The Fly (1986)

Confession.

I kept bouncing from movies to TV shows to bands to actors, spoiled for choice and unable to commit to a topic. After a while, I started to wonder if the tired man staring back at me from the mirror was right. Maybe I am a contrarian hater.

No. There was no maybe.

But still, no topic.

Then, while driving home from work, the idea materialized inside me like a baboon in a Telepod: David Cronenberg’s 1986 film, The Fly.

Look. I’m a Cronenberg fan. Well, as big a fan as I can be and still be accepted by mainline society. (Just don’t ask me about what weirdo Italian horror films I’ve watched). But I just find The Fly to be overrated.

Case in point, the day after I decided The Fly would be my topic, I just so happened to see several internet posts heaping more praise on the film than Brundle poured sugar in his coffee post teleportation. All “greatest film ever” and “10/10. No notes”. Look. A little sweet is fine, but let’s relax.

The most glaring issue is the movie hinges emotionally on the relationship between Brundle and Quaife. That’s where the “tragedy” of the whole thing comes from. But their relationship just isn’t believable, mostly due to the pacing of said romance. They meet. They do… things… and are together for what feels like a few days, and I’m supposed to what, cry at the end? Another issue with the relationship  is that Brundle seems psycho from the start. Maybe Goldblum was still in Cogswell mode from that one The Ray Bradbury Theater episode. Maybe if he had been more affable at first like New Jersey two years prior, then it would have been better, though still wouldn’t fix the pacing issue. Then again, Quaife apparently has terrible taste in men, so I guess it tracks.

I’m harping so much on this aspect, because the movie doesn’t have anything else to grab on to. The original, and I would argue superior, 1958 film draws the viewer in with an incredibly strong whydunit, putting forth a solid mystery from the get go. Since Cronenberg forgoes this aspect of the story, there isn’t anything else to really care about. Hell, the relationship between Andre and Helene in the original feels much more real and is given more breathing room during the flashbacks.

I know Cronenberg movies tend to be about people doing the nasty then nasty things happen, but he’s explored those themes better before and after this movie. Which is the perfect segue to the big old gross moment that we’ve all been waiting for. 

The makeup and costuming are great and appropriately grotesque. But that’s all it is. There isn’t really any reaction stirred beyond being gross and nasty. Which, as far as body horror goes, is fine I suppose. But again, because of the unbelievability of the relationship, it’s tough to care. 

Again, comparing the impact of the two major moments in the 1958 film, it just doesn’t compare. That image of the human head on the body of the fly crying out “Help me, help me!” is in a category of haunting and disturbing leagues beyond the remake, and there isn’t a single drop of icky, sticky goop.

And while not totally fair, I will just add the gravy to the cake. Another film had come out four years earlier and did the whole grimy sci-fi body horror remake better. The relationships were more believable. The creature work was better. The tension, the terror, the acting, the entire vibe, just in a class by itself. Honestly, it’s one of the best films ever made. I’m of course talking about Annie. 

The Thing. 

Sorry. I get those two movies confused all the time.