Entertainment
Iconic, R-Rated Sci-Fi Thriller Is A Deadly Experiment Gone Horribly Wrong
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm famously said, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should,” in 1993’s Jurassic Park. Tragically, this wasn’t a message Seth Brundle was yet aware of in 1986’s The Fly because his commitment to science in David Cronenberg’s masterpiece doesn’t echo that sentiment at all. A terrifying entry about technological malfeasance and the dangers of unchecked experimentation, The Fly is a body horror classic from a genre master. It is not for the faint of heart, but every sci-fi horror fan owes it to themselves to watch it at least once.
It’s easy to see why critics at the time reveled in The Fly’s storytelling and cinematography, with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert respectively ranking it in their top 10 and top 20 films of 1986. It is raw, disturbing, and brutally clear about how fast an experiment can go wrong, with no way to pull back once the damage is done, making for an intense and visceral viewing experience.
The Obsession Quickly Takes Hold
The Fly centers on Seth Brundle, a man of science who is consumed by his developing telepod technology. At the outset, Seth can only teleport inanimate objects, which impresses science journalist Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis), who wants to publish his findings at the urging of her editor, Stathis Borans (John Getz). Seth convinces Ronnie to hold off until he can teleport living matter, promising her a better story. That pressure drives him to rush his research, which first results in a failed (read: horrifyingly graphic) baboon test, then a successful one. Swept up in the excitement, Seth and Ronnie grow close, and Seth’s surge of confidence allows him to keep pushing forward in his research.
In a reckless leap toward human trials, Seth uses himself as a guinea pig, unaware that a fly has slipped into the telepod with him. The transport works, and Seth is ecstatic, but he has no idea what just happened to his DNA. He soon becomes fascinated with his sudden surge in strength and agility, as well as his amplified sexual appetite, chalking it all up to a scientific breakthrough. Ronnie, who cares about him and has the clearer head, is disturbed by the physical changes that begin to manifest, all signs pointing to something deeply wrong with his experiment.
From Nobel Prize Potential To Terrifying Transformation
Seth, amazed but horrified by his transformation, pushes forward with his research, even as it destroys him, both physically and mentally. Once Seth realizes the severity of what he has done, he knows there is no going back because the mutation has fully taken hold. The fly’s biology steadily consumes him, turning him into a monstrous version of himself. Every step of the way, his obsessive work undermines the validity of the technology he wanted the world to celebrate.
As Seth transforms from a brilliant scientist to a man-sized fly, his humanity slips away. Flies do not care about ethics, safety, or the lives of others, which makes Seth dangerous to anyone who tries to help him. Cronenberg never spares the audience from the grotesque reality of this process. The Fly is packed with creature effects and sound design that can make even the most stoic movie watcher queasy. Once Seth first teleports, the film shifts into a downward spiral that is not for the squeamish, delivering one of the most graphic descents into madness in sci-fi horror history. Seth spent so much time wondering if he could, that he never stopped to consider if he should, which feels like a lesson an older, wiser Jeff Goldblum would shake his head at.
A Perfect, Unintentional Double-Feature?
I can’t help but wonder if that Jurassic Park line held any weight for Goldblum while shooting the 1993 film because Dr. Ian Malcolm is cautious to a fault, and completely right. If only Samuel L. Jackson’s John Arnold had been around to tell everyone to hold onto their butts, maybe Seth’s research would have been approached more carefully. But he wasn’t, so it wasn’t. That’s fine, though, because The Fly, much like Jurassic Park, shows exactly what can happen when the pursuit of scientific excellence goes terribly wrong. All that tells me is that you can watch The Fly and Jurassic Park back to back and accidentally create a disturbing double feature about hubris and science gone sideways.
The Fly is streaming on Hulu.
