The Fly - Once Upon a time... remakes worked

Nowadays you can’t throw a half-brick into the air without hitting some old film (and when I say ‘old’ I mean basically ‘made before 2005’ these days!) that’s been remade for a modern audience.  Then we’re treated to a sad retelling of a familiar story with a few updated special effects and the addition to an iphone for every character.  However, back in the eighties, when ‘old’ films back then were made in the fifties and sixties, certain areas of special effects and story-telling had improved enough to justify making it again.  1986’s ‘The Fly’ is one such example of this.

It was originally a horror movie made in 1958, telling the now infamous tale of an eccentric scientist who created a machine to teleport people, only for his experiment to fall foul when an average house fly gets into the device at the same time as a human, thus merging the two life-forms together.  It was pretty creepy at the time, but by the eighties, ‘monster make-up’ and effects had reached a point where the ‘merged’ creature could really be done well and with gross consequences.

‘The Fly’ became one of those rare films which went on to become more famous (and well-received) than the original.  Not only does it stand up today and still get lumped in with some of the greatest horror films of all time, but few people even know it’s actually a remake.  It’s an example of a time where everything just came together perfectly and probably couldn’t be recreated even if they tried (and they did a few years later with ‘The Fly II’ which, although perfectly watchable, is usually forgotten alongside the 1958 version).

The cast is small, but perfect.  It’s basically only two people (maybe three if you count John Getz’s character ‘Stathis Borans’).  Jeff Goldblum plays the scientist (Seth Brundle) and (his then wife at the time) Geena Davis plays the journalist who investigates his brilliant new mode of transport, Veronica Quaife.  Naturally, the two form more than a professional working relationship and, as the experiment progresses, things start to go a little off-track (with delightfully hideous consequences!).

Secondly, it’s directed by horror mastermind, David Cronenberg.  Around the eighties he really was at the top of his game and gets the perfect performances out of his cast and then mixes it with a slow built-up of dread which finally reaches ‘boiling point’ during the final conclusion.

If you like horror, you will definitely like this.  It’s not an action-packed ‘slasher’ of a film.  You know where it’s going from pretty much the start, but it’s the inevitability of the journey and the knowing of what’s going to come and how it’s almost impossible to prevent that provides the real horror of it all.  I also briefly mentioned John Getz.  His character is worth mentioning as, for a supporting actor, he’s actually quite memorable (despite playing a particularly slimy kind of guy, he also goes on a bit of a journey as a character).
9/10 almost as perfect as The Godfather