Hi Dean,

Thanks for the reviews. I pretty much agree with your assessments,
and like you, I haven't seen the 3rd film (Curse of...). I didn't
much like the 80's remake.

I agree that the first film was very well done, and aside from the
final scene, the first revelation of the "Fly's" head was intense
and very famous. Very well done for it's time, though it looks a
little cheap-o now. When I saw this film as a youngster that final
scene was really chilling to me, and actually stuck with me for
years in my nightmares. The second film was interesting in a bad
50's sci fi/horror kind of way, but definitely lower grade than the
original.

AMC is showing both the first two films next month. I'll post the
schedule when it gets a little closer.

Mark

--- In sonsofkong@yahoogroups.com, "Dean" <sonofvulcan@a...> wrote:
> I heard about these for years before I was actually able to see
one.
> The first one of course is most famous for its ending scene with
> the "human-fly" trapped in the spider's web crying out in that
oddly
> funny voice. But I have to admit before you get to that (I'm sure
at
> the time much more shocking ending) there is some pretty decent
movie
> making. The story structure is clever. The use of flashback to
tell
> the overwhelming majority of the movie gives the flick a whodunnit
> quality to helps to glue together the peculiar science bits. This
> movie is not about the poor soul who becomes the monster fly, but
> rather about the wife who struggles to aid him and about the
brother
> (Vincent Price) who must accept the impossible. It's a pretty
clever
> approach.
>
> The sequel is much more a straightforward monster flick. The Fly-
> monster this time is even more ludicrous and the crimestory
backdrop
> is sufficient to give an excuse for the second disastrous melding.
> The most incredible thing about this movie is the ending. The
tragedy
> of the first film is totally lacking in this movie intent on a
happy
> ending at all costs and sense. The scenes of the Fly-monster
actually
> tracking around raising havoc are pretty funny (unintentionally)
and
> the hamster-man is openly absurd. The moviemakers here weren't
taking
> their material seriously and it shows. That's often death for a
> monster movie, but despite that the pace of this one keeps me
going
> despite the impossiblity of many of the motivations.
>
> I have never seen the third movie in this sequence...Curse of the
Fly
> I think it's called. The descriptions I've read don't make me hold
> out a lot of hope that it's an improvement on the second one,
leave
> alone the first.
>
> The 80's remake of the Fly is a very odd movie. Gore over horror
> undercuts many potentially chilling scenes. I want my stomach
> tightening in tension, not rolling in nausea. The characters in
this
> movie are singularly unlikeable, but they do play against
> expectations enough to raise questions. The man who saves the day
> begins as a rather dastardly fellow but we begin to see there is
more
> to this guy than at first we thought. Jeff Goldblum looks more
like a
> fly to me in the beginning of the movie than later when he's
hidden
> under layers of crude make-up. The payoff of this movie is
peculiar
> to say the least, and I think the director (Cronenberg I'm pretty
> sure) tacked on one too many endings and so undercut his own
pacing.
>
> What do you all think about them Fly movies?
>
> Dean