David Cronenberg's version of "The Fly" has little in common with Kurt Neumann's 1958 film of the same title, one of the cheaply made 'creature-features' of the 1950s
Instead, it reveals many of the director's obsessions
Jeff Goldblum is Seth Brundle, a Mad Scientist who is working on 'teleporting', a means of transporting objects through space Geena Davis is Veronica Quaife, a magazine writer who becomes interested in his work, and in him They start an affair, but Seth believes Veronica is still seeing her former lover In a rage he tries to transport himself, and his genes become caught up with a fly that gets into the machine Slowly Seth takes on the features of an insect
As in other Cronenberg's films, sexuality is seen as a dangerous force that leads to disaster Seth cannot get his amazing machine to transport living creatures until he has experienced the delights of sex with Veronica, but then almost immediately his jealousy leads more like a fly he develops a raging libido; the more physically repulsive he is, the more he wants sex
Like many successful films of the 1980s, "The Fly" is a hybrid, fusing elements of both horror and science fiction Considering that the plot is from the latter genre, the elements of fear and disgust with the human body are traditional to horror Both genres, as this film will illustrate, benefited greatly from the increasing sophistication of contemporary special effects technique, and the make-up abilities The success of the film led to sequel in 1989, in which the son of Seth and Veronica begins to display familiar symptoms
Jeff Goldblum is Seth Brundle, a Mad Scientist who is working on 'teleporting', a means of transporting objects through space Geena Davis is Veronica Quaife, a magazine writer who becomes interested in his work, and in him They start an affair, but Seth believes Veronica is still seeing her former lover In a rage he tries to transport himself, and his genes become caught up with a fly that gets into the machine Slowly Seth takes on the features of an insect
As in other Cronenberg's films, sexuality is seen as a dangerous force that leads to disaster Seth cannot get his amazing machine to transport living creatures until he has experienced the delights of sex with Veronica, but then almost immediately his jealousy leads more like a fly he develops a raging libido; the more physically repulsive he is, the more he wants sex
Like many successful films of the 1980s, "The Fly" is a hybrid, fusing elements of both horror and science fiction Considering that the plot is from the latter genre, the elements of fear and disgust with the human body are traditional to horror Both genres, as this film will illustrate, benefited greatly from the increasing sophistication of contemporary special effects technique, and the make-up abilities The success of the film led to sequel in 1989, in which the son of Seth and Veronica begins to display familiar symptoms