THE FLY (1958)/RETURN
OF THE FLY (1959)Directors: Kurt Neumann, Edward L. Bernds
Twentieth Century Fox
THE FLY (1958)/RETURN
OF THE FLY (1959)THE FLY: Based on the story by George Langelaan, THE FLY was a huge hit back in 1958 and is still submerged in our pop culture today--chances are if you go about saying "Help me! Help me!" in a squeaky, high-pitched voice, most people will know what you're talking about... that, or they'll think you're a loony and steer clear of you (like they do to me--but that's besides the point).
Al (later David) Hedison stars as Andre Delambre, a brilliant young scientist who manages to perfect a way to teleport an object (or person) from one of his teleportation chambers to another. However, when he is about to go through the chambers himself, he unknowingly transports along with a fly--with ghastly results.
Oh, sure, it's talky and campy by today's standards, but it's still a ripe slice of American 50s sci-fi and you simply gotta love it for that alone. Vincent Price stars as Francois, Andre's brother, who tries to put all the pieces of this bizarre puzzle together.
RETURN OF THE FLY: A good 20 years have passed (but we're still driving 1950s cars) since the disastrous events occurred in THE FLY. Phillipe Delambre (Brett Halsey) is on his way to becoming a brilliant scientist like his father. His uncle, Francois (Vincent Price again) has been financing his research--but keeping a close eye on him to prevent him learning the horrible family secret.
When his mother passes away, Phillipe demands he be told what really happened and, much to Francois' dismay, he is told the incredible tale. This, however, does not prevent Phillipe from following in his father's footsteps and soon he has rebuilt the original machinery and discovers why his father had such a bad time.
Made on a significantly lower budget than the original, RETURN OF THE FLY manages to be even campier than it's predecessor, thanks to the fact that it was written and directed by Edward Bernds, a director of classic comedies featuring The Three Stooges and The Bowery Boys. Personally, it's my favorite in the series--possibly due to it's small portions of dark humor... the eerie B&W photography this time around helps considerably, too (I think).
Well, looks like Fox has given us another bare DVD--this time a wonderful (and much needed) double feature disc (one movie per side). Each film is presented in their original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (both are 16x9 enhanced, too!) and contain English and Spanish subtitles. THE FLY features a newly created English 4.0 Surround track as well as an English 2-Channel Surround and French Mono. RETURN OF THE FLY contains a newly created English 2-Channel Surround and an English Mono track.
The only additional features are previews for all of the Double Feature DVDs released (this one, the remakes of the Fly movies and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA/FANTASTIC VOYAGE). Unfortunately, the seldom seen third film in the series, CURSE OF THE FLY, is not here, nor do I think we may see it on DVD for several years (if ever!). The film remains to be elusive and even a VHS debut is doubtful--pity, really.
I'm sure there may be a re-release of this disc later down the road. Fox should see about getting some of the surviving stars (David Hedison and Brett Halsey really aren't doing that much these days, you know) and possibly recording some commentaries. And if there are any unused scenes still intact, it would be a joy to see them. In any case we are blessed with these two classics, and the fact that Fox lowered the SRP from $34.98 to $24.98 a week before release is even better. (Adam Becvar: bastardo@thegrid.net )