“The Fly” isn’t just a great horror movie. It’s also a powerful love story, a smart science-fiction tale, an incisive metaphor for disease, a dark romantic comedy and, last but not least, a groundbreaking landmark in onscreen gore.
It’s also one of the best movies — of any kind — of the 1980s.
Part of that is due to its simplicity. It’s essentially the tale of three people: Scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) and editor Stanis Borans (John Getz). Seth invents teleportation, Veronica agrees to keep his secret and Stanis wants to break the story. But when Stanis threatens to go to print, Veronica leaves Seth’s lab to stop him. Seth gets jealous — and careless. He teleports himself, not noticing that there’s a housefly in the chamber hitching a ride. So when the teleporter rebuilds Seth, it mixes in that bit of fly DNA, and everything gets very, very messy.
Which is where the gore comes in. In 1986, director David Cronenberg was in the midst of a landmark run of thought-provoking, stomach-churning movies, including “Scanners,” “The Brood,” “Videodrome” and others. Cronenberg loved exploring the way the human body could rebel against its owner, and with Cronenberg at the helm, you got the idea that rebellion was something worth rooting for. “The Fly” fit neatly into that vision, with a bit more heart and a bit more mainstream appeal than his other films– but with even more visceral imagery.
That’s because, as Seth becomes “Brundle-Fly,” his body falls apart along with his mind, and it turns out insect biology is a goopy, gory thing to behold. “The Fly” is a smart, thrilling, even touching movie, but don’t kid yourself — you’d better have a strong stomach when the story kicks into gear.
On the new episode of Out of Theaters, we dissect “The Fly” in all its glory, explaining why it’s still worth watching in 2019, even if you have to hide your eyes in certain scenes. (That goes for Billy, not sicko gore-lover Will.) We also have a lively argument about the merits (or lack thereof) of “Joker” (don’t worry — we don’t spoil anything) and we advise superhero movie fans to stay in their lane when it comes to criticizing the cinematic expertise of Martin Scorsese.
