Quick Thoughts - The Fly (1986)

11/29/13: A notch in the argument for remakes being different than the original, David Cronenberg's take on The Fly is nothing short of brilliant. It's perhaps his most straight-forward film, though it's not without the usual Cronenbergian themes of mind and body, and the flesh, and he certainly doesn't skimp on the body horror achieved using great prosthetics and puppeteering. And amidst all of the gross-out scenes is a heart-breaking love story that is slowly winding down to a devastating inevitability that the part of you that likes happy endings in which people pair up dreads, while the other part of you that craves a more complex emotional dynamic can't wait to see. And it's all set to a beautifully operatic score by Howard Shore that haunts you long after the credits roll. One of the best in the filmography of a truly incredible filmmaker. ****