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A scientific experiment on teleportation goes horribly wrong when the scientist attempts to transport a human. The Fly starts out with a murder using a piece of industrial machinery. Even though it doesn't show it in detail, it showed a little more than I expected for a movie from 1958. The man was allegedly murdered by his wife, but there is something that seems a bit off in how she describes what transpired at the factory. Eventually, the wife says what really happened leading up to her husband's death. At this point, almost the rest of the story takes place as a flashback.
Overall, I enjoyed The Fly. However, I think that I would have enjoyed it more if I had been in the mood for a classic sci-fi movie, rather than a classic horror movie. That being said, once the half-man/half-fly creature showed up, it had some pretty spooky parts. Not only because of the horror of the creature, but more specifically because of the torment that the scientist is going through. It deals with more than just a monster. It deals with a suffering existence and existential (and actual) suicide.
My biggest complaint is that it too long to actually get to the fly creature. Rather than having to get to the point where a flashback was used to tell the story, I think that the pacing would have been much better if it had just started where the flashback started. There were a lot of great elements, but I think that too many of them were underutilized.
Rating/Recommendation: 3/5. I saw Cronenberg's version many, many years ago. I was unaware at the time that it was a remake of this film from 1958 by Kurt Neumann. While it is technically a remake, there are some drastic differences from Neumann's version to Cronenberg's version. I was pretty young when I first saw Cronenberg's version, so there were a lot of scenes that I had to either close my eyes for or leave the room for. However, I still remember that it was pretty intense. With that version in mind, this version was incredibly tame. I think that going into this film with Cronenberg's version in mind probably affected my perception. Rather than being able to watch it for it's classic sci-fi elements, I kept waiting for the fly to show up - and I ended up waiting much longer than I expected. While it might not have lived up to my expectations, it was still enjoyable. I recommend watching it, but maybe not for Halloween Movie Month. If I do a classic sci-fi month, then The Fly might get a higher recommendation..
Be sure to check back soon for more reviews in Halloween Movie Month! In the meantime, leave comments on this (or any other) review, follow me here and on twitter (@GargyleReviews), and let me know what movies you'd like for me to review for Halloween Movie Month!
- The Gargyle
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