Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1980s
    Movies - 1980s Movies - F 2 Mins Read

    Fly, The (1986)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    This remake of the campy 1958 cult classic with Vincent Price is the story of a scientist who accidentally switches heads with a pesky housefly and is doomed to spend the rest of his days flitting from sugar bowl to toilet bowl, yelping “Help me!” – You know the rest.

    What you don’t know is the maniacal, shlocky way Canada’s freaky B-movie director David Cronenberg has brought the story up to date.

    This version has sex, nudity, home computers, laser beams, and slimy effects borrowed from Aliens to gross you out.

    The fly is played by Jeff Goldblum, a bug-eyed actor who looks like an insect already. Some might call this perfect casting.

    Trouble is, Goldblum looks more like a fly before his experiment goes awry.

    Covered with spores and hives, flitting across the room and landing on the walls while vomiting white hydrochloric acid from his mandibles, he doesn’t much look like a human fly. He looks like a melted peanut butter cup.

    The first forty minutes of The Fly is science fiction small talk about teleportation, laser transfers, and molecular fusion. This is strictly formula Frankenstein lab filler, created to pass time until the really disgusting stuff happens.

    Goldblum attacks the sugar. Coarse hair grows on his back. The strength of an army buzzes through his wings. He looks bad. He smells bad. His ears fall off. He drips ooze all over the kitchen sink.

    The Fly is supposed to be a horror flick about metamorphosis, but it turns out silly and, eventually, just plain revolting.

    In the 1958 original, there was something oddly moving about the plight of a man doomed to watch his wife ignore him in her flower garden.

    Goldblum doesn’t diminish in size; he turns into a hairy monster – and he tries to take his girlfriend with him.

    fly1986_02

    As a sickening subplot, there’s Geena Davis (then Goldblum’s real-life partner), as a reporter impregnated by fly sperm.

    A  completely unnecessary ‘sequel’ of sorts – The Fly II (1989) – was barely a film at all, just a piecing together of scenes of elaborate carnage which proved that more gore and special effects are not necessarily better.

    Seth Brundle
    Jeff Goldblum
    Veronica Quaife
    Geena Davis
    Stathis Borans
    John Getz
    Tawny
    Joy Boushel
    Dr Cheevers
    Les Carlson
    Marky
    George Chuvalo
    Gynaecologist
    David Cronenberg
    Nurse
    Carol Lazare
    Clerk
    Shawn Hewitt

    Director
    David Cronenberg

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Dogs In Space (1986)
      Dogs In Space (1986)
      This Australian cult classic stars the late Michael Hutchence (of INXS) and is set in Melbourne's late 70s punk rock…
    • Summer Rental (1985)
      Summer Rental (1985)
      Air Traffic Controller Jack Chester (John Candy) is advised that he needs a rest when he tries to identify a…
    • Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)
      Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)
      American TV producer Hunt Stromberg Jnr. wanted to make a definitive version of the Frankenstein story which was faithful to…
    • Pet Sematary (1989)
      Pet Sematary (1989)
      In this morbid but compulsive horror, adapted by Stephen King from his own novel, the Creed family move to a…
    • Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)
      Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)
      Commandant Lassard has finally reached retirement age and the whole gang fly down to Miami to watch him receive an…
    • Big Chill, The (1983)
      Big Chill, The (1983)
      Much imitated but never bettered, The Big Chill brought together a group of college friends who had known each other since…
    • Stop Making Sense (1984)
      Stop Making Sense (1984)
      Widely hailed as the greatest concert movie ever made, director Jonathan Demme's celebrated film captures Talking Heads live at Hollywood's…
    • Dressed To Kill (1980)
      Dressed To Kill (1980)
      The opening scene of Dressed To Kill shows Angie Dickinson in the shower, licking her lips and having a pornographic fantasy. The…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleFly, The (1958)
    Next Article Gambit (1966)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Valentinos, The
      The Valentinos, comprising five brothers from the Womack family, […]
    • Stig of the Dump
      1 9 8 1 (UK) 10 x 20 minute episodes Modern-day eight-year-old […]
    • Red Wedge (1986)
      In a desperate attempt to prevent a third consecutive Tory […]
    • Hardy Boys, The
      1 9 6 9 – 1 9 7 1 (USA) When the first Hardy Boys books […]
    • PP Arnold
      PP Arnold was born Patricia Ann Cole on 3 October 1946 in the […]
    • Susan’s Show
      1 9 5 7 – 1 9 5 8 (USA) 30 minute episodes Susan Heinkel […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.