Mini Film Review – The Fly

Yesterday I watched The Fly; and it was rather interesting…and very horrific! Directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, and John Getz; The Fly is a science fiction horror film loosely based on the George Langelaan short story, as well as 1958 film of the same name. The film depicts a genius who builds a special teleportation device, but during one experiment, something happens; which causes said genius to change slightly! I wouldn’t normally have chosen to watch a film like this, as I am not a major fan of disgusting horror; but after seeing it mentioned on Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema (where he highlighted that the film could also be described as a sort of romantic comedy); I have been unable to get it out of my head! It’s made in a very interesting way, as the film launches into the science behind the horror within minutes of the opening credits. We then see a building relationship, experimenting scenes, and then of course the degrading physical appearance of Jeff Goldblum, and his warped mind as he succumbs to his alternate psychology. But all of this is so gently done, so we can see the full effect of the experiment gone wrong, and how this affects the relationships. The film’s cast works well too as it chooses to keep it to a minimum, and keep the main story a major secret to the outside world, creating an additional scare fest as everything loses control, and it comes down to the core cast to solve the problem. Yes, it has some really disgusting moments, but given the age of the film’s effects, I wasn’t feeling awfully queasy, or grossed out all that much. It’s a really cool horror film, packed with some great story telling, and some great science fiction scenes; not sure if I will watch it again though!