I am polishing off a book on Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg; I take a break and, on the Net, read that he has just signed with 20th Century Fox to remake his 1986 take on The Fly.Terrific movie, by the way. It was my favourite (mainstream release) that summer. Jeff Goldblum was perfect in the lead role; as a viewer, you felt the bizarre transformation (into a '67 Chevy... if memory serves) along with him.
Like many people my age, I was introduced to the 'man turns into a fly' (I was kidding about the Chevy) idea by director Kurt Neumann's 1958 classic picture, The Fly. Al (later "David") Hedison does a believable (?!) job playing the part of a man victimized by his own experiments. Oh, and the cat sound effect... it is so chilling I laughed when I saw The Fly again last year. It alone is worth the price of admission. I loved that cat.
3 comments:
Remaking his own remake? I would have expected more from Cronenberg, though I'm sure if the studio leaves him to his own devices, he will come up with something interesting.
THE FLY, even with its not-so-special effects, is definitely an example of how to make a horror film, because it considers the human element, and asks big questions.
Funny, if someone told me to let Cronenberg remake one of his films with updated effects, I wouldn't have picked THE FLY. I would have chosen SCANNERS, EXISTENZ, or VIDEODROME. Still, Hollywood knows best. ;-)
Let's face it, by popping in a 'hot' current name the idea is fresh enough to warrant a new production. It's all about box office, to the suits.
While I do not agree with your point that the effects are not-so-special (I saw clips of a few weeks ago and they are even better than I remember), I do agree with the idea that the 1986 film is a thinking-man's effort.
From a visual effects standpoint there is that whole new dimension of CGI.
Cronenberg will do a fine job, I know it.
Am I wrong for not being as excited about Cronenberg's films for the past 20 years as most Canadians are?
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