The Fly (1986)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 8, 2022

Nobody could ever call Jeff Goldbum a versatile actor, but here he is very much in his element as "Brundle". A madcap scientist, he dreams of being able to teleport things just like Willy Wonka does in 1971. He is almost as keen on journalist "Veronica" (Geena Davis) and so offers her exclusive access to follow and film his research. That all goes remarkably well - first a scarf, then more animated objects before, finally, himself. Snag is - well a fly just happened to sneak into the pod before the transferal and next thing he and his new dipteral cousin start a journey to the symbiotic relationship from Hell. He can crawl on the ceiling; fly and most impressively - dissolve his victims in his own vomit! David Cronenberg is having great fun with this as is Goldblum. The dialogue is entertaining and there is the most bizarre degree of chemistry between him and Davis who turns in one of her career defining performances. The visual and make-up effects - especially towards the end - offer a fitting denouement to this gory and frequently amusing sci-fi horror film that is nearly, but not quite, as good as the version from 1958. Certainly worth watching on a big screen if you can - somehow it just looks so much better there.