The Fly (Remake)
Horror movies were going through a weird state of required ultra cheesiness during the decade of the 1950s, as every film of that genre was really intended to be a âmonster movieâ of some sort, usually of the truly non scary variety, where the main selling point would be based around the creation and appearance of said âmonsterâ (generally a man in a suit or a more elaborate scenario possibly involving puppetry) surrounded by a cast of flat, wooden actors with the exception of known genre stalwarts like Boris Karloff or Vincent Price. Among these types of movies in the 50s, we have the original verson of The Fly (with Price in a fondly remembered supporting role), a stagy, sometimes hard to believe story in which a respectable scientist not only invents teleportation pods, but while using himself as a live guinea pig, doesnât grasp that there is a fly in the machine with him, resulting in his human body reemerging with a monstrous flyâs head and claw, and the fly itself ridiculously coming out with his human head (complete with teeny, squeaky voice). While featuring all of the decadeâs usual elements of camp along with the usual Kafkaesque allusions, it nonetheless was what it was, a product of its time that never truly reached the heights of being neither disturbing nor scary. Flash forward to the 1980s, when the decision was made to do an official remake (which was only natural given the maturation of tolerance in the overall filmmaking ratings censorship codes) and the directing duties were handed over to none other than legendary Canadian horror director David Cronenberg, a wise choice given his predilection towards all sorts of bodily mutations in his previous (mostly horror) filmography. Cronenberg subtly edged the material into the modern age while still fitting it into his own personal style, with the key change from the original being that when the main character emerges from the pod this time, he still APPEARS to be human (while now possessing superhuman abilities that he mistakenly thinks as being his cells now having been invigorated by teleporting), but slowly, horribly discovers over time the signs of a steady mutation taking place, as the flyâs DNA has actually been fused with his own to create an entirely new, though completely tortured form of life, even as he tries to have a good nature about it and treat his hideous transformation as a personal journey of scientific discovery. And to that end, Cronenberg wound up casting Jeff Goldblum (known as a quirky supporting actor now playing a quirky leading man with extra helpings of quirk) in the starring role as Seth Brundle, an eccentric young scientist whom we first meet at some kind of scientific benefit dinner trying to lure an attractive young science magazine reporter (Geena Davis, Goldblumâs then wife who was at the peak of her own physical sex appeal before she would go off the deep end after winning an Oscar and try to establish herself as both a female action movie hero and later as a female President on TV) back to his place so she can see what heâs working on which he describes as âsomething that will change the world as we know itâ. It sounds to her like a cheap pick up line from a geeky scientific type, but she falls for it anyway and goes back to his place, only to be amazed by the telepods and their capabilities, agreeing to be his de facto assistant / documentarian of his experiments in the process. Unfortunately, the big drawback are the machinesâ seeming inability to actually teleport live living flesh (as seen in the awfully gruesome fate of a baboon who is sent through), but with Davis as his muse, it isnât long before Goldblum manages to crack the code to do just that as the sexual relationship between the two heats up, which doesnât sit too well at all with her magazine publisher and ex boyfriend (John Getz), a smarmy, asshole intellectual type who strikes one as being somebody who would NEVER be caught dead interacting with the âcommon peopleâ, but who nonetheless is shown as being someone who is clearly obsessed in an unhealthy way with the much younger Davis and is even openly portrayed as being literally stalking her in her day to day life, although as Goldblumâs transformation worsens and makes him much more mentally unstable, it is Getz who actually emerges as being more of the voice of reason within the story who winds up paying a horrible price for trying to protect her in the end. As for the performances, well, what can be said about Goldblum here that wasnât said back upon the filmâs release in 1986, when for the only time in his career he actually had VERY serious Oscar talk swirling around him here, only to be robbed of even so much as a nomination for a role that required him to show his humanity under many pounds of gruesome makeup, as he at first seems fascinated by what is happening to him, but then in one of the most heartbreaking acting scenes in cinema history both acknowledges and accepts the fact that he will never be truly human again, with just amazing acting chops being shown here on top of the unheard of level of charisma that Goldblum shows in abundance as well. Davis likewise is equally impressive, going from being an unknown commodity to a major actress in one fell swoop here, with her palpable fear and anguish in the second half of the film projecting onto the viewer as well as we hope against hope that all of the major characters can somehow reconcile these tragic events. Which brings us to Getz, with his sleazy witticisms towards his ex that he probably thinks of as being clever little bits of humor (even doing the âhappily using her shower when she suddenly comes homeâ routine), but whom eventually shows his true colors when it comes to putting his own life on the line while defending hers and surprisingly turning out to be the true hero of the story (and his cameo bit in The Fly II with him as the only returning cast member was the best piece of acting in that underrated yet surprisingly great sequel). However, one should always be conscious of the physical makeup FX work done by Chris Walas (who won an Oscar for his efforts here and would later go on to actually direct the even more gruesome Part 2), still proving that having plenty of the wet stuff in the 80s was far more preferable to any kind of CGI, as along with the incredible work done on Goldblum himself, we also get to see his Brundle brutally snap the arm of a redneck bar patron unlucky enough to try to arm wrestle him, as well as liberal doses of the acid like substance that he pukes forth when itâs time to do a little bit of melting on his enemies in self defense. Cronenberg should also be commended for maintaining a brisk pace and bleak tone that somehow keeps the viewer into it by constantly dangling out for us that tiny little piece of hopefulness that maybe things just might still turn out to be okay, as while Goldblum does come across at times as being just a little bit hyperactive and also having somewhat of a temper, ultimately he is just as horrified by what is happening to him as we are witnessing it, and upon finding out that Davis is now pregnant with their (mutant DNA) child not to mention learning of her wishes to want to quickly abort it, he desperately comes to the theory that perhaps fusing himself with a fresh, clean human subject could be his last ditch chance to make himself human once again, with the filmâs one upbeat theme being that just to be alive in this world and in possession of a human consciousness in most cases should be thought of as being a gift and not a curse. But when it comes to that ending, which is both so absolutely terrifying and yet so gut wrenchingly tragic, Cronenberg proves himself to once again be a true master of his medium with some of the best FX work ever seen in one of his films along with superb acting all around in order to bring home a movie that not only more than easily quells the notion that horror films are just supposed to be a âfunâ experience but also proves that such a profoundly disturbing and heartbreakingly scary movie that in its own right can succeed at touching us to our very own souls can also be the surest path to having us rediscover our own humanity as wellâŚ
9/10