The Fly (1958)

François Delambre: "No, Helene and Andre believed in the sacredness of life. They wouldn't harm anything, not even a fly."

By Kurt Neumann
With Vincent Price, David Hedison and Patricia Owens

I saw The Fly (1986) three years ago when I decided to watch most movies by David Cronenberg but I never got around to actually see the original. For that reason, I decided to watch The Fly when I had the chance.

When François Delambre recieves a phone call by his sister-in-law, Helene Delambre, late in the evening he can't believe what she's telling him. She killed her husband, François' brother, Andre at their factory. They were a loving couple with a young child. François doesn't understand and neither does the police inspector, but with Helene admitting it and the correlation of the night watch seeing her there is hardly any doubts she did it. Helene who first played insane will tell the story to her brother-in-law and the police inspector, through a flashback we will see what led to this gruesome hydraulic press death.

I knew the story beforehand but I was quite pleased with the movie a lot of elements were changed and the wife telling the story from a flashback was a good way to handle the mystery. The scientific devices are quite funny but pretty cool looking if you keep in mind this film is reaching 55 years old. The few creepy scenes are really well built up and they can still catch you off guard. The movie reaches a middle ground of mystery and crime through sci-fi with a pinch of horror, a mix that should please a wide range audience. It does suffer from some flaws and I think the ending could have been left more open to interpretation. I think the exploration of Helene's supposed insanity would have been more interesting at some points. The chase for the fly had some comical events which I am not sure were intended.

I liked: A good mix of genres. Typical early horror. Great costume and technological device.

I disliked : The ideal happy ending. Predictable characters.

72/100
It doesn't disappoint even if you've seen the remake, but admittedly, I'd have to give the remake the upper hand.