When it comes to “body horror,” one director has frequented the genre more than most, and one of his greatest movies of the 1980s is coming to Hulu on October 1. The Fly is one of David Cronenberg’s most memorable movies, and also one of the greatest remakes of all time. Just in time for Halloween, the gloriously gory horror starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis will find a home on Hulu, where a new audience can discover its gut-wrenching special effects and be afraid…very afraid all over again.
Released in 1986, The Fly is a remake of a 1958 Vincent Price movie in which scientist Seth Brundle (Goldblum) finds himself transforming into a fly after an experiment goes wrong. Brundle’s experiments involve attempting to teleport live matter between two teleportation pods. Despite several failed attempts, Brudle eventually puts himself through the process, unaware that a housefly has been trapped in the pod with him. It eventually becomes clear that something is very wrong, and Brudle discovers that his experiment is about to have dire consequences.
Cronenberg’s vision takes the now laughable version of “the fly” in Price’s original movie. In the 1958 version, the scientist involved in the experiments ends up in two forms, neither of which are as gross as Cronenberg’s. One is a man with a fly’s head and arm and the other is a fly with the small head and arm of a man. In his usual style, Cronenberg instead pushed boundaries by looking at what would happen to a human body if it actually began transforming into an insect. With grotesque special effects, and an unforgettable final act, Cronenberg manages to create one of the most terrifying, but hideously pitiful creatures in movie history.
The Fly Can Hold Its Own Among Modern Horror Movies
Like all horror movies of the decade, The Fly was made in a time when it was not possible to bring a creature to life with the use of computer-generated visuals. This meant that the transformation of Goldblum’s Brundle into the “Brundlefly” needed to actually happen on screen through practical effects. Having worked on Gremlins, Cronenberg’s own Scanners, and many other creature features, Chris Walas was responsible for designing the Brundlefly creature, and the quality of his work needs no introduction to any lover of ‘80s horror.
When practical effects are done well, they rarely age. From the moment Brundle discovers bristly hairs growing on his skin through to his human features giving way to his final form as a disturbing humanoid insect, the movie manages to make the whole transformation look and feel real, with audiences being able to follow Brundle’s inner transformation from benign scientist, to vicious monster, to a thing that demands to be pitied in its final moments.
Somehow, The Fly has managed to avoid joining TheShockNews of Hollywood remakes that have been plucking off ‘80s franchises like ripe cherries, despite the property being one acquired by Disney through their Fox merger. The movie did receive a far less impressive sequel in 1989, with Eric Stoltz playing the role of Brundle’s son who discovers that he has inherited the mutated genes of his father. Other sequel plans, and an attempt to remake the movie in 2003, very quickly faded into obscurity. Considering the universal praise for Cronenberg’s movie, it seems unlikely that any new version could improve on it. Without anything new to say, any remake of The Fly would most likely succumb to the same fate as this year’s ill-fated “reimagining” of The Crow.
The Fly
will be streaming on Hulu from October 1.