Capsule Review: The Fly (1986)

The director of Shivers and Rabid might be the last person you would expect to direct a big-budget special-effects filled science fiction remake of 1958's The Fly, but following his success with the Stephen King adaptation The Dead Zone, David Cronenberg was put in the unlikely driver's seat of a blockbuster. Not only did he deliver a genuinely chilling piece of science fiction/horror, he did it while maintaining - and evolving - his usual themes of melded flesh and body horror. Perhaps his most brilliant move was casting the otherworldly Jeff Goldblum in the lead, who gives an Oscar caliber performance as scientist Seth Brundle. He finds himself rapidly morphing into a half-man/half-fly after the creature gets mixed up into his teleportation experiments. Chris Walas' make-up effects are incredible, while Howard Shore provides one of his most effective scores. A huge critical and financial success, it was followed by the embarrassing The Fly II, starring Eric Stoltz.