"The Fly" is a really cool story which is sort of let down by fairly dull direction. It's never as horrifying as it should be, at least until the end.
The plot concerns a scientist who is found crushed by his own machine in a set-piece which is surprisingly bloody for a '50s picture. His wife admits to some involvement, but swears she didn't murder him. In flashbacks, we see the man invent teleportation devices which he uses on inanimate objects and then on animals. We learn that a mishap, perhaps due to this hubristic intrusion into God's realm, has led to the creation of a half-man, half-fly.
For much of "The Fly"'s run-time, I appreciated its story, but not the way it was told. Vincent Price, that actor of inimitable voice and bearing, does not, in fact, play the fly-man. His role in the movie is hard to account for. I understand that the audience might not have been expected to warm to the fly-man, but what about his wife? Could she not have been relied on to carry the movie, while at the same time providing a channel for pathos? I can't believe I'm having a hard time justifying Vincent Price's participation in a movie. It's not like his presence bothers you. It's just hard to explain.
Anyway, I was all set to give "The Fly" a seven out of ten. That is the rating I give to good movies which fail to hold my attention throughout due to pacing issues, or poor direction. Then I saw the ending, and what an ending. That will prove hard to forget, and was genuinely horrifying. Hence I would give "The Fly" seven-point-five out of ten, if IMDb would let me.
The plot concerns a scientist who is found crushed by his own machine in a set-piece which is surprisingly bloody for a '50s picture. His wife admits to some involvement, but swears she didn't murder him. In flashbacks, we see the man invent teleportation devices which he uses on inanimate objects and then on animals. We learn that a mishap, perhaps due to this hubristic intrusion into God's realm, has led to the creation of a half-man, half-fly.
For much of "The Fly"'s run-time, I appreciated its story, but not the way it was told. Vincent Price, that actor of inimitable voice and bearing, does not, in fact, play the fly-man. His role in the movie is hard to account for. I understand that the audience might not have been expected to warm to the fly-man, but what about his wife? Could she not have been relied on to carry the movie, while at the same time providing a channel for pathos? I can't believe I'm having a hard time justifying Vincent Price's participation in a movie. It's not like his presence bothers you. It's just hard to explain.
Anyway, I was all set to give "The Fly" a seven out of ten. That is the rating I give to good movies which fail to hold my attention throughout due to pacing issues, or poor direction. Then I saw the ending, and what an ending. That will prove hard to forget, and was genuinely horrifying. Hence I would give "The Fly" seven-point-five out of ten, if IMDb would let me.