Canadian and American audiences got their first look at The Fly on 15 August 1986.
I love the original version of The Fly. The remake takes the concept and reworks it in fundamental ways. Obviously, the film gets rid of the glorious but silly fly head. But more important from a story perspective, the main character slowly changes. Thus, he is much more important for the plot. In the original, he’s barely in most of the film, even though David Hedison gets top billing.
Of course, this is a David Cronenberg film. The material is perfect for him. And this probably explains why The Fly is the gooiest of his films.
The Fly and Shivers are probably Cronenberg’s purest body horror works. Obviously, most people consider him a body horror director. And you can easily make the case that 5 of his first 6 feature films were body horror. But I like my body horror sticky. Films like Bite never fail to delight me.
Cronenberg seems to be talking about something deep in this film. He contrasts the metamorphosis of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) with what happens to women during pregnancy. This explains the subplot of the pregnancy of Ronnie (Geena Davis). But the released film lets this subplot die with Seth begging Ronnie to keep his child.
The Butterfly Baby alternate ending takes place some time later when Ronnie is pregnant with Seth’s rival, Stathis (John Getz). We go inside her womb to find a fetus with butterfly wings. It “flies” toward a circle of light.
What does it mean? You can read it in many ways. Maybe it is Seth’s child. Maybe Ronnie’s genes have been changed due to her aborted pregnancy with Seth’s child. Or maybe Ronnie is just fantasizing. I don’t know. Actually, I don’t much care.
What is interesting is that the film ends on the idea of pregnancy. And thematically, I think that’s stronger. But dramatically, the released ending works best. Without it, I suspect the film would have died at the box office. And that would likely have deprived us of at least some of Cronenberg’s later films.
You can watch The Fly (1986) for free:
Other 15 August Anniversaries
Filmmakers
- Charles Gemora (1903-1961): Make-up artist and gorilla performer in countless films including Murders in the Rue Morgue. He also played a Martian in The War of the Worlds.
- Mike Connors (1925-2017): TV’s Mannix. He was also in a number of Roger Corman films including Five Guns West and Day the World Ended.
- Nicolas Roeg (1928-2018): Director known for Don’t Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth.
- Lori Nelson (1933-2020): Actor known for a variety of psychotronic films including as Rosie Kettle in two “Ma and Pa Kettle” films, Francis Goes to West Point, and Revenge of the Creature.
- Gaylen Ross (1950-): Documentary filmmaker who retired from acting where she starred in Dawn of the Dead and Madman.
- Ben Affleck (1972-): Movie star who’s made a ton of films including the rather good Daredevil.
- Natasha Henstridge (1974-): Star of the Species films, The Whole Nine Yards, and Ghosts of Mars.
Films
- Curse of the Crying Woman (1963): A woman goes to visit her aunt, who is a witch and has bad things in mind.
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963): Jason searches for the Golden Fleece in this Ray Harryhausen epic.
- Targets (1968): A young man goes on a killing spree that ends with him face-to-face with a horror film icon.
- Apocalypse Now (1979): Heart of Darkness but in Vietnam.
- Manhunter (1986): FBI profiler hunts serial killer.
- Event Horizon (1997): Crew resues a ship that has been missing for seven years.
- Freddy vs Jason (2003): Sure, why not?
- Snakes on a Train (2006): After much mumbo jumbo there are snakes on a train.
- Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007): a student’s professor seems to be turning into the monster that killed his family.
- Mirrors (2008): A security guard at a long-closed department store sees strange things in the mirrors.
The Fly (1986) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
