“Be afraid, be very afraid.”
The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg is notorious for his work with gruesome body horror and is considered one of the originators of this sub-genre. With flesh-tearing, nail-pulling, bone-breaking scenes that cause the audience to grip their seats, The Fly brings another level of social commentary and critique through symbolism and human psychology. Cronenberg targets numerous human fears as they show relevance to our society’s issues today.
Human Decomposition: As Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) turns into the infamous “Brundlefly,” he undergoes a painful transformation from human to a grotesque mutated fly. This uncontrollable transition plays upon the fear of human decomposition or the disability to maintain one’s identity and appearance.
People often dream about losing their teeth or hair unwillingly. Some myth scholars suggest this is a fear of aging as one’s teeth and hair show youth and vitality and the loss of such qualities indicate the approximation of death. When it comes to the loss of identity, Brundlefly is a perfect example of Seth’s struggle to stay healthy. This was relevant to society at the time as the spread of AIDS was beginning as suggested by Gerardo Valero in his review for RogerEbert.com.
“The Fly” was released at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic and was seen by many as a metaphor for the disease. — Gerardo Valero (Jan. 13, 2014)
As this transformation is demoralizing, it certainly incites a physical reaction from the audience as Cronenberg expertly illustrates the pain of Seth’s body changing.
Bodily Harm: Being Cronenberg’s contribution to horror, body horror is prevalent in The Fly. With the 80’s being the golden age for makeup in horror films, scenes such as Seth breaking an arm-wrestler’s wrist cause a psychological and physical reaction from the audience. The film itself is so immersive and when moments such as these surprise us, it’s increasingly effective.
One of the most grimacing scenes is when Seth begins to notice his nails falling off. Being one of the most painful processes one can endure, Seth pulls his nails out from his skin as a mysterious goo trails the now irrelevant nail. The makeup is top-tier and makes this scene so realistic, which inevitably causes a gut-wrenching reaction from the audience.
Returning back to the theme of decomposition due to disease, body harm can also be seen as Cronenberg features the fear of unwanted pregnancy as Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) struggles with becoming pregnant with Seth’s child.
Unwanted Pregnancy: Unwanted pregnancy and how to deal with it is undoubtedly one of the most controversial issues today. As abortion debates grow, Cronenberg creates an interesting tie with this issue as Veronica has to deal with a moral dilemma of keeping a monster’s child or not. Veronica doesn’t know if she became pregnant prior to Seth’s experiment or after.The fear of having a monster grow inside of you is (understandably) a terrorizing idea. Again, the makeup of the 80’s were at such a high level of skill that Veronica’s nightmare of giving birth to an enlarged fly larvae is so enticing and memorable.
Fear of Monsters: From Frankenstein’s monster to Werwolves in terrorizing the night, the fear of monsters has always been a prominent and popular fear. Stories of unnatural beings causing harm and dismay have been told for centuries. It’s interesting to note how this story also resembles the conventions of a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ romance film as one of the characters can’t resist their love for an outcast and in some cases, a literal monster.
More specifically, the monster seen in The Fly becomes increasingly terrifying as a fear of bugs and insects is very real to many people. The audience begins to see certain fly-like qualities emerge in Seth’s behaviour, and part of that fear comes from thinking ‘what comes next?’
This portrayal of a monster is creative, however unoriginal. However, it is incredibly effective which is why it has been done many times before. A scientist works on a high-concept project that is said to benefit man-kind as we know it. They are eager to begin testing on humans and finally find a participant or use themselves (almost every superhero movie ever?). Testing goes array and the results are pushed to an extreme.
The moments prior to the results have so much weight and hold so much suspense as one of our most prevalent fear is the fear of what we don’t know.
The Unknown: Darkness, the future, death. The fear of the unknown stems from multiple anxieties. The Fly utilizes the moments before the reveal to draw the audience in and keep them there. We, as the spectators, are eager to see the results of the experiment we suspect the fly must have altered expectations. Cronenberg’s use of dramatic irony is executed perfectly and makes the audience’s imagination run wild with possible outcomes.
Assuming that the audience will already have a limited knowledge of the story and plot, it’s interesting to note how engaging that moment really is. Seth’s transition is slow and painful rather than a quick and momentary change. This keeps the tension bleeding throughout the whole film until Brundlefly adopts its final form.
My reaction to Body Horror:
As one of the few body horror films I have seen, The Fly had me constantly thinking about the practicality of body horror as a tool in inciting fear into an audience. I enjoyed Cronenberg’s creativity during the arm-wrestling scene but I couldn’t get past the shiny makeup from the fake wrist. It’s such a small detail and one could argue that it’s not why we watch the film, but as a filmmaker myself, I can’t help critiquing the level of execution. I must say, I could not have done any better myself. However, I see this critique on the makeup as a opinion of hope, as I am excited to see how it will evolve in the following years. I will always advocate for practical effects in lieu of CGI.
It truly was an experience to watch and my favorite scene in the whole film was the nail-ripping scene. I was amazed at the makeup and couldn’t help but imagine what that would feel like. I was entranced by Goldblum’s acting and watched with a disgusted look on my face for a while.
It’s a genre that is risky to execute as replicating reality is such a difficult process when it comes to gruesome and gory moments. I will go forward by thinking that I can be entranced by the idea of what is happening on screen, and I will most certainly want to see more.
This M.A. student offers the opinion that Seth Brundle in The Fly is a depiction of rejected scientists of the time, as many experiments were shut down for financial and moral reasons. The poster (vornoff), insists that’s why many films of the time would adopt a scientific approach to their stories. As scientists would perform experiments on willing participants, Seth Brundle was impatient and took it upon himself to be the participant of his own experiment. The essay also differentiates The Fly to other scientist-monster relationships as Seth sees the transformation as a mistake rather than a deliberate result such as Frankenstein’s monster.
I found this interesting and relevant to my field of study as it serves as a reminder of how a genre can be re-animated through such subtle changes as changing a characters point of view in regards to the experiments. There is so much to learn from Cronenberg’s The Fly as it teaches us about the human condition, film as a messenger, and genre as a rekindling fire through time.
