The Fly
July. 16,1958 NRIndustrialist François Delambre is called late at night by his sister-in-law, Helene Delambre, who tells him that she has just killed her husband, André. Reluctant at first, she eventually explains to the police that André invented a matter transportation apparatus and, while experimenting on himself, a fly entered the chamber during the matter transference.
Similar titles
You May Also Like
Reviews
I love this movie so much
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
The smart get smarter and the dumb get dumber. For the last 30 years, artists have ceased to be the heralds of culture. Where once Jack Kerouac, Elvis Presley and James Dean changed the way people acted and thought, now the Steve Jobs-types and the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world hold the influence. Instead of lines stretching across the street for the latest Beatles album, they're for the newest IPhone. In an increasingly tech-heavy world, one might come to the conclusion that we're more sophisticated than generations past. Steve Jobs certainly was, maybe even Zuckerberg, whose inventions didn't come out of mere computer know-how, but rather imagination and creativity: the same things fueling cultural change in the past. The only difference, however, is that the IPhone or Facebook are not intellectually or emotionally stimulating things; they don't force one to see the world through another's eyes, or expand their knowledge, as a book, film or album would--the good ones, at least. In other words, there's no intellectual trickle-down. Therefore, the smartest people in the world get smarter--creating new devices, websites, apps--and as a result, the dumb people get dumber.Seeing as how "The Fly" is a modern retelling of "Frankenstein," and thus ruminates on the double-edged sword of science, I found this particular review an apt catalyst for a small dose of my mad ranting on technology. I apologize."The Fly" stars Patricia Owens as the wife of a mad scientist (David Hedison). As often happens with scientists of the mad variety, an experiment goes horribly wrong, resulting in the hideous splicing of atoms between the scientist and a fly.The ambassador of horror himself, Vincent Price, plays the brother of the scientist, but is essentially the embodiment of the audience, expressing our groans and shock.On the surface, this sounds like any other B-monster movie from the '50s, meant to horrify dimwitted teenagers with hollow thrills and grotesque imagery--we've come so far. On the contrary, the film deals with the growing cultural reliance on technology and the mad race to push science as far as possible, albeit coercively. The ideas behind the scares wouldn't mean much if the scares weren't scary, but they are. Watching the film through modern eyes, I can't help but feel like I've seen this before--The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, etc.--but even a strained concept can continue to affect if done well enough, as it is here. Maybe it's my illogical fear of spiders, but there's one specific scene that will take my head some time to shake. And while this is totally meaningless, I adored the design of the laboratory, with all the swirly, neon lights and spinning doohickeys. While "The Fly" isn't the scariest or smartest sci-fi horror film, its message holds up, and will continue to for some time. Beyond that, at a pure sensory level, the movie is tense and occasionally frightening, but more fun than anything. For those of us who like spinning doohickeys.
Now, when it comes to movies, anything that's hokey or flawed in the movie lets me give it an imperfect rating, whether it be 0 or 99. The Fly didn't have that kind of flaw. The acting was completely well done, the creature had an actual background, and there was enough mystery, suspense, and horror to make this romance movie well done. I suppose my favorite thing about the movie was the acting. None of them were bad in any way. Plus, the story had some truly and unforgettably iconic moments. The Fly is definitely a perfect movie. I believe it is best you watch this movie without knowing anything about it. Otherwise, you may have an idea of what's going on. If you know nothing, then you'll expect nothing. If you expect nothing, you will not be subject to any disappointment. The Fly, in my opinion, is a perfect movie. Not even some of the movie world's most memorable films rival this.
Andre Delambre (David Hedison) is a brilliant scientist running his own business. When the night watchman discovers that Andre has been crushed under his own hydraulic pressing machine, the finger of suspicion for his murder is pointed firmly at his wife Helene Delambre (Patricia Owens) when she is spotted running from the scene. Both Helene and the night watchman make contact with Andre's brother Francois Delambre (Vincent Price) who then proceeds to inform his close friend Inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall). Inspector Charas tries to get to the bottom of Andre's death and asks Helene to explain what has happened, but with Helene refusing to talk and with her behaviour becoming increasingly erratic, is she guilty of his murder and just plain insane or is there more to Andre's death than meets the eye?The thing that hooks you in with this film is that at the start of the film it's one big mystery; I was sat there wondering why has Andre being killed, why won't Helene say anything about his death? What's the significance of this one particular fly? The fun with this film is trying to figure all of these aspects out and the whole mystery element makes the film enjoyable, fun and engaging. The concept is also original, clever, fascinating and within the context of the narrative is utterly plausible - particularly with reference to how the accident occurred which just shows that even a basic mistake can have devastating consequences. Even when the 'accident' happens to Andre, Neumann and co continue to hold the audience's attention by maintaining a strong narrative which is guaranteed to keep your interest right till the end. The moment when Andre is 'unmasked' is also gave me a bit of a jump which is weird because it still made me jump even though I knew what to expect. It's hard to explain, but if you've seen the film you'll know what I mean.The science behind it all is utterly fascinating and ingenious - although I suspect you'd have to have a 'Stephen Hawking' type IQ to be able to understand it all, but you know what it really doesn't matter because there is plenty going on in this film to guarantee that your interest will never wane.The Fly is a brilliant film that still holds up well over 50 years later. The concept was imaginative and original at the time and I think this has helped the film to age well. The cast really help to bring things to life and particular praise should go to Patricia Owens who I thought was superb.
I read the sort story and this is a very faithful adaptation. What it lacks is that extra mystery and doom that the short story gives off in tone, but this film manages to be weirdly creepy and also funny. It's a lot of fun and sort of ridiculous, but it never goes overboard in its campiness. I haven't seen the Cronenberg one but this is definitely recommended, the acting from the leads is pretty great and it makes you wonder if they knew they were going for camp or not. If I have a complaint, it's that the short story's ending is much more effective, and things tidy up a little too much here. Still, definitely good to watch, with people.