The Canadian king of body horror does what John Carpenter and Philip Kaufman did before him by transforming the kitschy, B-movie sci-fi premise of a 1950s classic into a modern masterpiece of identity horror. Like all of Cronenberg’s most iconic work, The Fly, uses the repulsive, grotesque terror of bodily malfunction to reflect upon the internal horror of personal loss and lack of control. The premise here begins with a straightforward hubris of man narrative, but the compelling chemistry between Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, combined with the genuinely disturbing descent into inhumanity as the film goes along, makes the film a comparable Greek tragedy, with all the pathos that entails. It’s also just a marvel of effects wizardry, creating a compelling multi-stage transformation from human to mucus-encrusted monster that even the most resilient of viewers will struggle to stomach. The horror of The Fly remains one of the best executed within the entire canon, and the crown jewel of Cronenberg’s illustrious career in making us squirm to our very core.

Timestamps:
0:00: The Foo Geeks: Dave Grohl Appreciation
8:45: Tromaville: The Toxic Avenger & Psycho II
23:42: Memories of Murder Remastered
32:08: David Byrne’s American Utopia
54:36: The Fly

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