One of the great things about Spooky Season is the fact that for most of October a number of channels are running predominantly horror movies, one after another. I feast on this fare, watching my favorites when I can, and recording others to view later on, such as during the onslaught of Xmas movies sure to immediately follow. It can be even rewarding to watch the original of a horror movie to compare it with a later remake. One such movie was The Fly…
Now the 1958 version of The Fly was actually a good movie for its day compared to other syfy horror movies of its time, using the available technology back then, and incorporating good acting such as provided by iconic Vincent Price. The film couldn’t show us the gradual transformation of the scientist into a monstrous hybrid, and so for much of the movie we had to imagine what was going on behind the cloth veil that the poor soul wore. We did, however, see one clawed hand, hear the wretched man slurp his meals, and briefly see his fully-transformed head…
The teleported fly wound up with a human head on an insectile body, and creepily enough wound up ensnared in a spider web, pleading in a tiny voice for help as a spider advanced on his captive form. This scene can continue to wow audiences to this day…
Now the 1986 version of The Fly even while forty years old today had technological advancements at its disposal, and Jeff Goldblum’s portrayal of the title character is powerful as we watch him first gain enhanced strength and stamina then undergo a grotesque physical and psychological deterioration as insect traits take over. It’s goodbye to human body parts like fingernails and teeth as brilliant but eccentric scientist Seth Brundle becomes “Brundlefly…”
The Fly directed and co-written by David Cronenberg and starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis has held up well over time since then, and continues to be a horrific masterpiece…
So someone please get an extra-extra-large container of Raid, and Happy Halloween to y’all! And please stay away from teleportation chambers, which are not up to Starfleet standards yet…
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