In the movies science always seems to go too far with absolutely terrible and terrifying results. If real world scientists were like their movie counterparts, nothing would ever get invented or cured but there sure would be a whole lot of failed experiments running amok throughout the country.
The Fly (1958) is a tale of a failed experiment gone horribly wrong. The film starts with a murder. Helene (Patricia Owens) is accused of crushing her scientist husband’s head and arm in a hydraulic press. Vincent Price plays the late scientist’s brother and he convinces Helen to tell him what really happened.
In a flashback we find that scientist Andre Delambre (David Hedison) has invented a teleporter called a disintegrator-integrator. It works on inanimate objects and small animals so he tries it on himself. Naturally something goes wrong. Suddenly Delambre is wearing a hood / cloth over his head and he’s trying to cover up his deformed hand too. He can only communicate by a typewriter and he reveals to his what has happened to him and that he’s desperately looking for a white-headed fly.
The ending is classic and naturally the film had sequels. It was remade in 1986.
The remake was directed by David Cronenberg and starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Davis was a reporter who is doing a report on Goldblum’s new invention, a teleporter. Again things go horribly wrong only this time it’s way more gorier. Way, way more gorier. The film is definitely not for those with weak stomachs. Goldblum has merged with a fly but unlike the original, it’s not just a simple matter of swamping parts. His metamorphosis is much slower. He starts losing parts, nose, ears, fingernails as he literally becomes a giant fly. It’s entertaining and disturbing despite being a remake and is definitely better than the two sequels that followed the original The Fly. The hamster scene in Return of the Fly is one of the funniest attempts of shock ever put on film.
The Fly (1958)
The Fly (1986)