IMDb > The Fly (1958)
The Fly
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The Fly (1958) -- A scientist has a horrific accident when he tries to use his newly invented teleportation device.

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   5,025 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
George Langelaan (story)
James Clavell (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Fly on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1958 (Norway) more
Genre:
Tagline:
If she looked upon the horror her husband had become... she would scream for the rest of her life! more
Plot:
A scientist has a horrific accident when he tries to use his newly invented teleportation device. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
Gigerbrick: Remaking horror, one brick at a time.
 (From Fangoria. 13 November 2008, 12:05 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Scenes engraved on the mind more (78 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

David Hedison ... Andre Delambre (as Al Hedison)
Patricia Owens ... Helene Delambre

Vincent Price ... François Delambre
Herbert Marshall ... Insp. Charas
Kathleen Freeman ... Emma (Delambre maid)
Betty Lou Gerson ... Nurse Andersone
Charles Herbert ... Philippe Delambre
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
94 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rated) | West Germany:16 (nf) (original rating) | USA:TV-PG (tv rating) | UK:15 (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | UK:PG (video re-rating) (2001) | USA:Unrated

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Patricia Owens has a real fear of insects. Director Kurt Neumann used this by not allowing her to see the makeup until the "unmasking' scene. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When the fly is first revealed in the spider's web, when Vincent Price's character is unaware, you see the fly struggling in the web. The string used to make the fly shake is visible. more
Quotes:
François Delambre: You've commited murder just as much as Helene did. You killed a fly with a human head. She killed a human with a fly head. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Gameshow (2009) more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is it possible to read Langelaan's short story online?
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
more
23 out of 24 people found the following comment useful.
Scenes engraved on the mind, 28 August 2000
Author: existential from Near the Chesapeake

It's been said again and again that this is a good horror film. A Very Good film. But it is more than that.

I can still hear with my mind's ear (is that right?) the sound of the hydraulic press "WHUMP" and the echo. Then again that "WHUMP" ... is there another sound experience that reverberates through a movie like that?

Sure, surround sound, THX, all that tech stuff, but the sound as the manifestation of the crime that encircles this story, the horror as the mind tries to put together the images that (finally) is seen in a flashback as this scene bookends the start and "finish" of the plot.

The inner struggle of the scientist as he fights with his human hand to control the spasms of his "fly" arm is both horrible and heart-wrenching.

The shock as the cloth is torn away from the scientist's head... the fly's POV shot with facets and mirrors of the the screaming face of the scientist's poor wife! The scene at the spider's web as the shrill voice begs "help me... help me"

The horror of murder of a man/thing and a thing/man being shown and even compared in sharp (but obvious) dialogue.

You MUST see this and experience the earlier days of horror -when classics like this, like "The Thing From Another World," like "It, the Terror From Beyond Space" (the original model of Alien) exhibit a freshness and a palpable terror that remakes cannot capture, whatever wonderful special effects are thrown in to add to the creepiness. Sure these later gorefest horror films are good. I buy them all the time. But they are a different genre. The Fly with Vincent Price is NOT the same story as The Fly with Jeff Goldblum. It's not really a remake as a retelling.

See the original. It is rich with emotion and intelligence, not to mention some pretty fine acting for what was really a "B" movie.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Fly (1958)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Who's the voice of 'Help Me, Help Meeeee!!'? Kanamit99
am I crazy? pcontrol-1
Montreal? malpodian
Was this an X film? jellyjeremy
One of the creepiest scenes in horror film history rfgraham
Was that Hedison in the web? shandy8
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Recommendations

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