PopHorror Let's Get Scared
In 1986, Jeff Goldblum graced our eyeballs with more than his hairy chest in The Fly, and let’s face it, the more Goldblum we can get the better all our lives will be. David Cronenberg (Rabid 1977) gave us this cult hit motion picture.
Just three years later in 1989, Chris Walas, the creature effects artist from the first film as well as Gremlins (1984), Piranha (1978), Arachnophobia (1990) and House II: The Second Story (1987), delivered unto us the sequel to Cronenberg’s masterpiece, The Fly 2. Eric Stoltz stars as the son of the Brundlefly, searching for a cure to his mutating genes while being monitored by an evil, corrupt company that wants to continue his father’s experiments.
When was the last time you actually watched The Fly 2? If it’s been a while, now’s a great time to get all nostalgic. This film has been gestating for 30 years. Come with me, like a fly on the wall, as we look back with our many beady eyes to a time when dialogue was cheesy and over the top… to a place where animatronics and prosthetics makeup ruled the film industry. Welcome to Jurassic Pa— Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Warning: flies may have been harmed in the making of this retro look-back.
20th Century Fox picked up The Fly 2, which made sense since they released the first movie. Unfortunately, like many sequels, it was not as well received as the first. The Fly made $40 million at the box office, while The Fly 2 only made $20 million.
In many ways, The Fly is the better movie. Cronenberg was a master of his craft at that stage in his life. However, The Fly 2 also has a special place in the hearts of many. This was Chris Walas’ directorial debut. In fact, he has only directed two other projects since – an episode of Tales From the Crypt and the film, The Vagrant (1992). His true skill and power lies in the creature creation department. This is where The Fly 2 shines. In many ways, it’s two movies rolled into one. The first half could have easily been an early ’80s Disney film if it wasn’t for that fantastic opening, which was very reminiscent of Aliens (1986 – read our retro review here) and The Thing (1982 – read our retro review here). Even some of the sets are identical to other movies like E.T., D.A.R.Y.L and Flight of a Navigator, especially the observation scenes. People in lab coats watching a kid with an unusual power, check!
Essentially, The Fly 2 is a monster coming of age story. A young boy born from a womb in a cocoon tries to figure out who and what he is. Is he a hu-man or a monster-man? About halfway through the film, after some very interesting acting choices and long looks, cut together with hairstyles that only the ’80s could pull off, we get to the good stuff.
It’s like a reward for making it through the first half.
The tone shifts, the mood is altered and the monstrous monstrosity is revealed. But what I found very interesting about the movie as it neared the end was that it had the audacity to have a moral of the story. It dared to have a deeper underbelly to it. Bearing in mind that Fox put the film in the body horror genre, how could it still try to teach us something? But it does. Throughout the film – yes, including the miserable first half – I found myself asking, “Who is actually the monster here?”
That fact that it dared to do that was interesting to me. Unfortunately, this meant that any actually moments I might have found horrific did not work, because at no point was I scared. Rather, I was rooting for the mutation to win and kill. Kill, kill, kill. And boy, does he. I literally clapped and laughed at some points. The gore and effects are so very old school. It was glorious to watch. Think Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom melting face moment, or pretty much any scene from Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste (read our retro of that film here). The creature effects and animatronics at the time of this release were second to none, just fantastic, back-breaking, acid spitting, and wondrous.
In a lot of the ways, these old B horror movies are also a testing ground. If you follow the talent in front of and behind the camera, you might discover that there are a few legendary names hidden there. For example, one of the writers on this feature was Frank Darabont. Without Frank, we couldn’t have Shawshank Redemption, The Mist and The Green Mile. The Walking Dead would not have become what it has today. It was his mini-series adaptation that started it all.
Then there’s Mick Garris, who co-wrote the script with Darabont. Garris directed the 1997 TV miniseries The Shining, the miniseries The Stand and Bag of Bones, an award winning episode of Amazing Stories, Critters 2 (1988), Sleepwalkers (1992), Desperation (2006), created the two fan favorite horror TV series, Masters of Horror and Fear Itself, and wrote the script for Hocus Pocus (1993). That’s a lot of Stephen King-related stuff, so you know he must have been doing something right to get the King of Horror himself to sign off on his stuff.
The Fly 2…. it’s rough around the edges, genius in parts, proving ground for some and nostalgic ’80s body horror perfection, in the end. Worth every second.
