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The Fly (1958)/Return of the Fly (1959)

The Fly (1958)/Return of the Fly (1959)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Okay for a sequal, I guess.
Review: Second film in the Fly Series has Vincent Price returning to try and save his nephew from repeating the experiments that caused his father his life. But the same happens, the son also becomes a Fly, and it's up to his uncle to study the notes and see if he can reverse the process before it's too late. More depth and chararecterization and less on horror, but it makes for pretty good drama.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Catch this one
Review: The film opens with Phillipe (now grown) at his mother's funeral. Phillipe asks his uncle (Vincent Price)what exactly happened to his father, but Price will not say. Phillipe is determined to continue his father's expieriments, so he hires an assistant and works day and night trying to complete the work. The problem is his assistant is a criminal bent on stealing Phillipe's work and selling it on the underground. The assistant knocks out Phillipe and throws him into the dis-integration chamber with a fly, pulls the switch and, well, like father, like son. Good sequel holds onto science aspests of first film instead of just concentrating on the monster. The acting is very strong for the genre and the stark black and white photography really helps create a mood for this film. The first film is better,but this one is worth seeing too.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Fly is good but the sequel is a stinker.
Review: The first Fly movie (1958)works because of the good direction and editing.
It also has some innovative moments,such as the "multi eye" view of the character's wife and the shock "help me"ending in the spiders web.The director of the first film is sensible enough to either show a very close shot of the fly head or a quick long shot.The director of the second fly movie makes the mistake of not having these quick shots and the result is some awful and unintentionally funny scenes of a man with a big plastic fly head walking around.
It is simply a case of the director not thinking and learning from the first film and the Fly 2 travels into b-grade Ed Wood territory.
A truly awful sequel with overlong shots of the fly throughout.
A thought from a fan:why not just release the first film on it's own and spare fans the terrible second film?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Fly (1958)/Return of the Fly (1959) (1959)
Review: The Fly (1958)/Return of the Fly (1959) (1959) is a true sci fi classic with good special effects, descent acting and good soundtrack.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Classic
Review: The Fly is a true classic. A woman is arrested for crushing her husband in a steam press, she seems rather mellow about it, doing what she had to do, and it's up to the detective and her brother-in-law (Vincent Price) to make her tell the story - a flash-back. What follows is a truly disturbing tale of a scientific experiment gone terribly wrong, the concept being hilarious and truly horrible at the same time, while the matter-of-factly treatment sets the perfect mood.
The image-transfer is adequate, but the colours seem a little washed out. Although Return of the Fly is rubbish it's of course an appropriate B-side feature. It has a few incitingly surreal images, the protagonist running around the country side with an enormous bug head for example. Being in black and white it looks better than the first one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It Came from the 1950s--And It's Great!
Review: THE FLY is one of those rare 1950s-era flicks that successfully combines the science fiction and horror genres into a genuinely literate and, yes, scary piece of entertainment. The pseudo-scientific babble may seem less plausible in light of the advancements in genetics that have occurred since 1958, but the script is tight and the story gripping, the acting is top-notch, and the creepy spider-web scene still manages to haunt viewers long after the movie has ended.

By now, of course, the basic plot of this film is well known. When a scientist experimenting with the electronic teleportation of matter uses himself as a guinea pig, some of his atoms are inadvertently mixed with those of a housefly that has managed to sneak into the machinery with him, and the result is quite a pesky problem for the scientist, his loving wife, and his milquetoast brother.

Vincent Price delivers one of his best performances ever in THE FLY. More restrained and earnest than in his later wonderful but over-the-top performances of the '60s and 70's, Price is very affecting as Francois Delambre, a meek businessman who, in coping with his brother's hideous accident, must comfort his sister-in-law while staving off the overzealous police. The beautiful Patricia Owens gives a strong performance as Helene Delambre, a woman who finds the inner strength she needs to protect her husband, even though protecting him might also mean destroying him. And David Hedison, as scientist Andre Delambre, and Herbert Marshall, as Inspector Charas, also do quite adequately.

Even after almost 45 years, the special effects in THE FLY hold up quite well. Although the depiction of computers is a bit outdated, the teleporation effects are very convincing. They are just flashy enough to give a sense of technological wonder, but restrained enough to avoid that garish visual hyperbole common to a lot of '50s sci-fi. So, too, with the make-up effect for the human-fly hybrid. It is quite realistic and eerie, and it still manages to shock modern viewers in spite of all the amazing advancements in cinema make-up that have taken place since.

There are, of course, the inevitable comparisons with David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of the film. Cronenberg's version is admittedly more in-tune with modern scientific knowledge. Also, his special effects are more modern and very realistic, and his actors are superb working with a script that is quite literate. But in many ways the original 1958 version is much more engaging, and it has a climax that is, psychologically speaking, much creepier. Cronenberg's film may be a masterpiece of modern sci-fi horror, but the 1958 version of THE FLY is undoubtedly a classic.

This DVD version of THE FLY comes paired with 1959's THE RETURN OF THE FLY. In spite the presence of Price in a reprise of his role in the original film, this sequel is far inferior to the first. The story is weak, the special effects are cheesy, and, with the exception of Price, the acting is sub-par. However, the DVD is very modestly priced, making it worth purchasing just to get original THE FLY.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Fly, A monster film where the monster is no monster!
Review: The Fly is the movie I want to introduce my nephew to the great world of atomic age horror films. When I was twelve I watched the Late Show with my best buddy Sam Byars' house in my pajamas. The film was really great but we positively freaked at the end. The image of the fly with the human head screaming Help me! HEELP me! never gets out of your head. What is so marvelous about The Fly and other sci fi movies in that era is they weren't played with a knowing tongue in cheek as is the case with so many horror films of the '90s. They give the film star treatment and play it as a serious drama. The Fly is a complex well written movie. We are introduced to the story in the still shocking opening sequence, then we rewind the story to uncover what led to the murder. Then just when you think the film has unraveled everything, "The Fly" rolls forward to the shocking finale. Rather than be just a monster movie, The Fly is a human tragedy about teleportation experiment gone terribly wrong. Its a cautionary tale to warn scientific progress pushed beyond our ability to understand can produce unimaginable terrors. Next its a crime story as we try to unravel the events that lead to a gruesome murder. Lastly it is about a family in a life or death crisis. Mom and dad dealing with a serious crisis while trying to protect their little boy from the terrible truth. The little boy Phillipe's naivety is cleverly used as an irritation to heighten the tension and add dark humor in a frustrating situation. The stakes are very high in this film and it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Personally I am only interested in the original classic and haven't seen Return of the Fly. However the modern David Cronenberg version of the fly is more gorey but also very good. I can scarcely wait one more year to permanently scar my nephew's mind. : )

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great movies
Review: the fly, return of the fly, and curse of the fly

are must haves you must get these movies

the fly has such a great script wich will keep you on the edge of your seat.

return of the fly has a good script,but cheesy sp.e.

curse of the flys script is kindy lame but is made up for by its amazing sp.e.

if you dont have this then you should

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Crisp transfer of these 2 Fly classics
Review: The only reason this Fox DVD doesn't get a 5-star review is the lack of extras. Both films are presented widescreen and the quality is stunning. The audio tracks are good as well. However, the only extras are the trailers. C'mon, fellas! You can do better than that!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Crisp transfer of these 2 Fly classics
Review: The only reason this Fox DVD doesn't get a 5-star review is the lack of extras. Both films are presented widescreen and the quality is stunning. The audio tracks are good as well. However, the only extras are the trailers. C'mon, fellas! You can do better than that!


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