Wednesday 21 September 2011
The Fly (1986) Notes
The Fly (1986 remake)
The film begins with Seth, play Jeff Goldbloom in the midst of a press conference.
He invites a woman back to his lab to show off one of his latest experiments which seems a lot more industrial than the previous film. Instead of locating it in the basement of his house, it is located in an abandoned factory. The 'telepods' as he calls them, have also gone through a significant redesign from the first film.
He takes a pair of tights from the woman and places it inside a telepod and initiates the procedure.
The film gets straight into the action, skipping the murder sequence and the inspectors from the 1958 movie.
The woman turns out to be a journalist, Veronica. She broadcasts the story, but her boss doesn't believe her and refers to Seth as a 'magician'.
As would be obvious by now, Seth, unlike the main character of the first film, doesn't seem to have a family.
He explains that he's going to attempt to teleport himself. Arriving back at her apartment, Veronica meets her boss there and apparently they have been together.
Later that evening, Seth experiments with a baboon in his teleporter. The baboon has turned inside out. This film exposes body-horror to the audience in its full form, showing everything in its entirety. This paticular scene was gut-wrenching and horrid--the perfect reaction from the audience.
He then shows that he has the same set of clothes for every day of the week.
Next morning, he experiments with a raw steak on a plate which had been teleported, then cooked and a steak which had been cooked normally. The teleported stake tasted synthetic due to the fact that the computer in the teleporter hadn;t learned how to teleport flesh.
Once sgain he teleports a baboon. After teaching the computer to teleport flesh, the baboon comes out unharmed.
However, it turns out that Veronica's boss has published the story.
After talking to the experimental baboon about Veronica, it shoos away a fly, perhaps the only reference to a fly in the first part of the film, unlike the older film, which constantly referenced flies. It flies inside with Seth, but he seems to come out the other side unharmed.
Unlike the first film, we actually see the teleportation take place with the fly and Seth.
We then see that the transformation into a fly-human hybrid is beginning to take place with the growing of small hairs on his back. We also see that he has grown immensly strong and athletic.
Later in a scene in a cafe, we notice that he's grown a taste for suger in his coffee and Veronica begins to notice the hairs growing from his back. Also, he has been extremely active and unable to sleep. After an argument with Veronica, he storms out of the lab
Finally, in another body-horror scene, he snaps a man;s arm duting an arm-wrestling contest in a bar. This is another example of body-horror rife in this film. He takes the brawler's wife to his laboratory for the night, during which the camera pans to the view of the bristles on his back.
He tries to force her through the teleporter, but Veronica interjects.
These scenes give the impression of more conflict between his human anf fly conciousness such as punching walls.
The transformation also has scenes of body horror--he peels off his finger nails and his teeth fall out.
We then find out that the fly and hum are fused on a genetic level. There isn't much mention of the fly post-teleportation unlike the 1958 film.
More body-horror as we see that Seth has been further transformed. His skin is slimey and riddled with boils. His ear also falls off and be pukes over his food to digest it like flies do. He also uses a pair of canes to walk on.
As the movie progresses, we see him transforming more and more into a fly-human hybrid. His skin is further engrossed with boils and he can also walk on walls and ceilings.
As a seemingly unrelated note in the movie, we find out that Veronica is pregnant with Seth's child. More body horror as we see the it is in fact an enormous maggot. Veronica wakes up from the horrible dream.
We find Seth trying to set a goal on the computer, but it cannot recognize his voice and his teeth fall out--yet more bodily horror.
We also see Seth's behaviour slowly grow more and more inselct-like with erratic, twitchy movements and a somewhat more eccentric personality.
Seth overhears Veronica protesting that she doesn't want his baby, which breaks his heart. Veronica wants an abortion. Suddenly, the mutant Seth bursts in and whisks her off.
Veronica's boss enters Seth's lab and loads a gun. Seth pounces him and dissolves his foot and hand before Veronica interjects him from devouring him. Seth then tries to convince her to go into the teleporter with him, but she objects and rips off his jaw as he finally transforms into a monsterous fly. Veronica's boss loads the gun and uses it as a crutch to lift himself up before finally shooting the porter. The monsterous seth breaks out and is only teleported halfway, rendering the teleportation useless. The half-teleported Seth comes out and points her gun to his head willingly. Remosefully, she shoots, killing him.
The film begins with Seth, play Jeff Goldbloom in the midst of a press conference.
He invites a woman back to his lab to show off one of his latest experiments which seems a lot more industrial than the previous film. Instead of locating it in the basement of his house, it is located in an abandoned factory. The 'telepods' as he calls them, have also gone through a significant redesign from the first film.
He takes a pair of tights from the woman and places it inside a telepod and initiates the procedure.
The film gets straight into the action, skipping the murder sequence and the inspectors from the 1958 movie.
The woman turns out to be a journalist, Veronica. She broadcasts the story, but her boss doesn't believe her and refers to Seth as a 'magician'.
As would be obvious by now, Seth, unlike the main character of the first film, doesn't seem to have a family.
He explains that he's going to attempt to teleport himself. Arriving back at her apartment, Veronica meets her boss there and apparently they have been together.
Later that evening, Seth experiments with a baboon in his teleporter. The baboon has turned inside out. This film exposes body-horror to the audience in its full form, showing everything in its entirety. This paticular scene was gut-wrenching and horrid--the perfect reaction from the audience.
He then shows that he has the same set of clothes for every day of the week.
Next morning, he experiments with a raw steak on a plate which had been teleported, then cooked and a steak which had been cooked normally. The teleported stake tasted synthetic due to the fact that the computer in the teleporter hadn;t learned how to teleport flesh.
Once sgain he teleports a baboon. After teaching the computer to teleport flesh, the baboon comes out unharmed.
However, it turns out that Veronica's boss has published the story.
After talking to the experimental baboon about Veronica, it shoos away a fly, perhaps the only reference to a fly in the first part of the film, unlike the older film, which constantly referenced flies. It flies inside with Seth, but he seems to come out the other side unharmed.
Unlike the first film, we actually see the teleportation take place with the fly and Seth.
We then see that the transformation into a fly-human hybrid is beginning to take place with the growing of small hairs on his back. We also see that he has grown immensly strong and athletic.
Later in a scene in a cafe, we notice that he's grown a taste for suger in his coffee and Veronica begins to notice the hairs growing from his back. Also, he has been extremely active and unable to sleep. After an argument with Veronica, he storms out of the lab
Finally, in another body-horror scene, he snaps a man;s arm duting an arm-wrestling contest in a bar. This is another example of body-horror rife in this film. He takes the brawler's wife to his laboratory for the night, during which the camera pans to the view of the bristles on his back.
He tries to force her through the teleporter, but Veronica interjects.
These scenes give the impression of more conflict between his human anf fly conciousness such as punching walls.
The transformation also has scenes of body horror--he peels off his finger nails and his teeth fall out.
We then find out that the fly and hum are fused on a genetic level. There isn't much mention of the fly post-teleportation unlike the 1958 film.
More body-horror as we see that Seth has been further transformed. His skin is slimey and riddled with boils. His ear also falls off and be pukes over his food to digest it like flies do. He also uses a pair of canes to walk on.
As the movie progresses, we see him transforming more and more into a fly-human hybrid. His skin is further engrossed with boils and he can also walk on walls and ceilings.
As a seemingly unrelated note in the movie, we find out that Veronica is pregnant with Seth's child. More body horror as we see the it is in fact an enormous maggot. Veronica wakes up from the horrible dream.
We find Seth trying to set a goal on the computer, but it cannot recognize his voice and his teeth fall out--yet more bodily horror.
We also see Seth's behaviour slowly grow more and more inselct-like with erratic, twitchy movements and a somewhat more eccentric personality.
Seth overhears Veronica protesting that she doesn't want his baby, which breaks his heart. Veronica wants an abortion. Suddenly, the mutant Seth bursts in and whisks her off.
Veronica's boss enters Seth's lab and loads a gun. Seth pounces him and dissolves his foot and hand before Veronica interjects him from devouring him. Seth then tries to convince her to go into the teleporter with him, but she objects and rips off his jaw as he finally transforms into a monsterous fly. Veronica's boss loads the gun and uses it as a crutch to lift himself up before finally shooting the porter. The monsterous seth breaks out and is only teleported halfway, rendering the teleportation useless. The half-teleported Seth comes out and points her gun to his head willingly. Remosefully, she shoots, killing him.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
'The Fly' 1958
My first ever viewing of this film was during the first week of the new CG Arts & Animation course I am now in. Overall, despite the film's age, this would perhaps be one of my favorite films along with other science fiction oldies such as Inner-Space (1987) and the Alien saga.
Notes and pictures for reference to be used in my final review:
'The Fly'
1985
Movie starts off at the 'end' so to speak with the main chatacter's sister in law killing her husband/fiance, Andre, via factory press twice.
Takes place in France.
Sister in law says she 'killed' her husband, but suggest she did not murder him. She then goes on to say that he did it himself.
During the beginning the film, she swats a fly as if to imply a personal hatred with them.
Inspectors discover Andre's laboratory. The constant buzzing of a fly can be heard.
Scene switches to the sister in law in bed having breakfast. The maid swats a fly which she thinks was her husband, Andre. Inspectors think the fly is representative of something symbolic in her subconsious.
The inspector has dinner with the sister-in-law's son who tells him about a fly with a white head and that he was told to look for it by his mother. Taking note of this, the inspector goes to her when she asks how long flies live. About a month. She asks for him to destroy it.
Flashback to earlier in the timeline before she killed her husband, we see Andre in his human form in a ;perfect' family. He shows her his new invention--a prototype teleporter.
He places his family heirloom in the teleporter which teleports it to the next room. However, it comes out the other end in reverse, discovered by the words 'made in Japan' written in backwards letters after coming out the other end.
He experiments with the family cat and put the cat and a bowl of milk into the teleporter together. However, Dandelo, the cat, does not appear in the next room , The only thing left is a bowl of milk.
After two weeks of tinkering with the teleporter, he finally celebrates with champaigne which he teleports to the next room. He then uses a guinea pig, which appears in the next teleporter.
Her son catches the fly mentioned near the beginning of the film.
Andre's wife then recieves a letter from him saying that he is in trouble and that he cannot talk. She fetches a bowl of milk and rum for him.
With that, she enters and Andre is wearing a towl to cover his head.
As she mentions that her son caught the fly, Andre leaps up from his seat, exposing a claw for a hand. She runs out crying.
Through a series of yes or no bangs, he communicates with her.
They begin the search for the fly with the white head.
Andre goes through the teleporter by himself in attempt to fix his mutation.
However, the process fails. The sister in law faints at the sight of his fly head. Angered, he destroys the teleporter. and rids himself of all the notes and plans.
He asks her to come with him in order to destroy both himself and the fly, writing the final words 'LOVE YOU' on the chalkboard as a final gesture of his humanity before it slips away. They go to the factory press featured in the beginning of the film. He sets the press himself and crushes himself beneath it. She misses the arm, placing it underneath it to crush him a second time.
Flash-forward to the 'beginning' of the film and the inspectors are debating whether or not the story is fact or fiction. One of them asks what he can do to prove the story is realm. 'Show me the fly' says the other.
After a walk in the park, the inspector ignores the fly with the white head who is trapped in a spider's web saying in a high-pitched voice: "Help me! Help me!"
The sister-in-law in arrested the next morning where the inspector admits that he never had the fly all along.
The little boy mentions that he saw the fly again in the web and he rushes to the other inspector.
They both go to the garden to witness a small Andre being eaten alive by the spider. The inspector picks up a rock and crushes both the spider and the Andre-fly.
ADDITIONAL:
Flies and insects in general are often thought of as filthy, verminous creatures. The use of flies in this film generates the 'squeemish factor' in the audience.
Though by today's standards the effects are old and almost comedic in a way, the last scene with the spider still generates a feeling of horror.
Notes and pictures for reference to be used in my final review:
'The Fly'
1985
Movie starts off at the 'end' so to speak with the main chatacter's sister in law killing her husband/fiance, Andre, via factory press twice.
Takes place in France.
Sister in law says she 'killed' her husband, but suggest she did not murder him. She then goes on to say that he did it himself.
During the beginning the film, she swats a fly as if to imply a personal hatred with them.
Inspectors discover Andre's laboratory. The constant buzzing of a fly can be heard.
Scene switches to the sister in law in bed having breakfast. The maid swats a fly which she thinks was her husband, Andre. Inspectors think the fly is representative of something symbolic in her subconsious.
The inspector has dinner with the sister-in-law's son who tells him about a fly with a white head and that he was told to look for it by his mother. Taking note of this, the inspector goes to her when she asks how long flies live. About a month. She asks for him to destroy it.
Flashback to earlier in the timeline before she killed her husband, we see Andre in his human form in a ;perfect' family. He shows her his new invention--a prototype teleporter.
He places his family heirloom in the teleporter which teleports it to the next room. However, it comes out the other end in reverse, discovered by the words 'made in Japan' written in backwards letters after coming out the other end.
He experiments with the family cat and put the cat and a bowl of milk into the teleporter together. However, Dandelo, the cat, does not appear in the next room , The only thing left is a bowl of milk.
After two weeks of tinkering with the teleporter, he finally celebrates with champaigne which he teleports to the next room. He then uses a guinea pig, which appears in the next teleporter.
Her son catches the fly mentioned near the beginning of the film.
Andre's wife then recieves a letter from him saying that he is in trouble and that he cannot talk. She fetches a bowl of milk and rum for him.
With that, she enters and Andre is wearing a towl to cover his head.
As she mentions that her son caught the fly, Andre leaps up from his seat, exposing a claw for a hand. She runs out crying.
Through a series of yes or no bangs, he communicates with her.
They begin the search for the fly with the white head.
Andre goes through the teleporter by himself in attempt to fix his mutation.
However, the process fails. The sister in law faints at the sight of his fly head. Angered, he destroys the teleporter. and rids himself of all the notes and plans.
He asks her to come with him in order to destroy both himself and the fly, writing the final words 'LOVE YOU' on the chalkboard as a final gesture of his humanity before it slips away. They go to the factory press featured in the beginning of the film. He sets the press himself and crushes himself beneath it. She misses the arm, placing it underneath it to crush him a second time.
Flash-forward to the 'beginning' of the film and the inspectors are debating whether or not the story is fact or fiction. One of them asks what he can do to prove the story is realm. 'Show me the fly' says the other.
After a walk in the park, the inspector ignores the fly with the white head who is trapped in a spider's web saying in a high-pitched voice: "Help me! Help me!"
The sister-in-law in arrested the next morning where the inspector admits that he never had the fly all along.
The little boy mentions that he saw the fly again in the web and he rushes to the other inspector.
They both go to the garden to witness a small Andre being eaten alive by the spider. The inspector picks up a rock and crushes both the spider and the Andre-fly.
ADDITIONAL:
Flies and insects in general are often thought of as filthy, verminous creatures. The use of flies in this film generates the 'squeemish factor' in the audience.
Though by today's standards the effects are old and almost comedic in a way, the last scene with the spider still generates a feeling of horror.
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