Look out! Its THE FLY!

It's That Time of Year Again

    It is the beginning of another October and 74 years on, it seems to matter less and less. It's still hot as hell with temperatures sticking around in the mid 80s but nonetheless; the history of this month has been spreading itself like an infection, something akin to Gonorrhea, for all these centuries that we as sentient beings now know it subconsciously as the time when the leaves are supposed to turn colors and Satan is ready for the ultimate orgy by the time the 31st comes around.

here we go

    What also comes to mind around this time of year are horror movies. And that specific niche of movie watching freaks that never shut up about this month being THE month for horror movies to be seen. Spreading around various images of gore photos or trying to one up one another in some social media comment wall about some obscure movie with a title like KILLER FETUS RETURNS. The sight is a true revelation of the disgusting self-masturbatory phenomenon that these movie watching persons indulge in and that I myself find myself indulging in. Though I must admit that my involvement is only to an extent as I have gotten older and shittier since those Cannibal Holocaust enjoying days of my youth.

 

the twilight of youth

    So for tonight on the first of October, I searched for something to set the tone for the month. Would it be a month full of comedy a la Evil Dead 2? Of thrills a la Evil Dead? Of kills a la Army of Darkness? Searching for something worth its while lead me to finding a copy of David Cronenberg's film The Fly.

    I can't even remember the last time I saw this film nor could I really remember the last time I held this exact copy of it. Which led me to travel down the mental pathways of my brain in trying to figure out whether or not this copy of the film was actually MY copy or someone else but then that would mean I would know other fellow movie watchers to exist alongside with and I don't. I have no one. There is nothing.....but the movies. Which is pretty cool.

A True Craftsman

    Before divulging into the film, I sat and wondered about David Cronenberg. For he seems to have created this legacy as a true wunderkind when it comes to making films. His style managing to work seamlessly within any genre that he makes films in. It doesn't matter where you, the viewer, exist as a movie watcher as his films can be viewed within any span of High and Low culture. Though please recognize that my use of these denominations is just to set a sense of universality of the man's work. For there is so much on the surface on the film to grab anyone's attention but the amount of depth behind that surface is just as grand for anyone wanting to truly venture on.

    I believe that the first David Cronenberg film that I got around to watching was the 2005 film A History of Violence. Watching it at the young age of 13 and I thought it was great. What's not to love? Necks getting snapped, cunnilingus, and there's William Hurt walking around and saying Broheem al over the place. Its the best. But at 13, what the fuck did I know about movies? I wasn't a genius then. I wasn't a baby genius from the beginning I'm sorry to say. I only became one after opening my chakras to the greatest film of all time.

excited for this Criterion release

    Then as time goes on and I my genius grows, I end up spending my school nights staying up super late to record on my VCR whatever I can on late night cable and one night in particular I myself end up staying up way too late and seeing one his earlier films; 1981's Scanners. Watching a man's head EXPLODE was not what I expected but I was hooked. These psychic powered mutants running around trying to escape the man or some government/corporation force and there's Michael Ironside causing trouble in the middle of it all. Then you get that final confrontation where its a Psychic Battle that should have been an influence on Dark City if Alex Proyas knew any better but I digress. 

 

Even with William Hurt...what a disappointment

    When those credits started to roll though, the race was on to hunt down and watch what else he had to offer and man, that guy sure did make a lot of good movies. Pretty cool Horror one's but the Science Fiction movies really do tickle my fancy more. Probably the highs for me at this point are Videodrome and Eastern Promises with the low being The Brood but even that as a low point is pretty high compared to other filmmakers with such long careers. Though I must give a shout out to Spider and Crash as these showcase that even with the lowest of budgets, magic can still occur.

    So how does The Fly stack up with the rest of his films? Looking at the man's filmography, this looks to be him taking another step into the Hollywood system. The Dead Zone could be probably be considered the first step in him having to wheel and deal with the Hollywood studio system. Interesting to see that this movie would end up being one that Mel Brooks would produce. The gears turning in such a way that gave Cronenberg free reign to rewrite the script he didn't like, but having enough respect to have the original screenwriter receive credit as well, to make something more viable to his tastes. So what comes out of this experience? A pretty solid David Cronenberg film.

The Motion Picture in Question

    The movie kicks off quick with Seth Brundle, played by Jeff Goldblum, and Veronica, played by Geena Davis, in conversation at some lame nerd party full of scientists and soon enough he convinces her to come over to his laboratory. She checks out his cool transporter and wants to break the news regarding this amazing invention that will change mankind. Brundle tells her to cool off on the story as he still has to figure out some kinks in the system. She says tough luck but gets denied by her editor/crazy ex-boyfriend Stathis,played by a bearded John Getz, about the story but that denial ends up working out for her. Brundle wants to give her the exclusive on his whole process. She agrees and starts filming his every move as he tries to make the machine work. They test run it with a baboon that would instantly be a turn off but dead baboon or not, she starts falling for the guy.

    They hook up but she still has some problems to solve with Stathis so she leaves to end it once and for all. Brundle gets stuck with the dead monkey's brother and gets drunk enough to turn jealous. He drinks enough to get his confidence going and decides to jumps in the transporter. The machine rips into gear and he comes out the other end feeling like a million bucks but we saw that a fly was hanging out in the machine at the same time he used it. Uh Oh.

    Brundel's body starts breaking down as well as his relationship with Veronica. She finds out she's pregnant and he wants her to keep the baby even though it could be a fly baby. Flesh decaying as it all comes to a head with Veronica having to pull the trigger on breaking up with Brendal with a shotgun blast.

The Strange Afterglow of this Film

    Boy, this sure was something but nothing like what one expects from a horror movie called THE FLY. I suppose people walking into this back in the day really didn't know what to expect. A Mel Brooks produced movie and even watching the trailer beforehand doesn't leave much to the imagination. But with having seen enough horror movies to daisy chain some sense of logic regarding the images, I could theorize that it would leave people expecting a completely different movie than the one that they ended up watching.  

    It's fascinating at how still this film compared to what horror films are these days. There isn't much flash in the way the camera moves when comparing it to the other big studio Horror releases of that year like Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The only film that comes close to something similar to this that was released around the same time was Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer but even that film feels for more clinical in comparison. In The Fly, there primary investment of the actual drama playing out between the characters that manages to push the ridiculous surface level story of a man becoming a fly into something genuine and horrific.    

    Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis playing it straight makes it all the worthwhile. The special effects and that ending, which I can't lie brought a tear to my eye, wouldn't be much of anything if they didn't commit to their characters like they do. Horror movies always seem to follow this strange 90 minute structure of having character development for the first 25 to 30 minutes and then the nonstop horror. Creating this facade of what can only be considered a characterization than a person. 

    This film focusing and staying with the highs and lows of this interpersonal relationships instead of the horror gives so much more weight to it all. A real sense of gravitas if I can push up my glasses with confidence. It's funny as well to see that the horror seems to be this incident that gets in the way from these two lovers being able to continue on their life together. 

    Apparently when it was released, the connection that people made with the film was the ongoing AIDS epidemic. Easy to make what with the slow decay of a man as his body begins to slowly break apart. Though Cronenberg denies it as the decay of the flesh has always been present in his films, its interesting to see that this film in particular happen to be released at a time when that comparison could be made.

    What was also interesting on watching this at 80 years old was that my brain finally clicked into place as to what makes this film fit well within the various other Cronenberg films that I have seen. The use of very slow and calculated camera movements that creates this tension that just never seems to go away.          This method lending itself to create this unrelenting tension that isn't released suddenly with a jump scare, though there is a good one near the end, or anything of the nature of a cheap thrill. Instead what it does, this slow and distinct pace that it creates, has each scene builds upon the last to instill this real strange sensation of uncertainty that follows through the films running time even though you have a good sense of what's going to happen. This style just being how he made his movies but for some reason, I only just noticed it. Maybe I am growing. 

The Final Conclusion

    David Cronenberg made something that will stand the test of time but for some reason feels undefinable in a way. Its a horror movie for the most part but that's not the interesting part. The relationships between the two main characters are far more interesting to watch as this tragedy plays out. So who is this for? People that want to something serious with a horror twist? I'm just lost at the moment I suppose for I am bewildered that this movie exists in this particular way.

    There is so much to it that showcases great craftsmanship but out of the Cronenberg movies that gets mentioned, this probably doesn't rank high on that list. Maybe its because his other films have left a greater mark? 

    I feel as though this could be the same fate that something like Naked Lunch suffers as well though the difference being that the latter is an adaptation of a literature toted masterpiece and the other is just a short story from the horror genre. 

    I might have gotten muddled in what I am trying to say but there is something so strong in this film that I haven't seen in quite some time in other films. I still have others to see but I might possibly be bold, dare I say confident, to state that this could be my favorite David Cronenberg film.