Cronenberg's new version triumphs on almost every level, providing, of course, that you like horror movies and can accept their often far-fetched premises.
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There can be little doubt that writer-director David Cronenberg marches to his own drummer. Just look at a few of the bizarre things he's made over the years: "Scanners" (1981), "Videodrome" (1983), "Dead Ringers" (1988), "Naked Lunch" (1991), "M. Butterfly" (1993), "Crash" (1996), "eXistenZ" (1999), "Spider" (2002), "A History of Violence" (2005).
Yet it's "The Fly" from 1986 that is probably his biggest commercial success as well as his biggest artistic accomplishment. "The Fly" is really quite a good film, which may be why Fox studios decided to reissue it on DVD in a special, two-disc Collector's Edition. Let's start with the film.
Cronenberg's "The Fly" is, of course, a remake of the old 1958 flick with David Hedison and Vincent Price so beloved of horror fans. Remaking a classic is always risky business, but Cronenberg's new version triumphs on almost every level, providing, of course, that you like horror movies and can accept their often far-fetched premises. But with Cronenberg you get more than a mere horror story, anyhow. His "Fly" is also an affecting love story as well as a psychological study in mental (and physical) decay.
The idea here follows the one developed in the old film, that teleportation of matter can be accomplished, but not without unexpected results. Jeff Goldblum stars as Seth Brundle, a naive whiz who builds a couple of pods that can send matter back and forth between them by separating the atoms and zapping them through space. Goldblum, as always, is in excellent form. Yet, can you think of another actor who has been in as many mega-hit supernatural movies as he has--"Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "The Fly," "Jurassic Park," "Independence Day," "The Lost World"--and remained a second-tier star? He's in a rare category; he has probably made more money than anybody in Hollywood without attaining superstar status. Maybe it's because so many of the films he's in are so filled with special effects that they overshadow the performer.
Anyway, on with "The Fly." At a party Seth meets a magazine science reporter, Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), and invites her up to his warehouse loft apartment to show her his latest experiment. He tells her it's something that "will change the world as we know it." Well, how can a girl turn down an offer like that? Naturally, they fall in love, and before long Davis and Goldblum lock overbites. This is in spite of her calling his teleportation pods "designer phone booths." Later, the obvious happens. In a jealous, drunken snit over what he thinks is Veronica's love for a former boyfriend (John Getz), Brundle decides to try out the experiment on himself, unknowingly letting a housefly into the pod when he teleports. Their genes combine, but he doesn't come out looking like a fly as in the old film. Instead, he gradually turns into a fly, which is the best part of the movie. In fact, it's the primary reason for watching the movie. Goldblum is movingly convincing in his personality transformation from the mild-mannered Seth to the repulsive Brundlefly.
At first we see no change in Seth. Then we notice his heightened reflexes and added strength. He is also more hyper than usual, craves sugar, and finds his sexual stamina improved. Finally, we see him beginning to lose his mind to the insect within him.
The only serious problem the movie has is where to go once Seth has turned into a human fly. It's a dead end, unless Cronenberg is going to make the film into a story about a ghastly monster on the loose, which, thank heaven, he doesn't. Leave that to lesser directors. Instead, he opts for pretty much the same ending the 1958 film had, although more gross and horrifying as well as more touching.
Unfortunately, the ending, although poignant, doesn't have the same impact as the old film. Oh, well. Still and all, with its mature character development and sweet romance, Cronenberg's "The Fly" makes for a good change of pace in the world of horror flicks, while clinging to old precepts. It may be modern, but it is still Cronenberg's retelling of "Frankenstein"; and like the old Mary Shelley classic, it raises the same question: If Man is going to go messing around with Nature, shouldn't Man be ready for the possibly dire consequences? Science beware.
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