The Fly (1986)

The Fly is a 1986 American science fiction-horror film directed and co-written by David Cronenberg. Produced by Brooksfilms and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, and John Getz. Loosely based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story of the same name and the 1958 film of the same name, The Fly tells of an eccentric scientist who, after one of his experiments goes wrong, slowly turns into a fly-hybrid creature.

Plot
Seth, a brilliant scientist, is elated when he successfully manages to teleport himself in his own invention, the transportation machine. But, unbeknownst to him, he was not alone during the process.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This remake of The Fly succeeded from the 1950s-60s dark-comedy horror thriller film into a serious, gory, darker horror tone is well accepted by 1980s standards. In addition, the remake is often considered to be one of the best horror and science fiction remakes of all time.
 * 2) The film surprisingly has an even darker, and intense tone, even in R-rated standards.
 * 3) Amazing, suspenseful, and creepy soundtrack that was composed by Howard Shore.
 * 4) There are very scary, shocking, creepy, and graphics moments, such as the baboon getting turned inside out after the teleportation goes wrong, Seth grabbing his hand, injuring a man at the bar, Ronnie's nightmare, Seth even slowly turning into a monster fly, and Seth using his corrosive vomit to destroy Stathis' hand, and Seth even turned into a fly-monster scene.
 * 5) The most famous quote of the movie, "Be afraid. Be very afraid", is one of the most memorable quotes in the history of horror films.
 * 6) Wonderful cinematography, which fits the tone of the film very well, like the 1958 film.
 * 7) Seth, before he turned into a monster fly, looks way creepier to look at.
 * 8) The make-up of Seth, being a creepy-looking fly person mixed creature is amazing and scary.
 * 9) Great directing by David Cronenberg.
 * 10) The movie's poster looks very creepy to look at.
 * 11) Well-done, and creepy special effects, especially for Seth's fly look, person.
 * 12) Great acting, and performances, especially for Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, and John Getz. Goldblum's performance as Seth Brundle is very incredible, and well done, and spot-on.
 * 13) The final scene where Ronnie tearfully fires the shotgun and kills Seth is very scary and sad at the same time.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) A few special effects don't age well by today's standards.
 * 2) Some of the elements from the previous installments were cliché, such as recycling the line "Help me," said by the main character in both versions.
 * 3) The ending scene, while pretty good, is quite abrupt.

Critical response, and Box Office
The Fly was released on August 15, 1986, to massive acclaim by critics and audiences, with praise mainly regarding the special effects and Goldblum's performance. It grossed $60.6 million at the box office against its nine-million-dollar budget, becoming the largest commercial success of Cronenberg's career. Walas and Dupuis' work on the film resulted in their winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup, the only Oscar won by a film directed by Cronenberg. It was widely praised going to Goldblum's performance and the special effects. Despite being a gory remake of a classic made by a controversial, non-mainstream director, the film was a commercial success, the biggest of Cronenberg's career, and was the top-grossing film in the United States for two weeks, earning a total domestic gross of $40,456,565. Audiences reacted strongly to the graphic creature effects and the tragic love story, and the film received much attention at the time of its release. The Fly holds a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "David Cronenberg combines his trademark affinity for gore and horror with strongly developed characters, making The Fly a surprisingly affecting tragedy."

Film critic Gene Siskel named The Fly the tenth best film of 1986. In 1989, Premiere and American Film magazines both conducted independent polls of American film critics, directors, and other such groups to determine the best films of the 1980s, and The Fly appeared on both lists.

Trivia

 * Originally a project for Tim Burton to direct.
 * Mel Gibson was considered for the role of Seth Brundle. But he turned it down to do Lethal Weapon (1987), James Woods also turned down the role of Seth Brundle.
 * This was the last film on which Mark Irwin and David Cronenberg collaborated. Irwin was unavailable to work on Dead Ringers (1988) as he was already committed to The Blob (1988). Irwin told Cronenberg, "I wouldn't leave one of your films to work on somebody else's". Cronenberg instead hired Peter Suschitzky, having admired his work on Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and has used him as cinematographer on every one of his films since.

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