By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 33 seconds ago
It can be difficult to find a good horror movie remake…for every great example like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Evil Dead (2013), there is a major stinker like Psycho (1998) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). However, it’s hard to fault filmmakers for trying, because some of the best movies in Hollywood history are remakes of yesterday’s horror hits.
For example, David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly (featuring young Jeff Goldblum in his prime) is the ultimate body horror film, one that is scarier and racier now than ever before.
You Will Believe A Man Can Be A Fly
The premise of The Fly is that a charming young scientist introduces a cute reporter to his latest invention: special telepods that allow for a Star Trek-style transmission of matter from one place to another. Quickier than you can say, “beam me up, hottie,” this handsome researcher teleports himself, unaware that a tiny housefly has entered the pod with him.
Afterward, our lead character begins undergoing a horrific physical transformation. A transformation that threatens to destroy his work, his relationship, and even his life.
The cast of The Fly is its greatest strength, starting with Jurassic Park icon Jeff Goldblum as a charismatic mad scientist whose monstrous ambitions beget a horrific transformation that completely ruins his life. Geena Davis (best known for Thelma & Louise) plays the science journalist who falls in love with our leading man before being forced to watch him become both more and less than human.
Together, they form one of the cutest couples of the ‘80s. The searing light of their onscreen love gives an otherwise dark (in more ways than one) Cronenberg film its beating heart.
An Onscreen Chemistry Lesson
While we get a fun supporting performance from John Getz (best known for The Social Network), the chief appeal of The Fly is the sizzling chemistry between Goldblum and Davis: they are believable as a hot couple caught in the throes of young love, and the inevitable breakdown of their relationship provides this movie with its tragic, jagged edge. Goldblum, in particular, does a good job of weaponizing his natural charisma to make his character’s brand of mad science so seductive. Like Davis’ character, it’s easy to get swept up in the glittering, futuristic grandeur, and your heart breaks right alongside hers when everything (especially Goldblum’s face) starts falling apart.
Horror remakes are always a dicey proposition, but The Fly was a smash hit, earning $60.6 against a budget of about $15 million. This was enough mad (science) money to warrant a sequel, but The Fly II was a disappointment: neither of the lead actors returned, and the follow-up film was not directed by David Cronenberg. The franchise has remained dormant since the ‘80s, though there have been a number of canceled projects, including an ambitious Cronenberg sequel that the studio sadly passed on.
Being Disgusting Wins The Fly Awards
While The Fly is one of the grossest movies ever made, professional reviewers dubbed this David Cronenberg masterpiece an instant classic. It has a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the movie for pairing the director’s keen horror sensibilities with very strong central characters. This transformed what could have been a monster mash into a tragedy as effective as it is postmodern.
One sure sign that The Fly is a great film is that it earned some major awards despite being part of the horror genre that has so frequently been snubbed and overlooked. For example, it took home three Saturn Awards: a Best Actor award for Jeff Goldblum, Best Horror Film, and Best Makeup.
Cronenberg’s gross-out opus also earned an Academy Award for Best Makeup, which was well-deserved. If you haven’t watched The Fly since the days of VHS, you may be shocked at how many vomit-inducing details you can make out when streaming the film in high definition.
Scarier Than Ever Before
As a kid, I was absolutely terrified by The Fly, and those nasty special effects were a big reason why. It’s one thing to see a scary horror monster like Freddie Krueger or Jason Voorhees, but it’s another thing to watch a talented man slowly transformed into something awful by his own scientific hubris. At a very tender age, Cronenberg’s brilliant body horror taught me an important lesson: there’s nothing those fictional slasher villains can do that’s any scarier or any more harmful than what we can do to ourselves.
Watching the movie now, I find Jeff Goldblum’s character both sympathetic and compelling. Who among us wouldn’t try to pioneer Star Trek technology if we had the brains and resources?
He’s at the forefront of a breakthrough that could transform society from the ground up, but he’s also a headstrong rebel whose willingness to cut corners and flout rules is both his greatest strength and most crippling weakness. Worst of all, he can’t see how well he’s paving his own road to hell because he’s too busy trying to impress Genna Davis, making him relatable from the beginning of the movie to its jaw-dropping conclusion.
Will you agree that The Fly is scarier than ever before, or would you rather hop in a telepod with a fly than watch it all the way through to the end? You won’t know until you walk over to the remote (sorry, the teleporter is offline right now) and stream it on Hulu. Come for the sexy chemistry between Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis; stay for a cinematic transformation from man to monster that will absolutely haunt you until your final days.
