The Fly (1958)

The Fly (1958)

The Fly is a bit of a mixed bag as far as classic horror movies go.  It starts off strong, with a bloody scene of housewife Helene Delambre killing her scientist husband Andre by crushing him to death in a sheet metal press.  But it quickly derails as it flashes back to the events that lead up to this death. It seems like about two-thirds of the film establish what a nice, happy couple they were, and what a great family life they had, before the horror begins anew for the final third of the film.  Getting to know them is a good thing, otherwise we wouldn't care when things go bad, but they spend way too much time with it.  If they had cut back on the establishing stuff and spent more time drawing out the horror, instead of packing most of it in at the end, it would have been a much better paced movie.

"Hi folks, I'm The Fly!"

Still, it has some strong elements, and it is definitely a classic.  To begin with, the main monster, "The Fly," is awesome.  It's one of the all-time great movie monsters.  The scenes before the fly make-up is revealed, when Andre hides in his lab with a cloth draped over his head to hide his face, are very effective. I particularly like when he ate his meals by lowering his draped head over his plate.  You couldn't see what was happening, all you could do was hear the disgusting slurping sounds, but that was enough to let you know that something really horrible had happened to his face. And when his face is finally revealed as a giant fly head on the body of a man, it's not a let-down.  The make-up is still effective to this day.

I Spy With My Fly Eye

There are several highly memorable, iconic moments in this film, like when Andre's wife starts to scream at the sight of him, and the camera cuts to a kaleidoscope of screaming heads from the compound eye view of The Fly.  And of course the final scene when we finally see the reverse of the man with the head of a fly, the fly with a human head, screaming "help me" as it is about to be devoured by spider.  It's ridiculous, campy, and horrifying all at the same time.  Also notable is the supporting role by horror legend Vincent Price as Andre's brother Francois Delambre.  All in all, while not perfect, the film is still a sci-fi horror classic, and introduces one of the most unique and memorable movie monsters of all time, and is a must-see for all fans of vintage horror and science fiction films.

MORE SCREENCAPS AFTER THE BREAK...

 

A Grisly End In The Metal Press

Vincent Price in a Smoking Jacket

Activate Science Dial!

The Lab

Electric Computer

Deploy Science Goggles!

The Science is Set at 54!

The Transportation Chamber

Napaj Ni Edam

Lab Equipment

Electro Cables

"If these Human Fly experiments don't work, I can always sell my lab equipment to Las Vegas!"

A Catastrophic Mistake.  Get It?  "Cat"-astrophic?  Feel Free to Laugh Heartily.

He Was Disappointed to Learn That "Swan Lake" Was NOT About Half-Human Half-Swan Monsters.

Strange Behavior

In the Lab

"Sacrebleu!"

"All work and no ply makes Jack a dull fly..."

"Dude!"

Time For One Last Kiss?

Fire Axe Fly

The Candy Colored Button

Vincent Price

Spider Web

"Gosh!  Look at that silly old human-headed fly!"

"I think we need to lay off the weed, old chap."  "Agreed."

I Spy A Spider's Eyes