Episode 51: Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986) – March 13th, 2016
“Be afraid….be very afraid!”
Welcome back to the Horror 101 show where we are continuing to Educate your Fears. With the new Ghostbusters film coming our conversation turned to remakes recently and when it was disclosed that the World Famous Brian Stewart hadn’t seen David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of Kurt Neumann’s The Fly (1958 with Vincent Price) then we knew exactly what Episode 51 was going to be. David Cronenberg has been called the Canadian David Lynch because of his bizarre and sometimes confusing narratives. Whatever your opinion of his style, there is one thing that we can all agree on and that is Mr. Cronenberg knows horror and he isn’t shy about using gore and grim nastiness to tell a story.
In our opinion The Fly is a great achievement that rivals Carpenter’s The Thing for great 80s remake status. Its as tragic as it is terrifying. The Fly has amazing performances from Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. An astounding classical score from Howard Shore and some of Chris Walas’ most horrifying special effects ever filmed. Join us as we dissect the film and its production in this retrospective show and give the Horror 101 treatment to Cronenberg’s The Fly.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
01:00 Introduction to The Fly (old and new)…
05:30 The $5 bet…
07:15 The chemistry between Davis and Goldblum…
10:25 From celebration to tragic mistake…
13:40 The Compound Fracture…
14:30 Be afraid…be very afraid!
16:50 From Euphoria to Deterioration…
18:30 The horror is coming…
19:40 Puking on the Donut (vomit drop)
21:00 Guess who’s pregnant!
22:40 “I’ll hurt you if you stay”
24:50 Nood enters!!
25:12 The torment of Stathis (Chris Walas effects)…
28:35 Not disclosing the ending…scoring the film.
31:36 Conclusion…
Directed by David Cronenberg
Produced by Stuart Cornfeld
Based off the short story by George Langelaan
Starring:
Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle
Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife
John Getz as Stathis Borans
Joy Boushel as Tawny
George Chuvalo as Marky
David Cronenberg as Gynecologist
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography by Mark Irwin
Creature effects by Chris Walas
All video, pictures and audio used from The Flyis copyright © 1986 by SLM Production Group and Brooksfilms. Used for educational purposes. No reproductions of any kind.