The Fly

The Fly (1986)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: David Cronenberg

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel, George Chuvalo

From: 20^th Century Fox

Thankfully I still say that this motion picture is tremendous: 

If you're doing a dangerous scientific experiment involving yourself, perhaps don't have a baboon be the only observer on site. Then again, not doing it while drunk off of wine is another good idea. I had seen this before, although the last viewing in full was many years ago. It was something I saw bits and pieces of after the fact, but I don't even remember how long it was since I viewed The Fly from beginning to end, and this seemed like the best time to finally talk about this movie here.

To me this is just as effective as it was when it came out 32 years ago. The practical effects being excellent is a big reason why. In the end credits what had to be several dozen different people were listed as being part of the on-screen transformation of Seth Brundle to Brundlefly, and as of course it wasn't crappy CG it had not aged at all with the passage of time. What happens to that character is utterly horrifying, and plenty of frightening moments have stayed in my memory for all those years, as I am sure has happened to many others.

There are only a few characters that are focused on, and thankfully not only are they all interesting and three dimensional, but the right people were chosen for the parts. I couldn't imagine Brundle, Veronica Quaife or the (hilariously named) Stathis Borans being played by anyone else than Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, or John Getz. All three were great in their roles, especially Goldblum... it was not so difficult imagining him in the mid 80's as a very brilliant yet very eccentric man who could actually make a teleportation device work.

You care about the leads so you feel bad when the romance between Seth and Veronica goes sour due to the nightmare transformation that Brundle goes through. Mix in a quality Howard Shore score and Cronenberg being the director-I couldn't imagine any other director of his stature at the time nailing the movie's themes and horror so well-and to me this motion picture is still great and still blood-curdling and can still shock audiences today.