If you stay I will hurt you.

Rating: 10/10 (10 October 2008)

Seth Brundle is a brilliant but eccentric scientist, working for the Bartok company he has invented something that will change mankind for ever. Upon meeting journalist Veronica Quaife at a party he takes her back to his home to show her his invention, Telepods that can transport objects thru space from one place to another. Tho reluctant to not tell this amazing story straight away, Veronica agrees to let Seth finish his work to finally achieve the ultimate success of sending a human being thru the Telepod system. Things are further complicated when Seth and Veronica start to fall in love, after Veronica is forced to go and see her ex boyfriend, Seth, drunk and jealous, decides to go thru the Telepods, unbeknown to him a fly also went thru with him and the computer, confused to find two matters in the system, spliced the gene codes together, the result is the terrifying birth of Brundlefly.
Remaking an old and much loved horror classic was something that director David Cronenberg tackled with relish, sensing the opportunity to update it with 80s set paranoia's, he managed to not only splice many meanings in his picture, but also to create one of the best horror films of the modern age. Where do you start as regards The Fly's heart? In essence it's a tragic love story, a modern disease riddled Beauty and The Beast, but Cronenberg is not just content with that, he manages to play on mans fears of disease {an 80s AIDS metaphor is hard to get away from}, death and of course change in general.
Cronenberg pictures have generally suffered for poor casting and tiny budgets, but here he gets full license to unleash the devilment and astuteness at work in his mind. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis put in excellent work as our two main protagonists, both putting in career best work in the process, a chemistry pretty much unrivalled in the horror genre post the Motion Picture Production Code demise in 1967. What is a major plus in The Fly's favour is that there is no camp veneer to the story unfolding, Brundle's metamorphosis is slow and adroitly paced, we follow each step as Brundle's body and state of mind changes, and of course we have to witness Veronica clinging on to the love she has for Seth, even as he monstrously evolves into Brundlefly.
Drink deep, or taste not the plasma spring
Some sequences are truly vile, I remember vividly people leaving the cinema during one particularly gross moment, the horror elements in the piece do not disappoint the genre faithful. But really it's the intelligence and crafty nous that lifts The Fly high above many of its contemporaries. Many of Cronenberg's early supporters frown at The Fly for its big budget awareness and mainstream success. Stupid really because it's one of his most accomplished and professional pictures, dripping with goo and seeping with cranial splendour, right up to the final shattering climax that is as unforgettable as it is emotionally wrought.
A candidate for greatest remake ever? Definitely. And come the end credits as your stomach starts to settle and the ache in your heart begins to wane, comes the realisation that Seth Brundle, without the intrusion of a common house fly, really could have changed the World as we know it! 10/10