Well, well, well.
As someone who hates body horror, this was probably not the film to watch as my little, fragile brain will never recover from the things I have seen. It’s gross, I won’t lie. And when I say gross, know that I am overselling how gross it is because I sometimes get nauseous during fart scenes during movies. But it’s a gory, body horror nightmare that all of you told me was so good, and so tragic, and would hit me right in the feels…
And you were so right.
The Fly remake is really good. As someone who has seen the original 1950’s version, where essentially it’s a fly head on a human body, my expectations for any rendition of this movie were particularly low before hearing from my friends and followers that it’s actually a movie with a plot. It follows the story of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), a scientist who is working on a teleportation device, allowing a participant to instantly travel from one place to another. While it works well on inanimate objects, it cannot handle living tissue going between. Brundle, in addition to being an accomplished scientist, has begun a relationship with Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis), a young journalist who starts chronicling his work in exchange for exclusive rights to the story.
Davis and Goldblum were dating at the time, and my assumption it adds to the chemistry between them. For the first half of this movie, I forget I’m watching a horror film and instead it feels like a sweet romance movie. Watching these two people genuinely fall in love is so heartwarming and sincere, with both Goldblum and Davis giving the performances of their lives. Goldblum has been praised for his role in this film on numerous occasions — but after watching it, it’s more than deserved. He is at his most likable and charming in this, which only makes what happens to him even worse.
While testing the pods on himself, a housefly enters the pod without his knowledge, fusing his DNA with the fly’s and beginning the slow but horrific transformation into the “Brundlefly” — a hybrid of both the fly and himself. I won’t lie, this is when the movie became mostly a radio play as I covered my eyes through a good chunk of it, but on that note the visual effects are spectacular.
The gore is effective in the storytelling which keeps it from being repulsive. It’s disgusting, yes, but you care so much about Brundle that you power through. And Davis really gets to shine in this second half, being the girlfriend who is so lost in the brutal chaos of what is happening but still is so in love and trying so hard to help him. Davis is one of the most talented actresses on earth, in my opinion, and watching her in this only strengthened my resolve in the sentiment.
Both Davis and Goldblum act out a doomed romance perfectly because neither wants to give up, no matter how grim things appear. It’s reminiscent of Greek tragedies — two star crossed lovers trying to defy the stars. The ending in particular, where it is up to her to end this suffering as Brundle becomes more monster than man, is so emotionally haunting. It’s tragic, it’s disgusting, but it is also a beautiful commentary on the selflessness of love. The gore is barely the focus as you just watch two promising people lose everything through no fault of their own, and that is such a gut wrenching but effective choice in the direction of this film. Audiences hardly remember they are watching a body horror piece, getting so lost in the romance of it all. It’s a reversed Beauty and the Beast and it really stuck with me in a way I was not expecting.
My more comedic resolve to the feelings this film left me with was to jokingly watch Earth Girls Are Easy, pretend Brundle’s fly evolution led him to be a blue alien, and one make over scene later he’s back to being Jeff Goldblum again and he can be with Geena Davis. But I think the better solution is to let the overall beauty of the film wash over the gore infused memories until all I can take away from the film is the love story.
Yet even so, the body horror in The Fly makes sense, and for the first time I was able to understand why body horror resonates with people. Despite the fact that it’s horrific things happening to the human body, it’s fundamentally a story about what makes a human. And it’s not the physical body — it’s the heart; watching Brundle lose that was more devastating than anything that happened to him physically. There is a deep appreciation for humanity.
I appreciate everyone who told me to watch this — whether you know me too well or just know a good film when you see one, I’m glad I put aside my fear of body horror and gave this film a chance. It’s rare cinema actually makes me feel things, but this film truly struck a chord in me and changed my outlook on life and love…and maybe a little bit on body horror too.