The Fly

1958 horror movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A brilliant but obsessed scientist has invented a matter-transport device which he uses to create a defect on an ash tray and kill a kitty. Once perfected, while his sex-starved wife waits upstairs, he decides to test the machine on himself. But unfortunately and improbably, a fly sneaks in and the scientist winds up with a fly head and fly arm. And somewhere, buzzing about and irritating everybody, is a fly with his human head. Vincent Price, the scientist's brother-in-law, tries to get to the bottom of things.

Oh, man! Dig those special effects! When the fly-man hybrid is finally unveiled, it looks just like I'd expect--in my darkest of nightmares--a guy with a cheap fly mask to look like. This dorky effect is only topped near the end of the movie when you get to see the fly with the human head. There are some really silly bits of dialogue, especially when taken out of context. "[The cat went] into space. A stream of cat atoms." "You're a murderer just as much as Helen. She killed a man with a fly head. You killed a fly with a human head." "Is this the fly you have been looking for?" But it all kind of works as an original sci-fi flick with a creative premise. And, of course, you've got the incomparable Vincent Price playing "guy who looks disappointed and bewildered." Vincent Price, guys with insect heads, great female screams, a memorable ending. It all adds up to pretty good B-horror fare.