The Fly (original)

As part of our metamorphasis project, we watched the original Fly film. Made in 1958 and directed by Kurt Neumann, it is a classic 50's horror film, including overdramatic scenes of the woman screaming and fainting. Not full of the special effects we are used to today, this film uses a rubber mask for the effect of the fly head and other prosthetic makeup such as the fly 'hand', which invokes different views from different people such as Film4 who said 'Despite one of the silliest concepts in horror cinema- Price admitted being unable to keep a straight face during filming- there is something irresistable about this tale of a man who swaps heads with a housefly.' However, IMBD found this film to have a more psychological theme, saying 'this one grabs your psychological neck, shakes it about and forces you to answer serious questions regarding the scientific exploits of man.'

This film is quite dated now, and doesn't have the same effect on the audience as it did back in its time. Most of the effects in this film are laughable to us such as the big reveal of the fly, which would have terrified audiences. The New York Times also found this film laughable but had this to say 'If this story sounds like a sidesplitting howl, it doesn't play that way. Not with the shaking, hooded figure lunging at a blackboard for 'Plees help- find fly- LOVE YOU''.

The film did have some good points, such as the ending when the little human fly is in the spider's web crying 'help me!'. The editing in this part did build some tension as it cut between the spider and the fly caught in the web, and made you feel as though you were trapped with the fly. It almost made you feel sorry for the creature.