105 Must See Films: The Fly (1986)

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz

Director: David Cronenberg

A scientist meets a cute journalist at a party, (Goldblum and Davis) and takes her home to impress her with his matter transportation device. Whilst she documents his research, a romance developes, but one night, while drunk and in a jealous pique, the scientist puts himself into the device, not realising he’s locked a fly in the pod with him.

Although initially he looks fine, his behaviour changes dramatically, until he starts exhibiting changes in his body, as he slowly turns into a human insect.

Why Is It A Must See: One of the earliest directors to implement “body horror”, that is where the scares come from the human body being invaded or corrupted in some very gruesome way, Cronenberg is a masterful director and this is one of his most well known films. The human body in this film is transformed and made grotesque by it’s fusion with the fly, invaded by a foreign entity. It’s a horror sub-genre that found it’s hey dey in the practical effects of the 80’s and this one is a classic example. What I personally think makes it great is that there’s not really a bad guy. I mean, Goldblum doesn’t seem very nice once he’s fused with the fly, but the whole time he’s changing and becoming more and more disgusting, he’s still human, he’s still like us, which makes it so much more uncomfortable.

But perhaps not quite so uncomfortable as Goldblum as a romantic lead. It’s worth watching just for that!

Wonderful, searching and grotesque, this is a really entertaining film.

See It If: you love 80’s horror, it’s got all the practical effect and Goldblum-age anyone could ask for. Or if you’ve never seen a Cronenberg, this is a good first entry.