Pure Visceral Horror

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2006)

I've read that David Cronenberg considers this film one of his most mainstream efforts, which is weird, considering some critics tend to use The Fly as the perfect example the Canadian auteur DOESN'T do mainstream. Well, in my opinion, it's both.
The story is certainly a very conventional one: a scientist's (Jeff Goldblum) experiment goes wrong and he turns into a monster. What's unusual about it is the way Croenberg merges the body horror with romance and ultimately uses the terrifying scenario as a reflection on identity (see also Dead Ringers and A History of Violence for further developments of the same theme).
Goldblum shines as Seth Brundle, the eccentric genius whose genetic structure is combined with a fly's during a teleportation experiment, an accident which has serious consequences: Seth gradually becomes a "Brundlefly", who possesses extraordinary physical abilities (that stage of the metamorphosis reminds of Peter Parker's transformation into Spider-Man) as well as an insatiable sexual hunger (possible reference to Cronenberg's directorial debut, Shivers). Soon enough, though, he and his girlfriend (Geena Davis) realize things are getting very bad (the scene where Seth quotes Kafka to describe his condition is brilliant, another proof this ain't a conventional horror flick)...
Alongside the acting, the other impressive thing about this movie is the Oscar-winning make-up: rarely has a creature looked so real and revolting (and there's no CGI involved).
And finally, The Fly has one of the best director cameos ever: Cronenberg plays the gynecologist in the infamous "nightmare abortion" sequence (a landmark in horror cinema).
For fans of the genre, this is something you just can't miss.