bought in to their relationship and what their aspirations are. When the fly gets mixed with Seth, it's genius that the transformation happens immediately but in a subtle way. It doesn't even dawn on Seth that something bad happened, but you already get a sense that Seth has been changed. By the time Seth realizes that he's becoming a fly, he begins to really...Jeff Golblum and have some offbeat humor that works really well. But it's also really sad, because we know who Seth is and what he wants and what he's losing. The fly politics speech is such a wonderful speech and really sets up the finale. The horror that Seth had a kid with Ronnie at some point is also a wild conundrum that everyone deals with the gravity it deserves. I kinda with that Ronnie's shitty ex, Stathis, was more humanized. He's way too comically shitty in the beginning, which gets weird when he becomes an actual serious character around the end.

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

The 1980s was an unusual time where there were a lot of remakes of classic mid-century horror movies, but rather than cheap cash-ins as would later be the case in the 2000s spate of horror movie remakes. Instead we saw top level creators at the height of their powers taking them on often with big stars attached, and The Fly by David Cronenberg and starring Jeff Goldblum is no exception. The original is a classic, and this film does not tread on its toes (there is no tiny fly man yelling Help me!) but instead takes the concept in a different direction.

What we have here is, despite all the slimy organic body horror, another cautionary tale about technology and the way it is integrating with humanity. The whole thing keeps its very sci-fi feel with the computational aspect of it, which still keeps it feeling quite modern even now. This feels much more fully realised than Videodrome, the narrative is more straightforward yet it is not lacking in depth, Goldblums lines are full of weight and tragedy towards the end of the film.

Jeff Goldblum really was the perfect pick for this movie, his unusual and almost erratic mannerisms were a great way of highlighting his characters eccentricity and transformation. As he becomes more and more Brundlefly the Jeff Goldblum mannerism levels only increase. And of course he is opposite a strong Geena Davis, who provides easily one of the better female leads of the decade, though that isnt saying a lot. If there is a flaw I wish they had handled the ex better, he seems to have kind of a weird turn at the end despite being awful throughout. It just speaks to the strengths of everything else that this aspect not working doesnt impact everything else.

5/5

Plasmabeam - Sci-fi body horror done right. Cronenberg and Goldblum spoil us.

Fortybelowsummer - One of the finest examples of body horror meets monster movie, The Fly is so much more than a guy transforming into a giant insect (Brundlefly! <3). The premise could easily result in a hokey end product, but the performances give it a surprising amount of emotional weight. Goldblum isnt often taken that seriously because ofhow he be, but hes honestly incredible portraying a guy that has to deal with something so massively devastating as slowly turning into a grotesque monstrosity. The relationship between him and queen Geena Davis seems kind of forced and unrealistic at first but as the movie progresses I felt like they became very believable as a couple and their struggle had me that much more invested. One of the best takes I read is that its a horror film about people in a situation, rather than a horror film where the situation is a metaphor for grief or whatever. This is Cronenbergs best movie and as per the usual its layered with repulsive visual effects, complex ideas, and doses of subtle humor. The ending is downright heartbreaking, the culmination of a tragic romance and the demise of a man with good intentions but who paid the price for interfering with the natural order of things. I dont like to throw around masterpiece much, but this is one.

Jcgamer107 - 8/10

Johnbobb - Crazy watching this in 2024 and seeing how much it predicted the future. Not the teleportation part, but the part where you can just ask nonsense questions to your computer and it'll answer you. I'm honestly really shocked by just how good this was. I've always known about The Fly and how it's one of the most iconic body horror movies out there, but I think part of me always found the concept to be too simple. Like guy gets in teleporter, there's a fly in there, and the guy starts to turn into fly monster. It felt so basic that it didn't seem like something you really needed to see beyond a few scenes. Turns out I was very wrong. Goldblum is giving a career best performance here, the prosthetics and nasty as hell visual effects were way ahead of their time, and Seth's character arc is legitimately fascinating. You seem him go from slight arrogant scientist with to complete ass to realizing what he's turning into and begging for help to losing himself entirely to the creature. He's less horror movie monster and more deeply tragic figure. I mean, the "I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man" line? That's the kind of poetic shit I'd expect from like Spy Kids, not The Fly.