Playful and Skillful Horror

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2007)

I can still remember the first time I saw David Cronenberg's 'The Fly'. I was ten years old, a huge animal friend, and would by accident see this not very child-friendly piece of terror. Something really changed in me that night, I'm afraid, when Dr. Seth is transporting the baboon, and after the smoke has settled, sees what his brilliant, yet deranged, mind has done.
A couple of years later I saw it again (and again, and again...) only to find that very scene just as, or possibly even more, offensive. And I loved it. Every single frame of it, this time. Thus, my interest for animals had been replaced by my endless love for cinema.
I guess, this is one of those movies you either love, or hate. You can't say that it's "OK" or "avarege". 'Cause it's really not. It's something else. The combination of Cronenberg's playful, as well as skillful, directing, Jeff Goldblum's unforgettably diabolic, mutated lab rat and the inventive special effects makes this a landmark in 80's horror, and indeed a powerful one. This, even though some would say that it's mearly just a display of meaningless and speculative violence and gore. But you've got to love Cronenberg to love 'The Fly'. And I do.
And I'm glad I'm not the only one.