Second Viewing: The Fly (1958)

The Fly is in that second tier of ’50s science fiction. I love the genre’s representation in the 1950s, but this doesn’t quite reach the level of something like The Day the Earth Stood Still or Forbidden Planet. This is more on the level of The Thing from Another World and The Quatermass Xperiment. There are some great ideas, a genuinely emotional story, and it’s all told very well.

The movie starts rather oddly, but rather cleverly after the majority of the story has taken place, and tells most of it in flashback. This really brings us in for a suspenseful ride, and it ultimately makes the ending all the more tragic.

So yes, it’s a movie about a man-fly monster, but it’s so much more than that.

It’s about the impulsiveness of the inventor, and how playing God can be a bad thing. And it’s quite emotionally moving in addition to being exciting and suspenseful.

Rating: 7/10