RETURN OF THE FLY (1959)
I recently rewatched The Fly (the original, that is). Man, what a freakin' movie. How's that for intellectual commentary? Somehow, I had never seen the follow-up, a true sequel that follows the events of its predecessor. Ol' Vinnie Price returns as the distressed uncle of Phillippe Delambre, the son of the scientist who found himself caught in a teleportation chamber (or "disintegration cabinet," as it's called here) with a common housefly. I don't need to recapitulate the whole story, but you should know that Return of the Fly isn't a simple rehash of what came before. Phillippe shows an interest in continuing his father's research. Price - I believe his name is Francois - is reluctant to assist the young man. He agrees to help against his better judgment under the caveat that he will attempt to dissuade Flyboy Jr. at every step. The project needs funding, however, and that's where conflict comes into play.
I'm being intentionally vague. The plot consists of many moving pieces, and as long as you're on board, you'll enjoy trying to guess where the narrative is going to take these characters. Obviously, Price is the main attraction, but I also liked Brett Halsey as the humorless and headstrong Phillippe. The special effects are all sorts of fun. Compared to the first Fly, we get more shots of the monster...um, monstering. The film does feel scaled down, even though the sets have simply been repurposed. I suppose some will see the black-and-white photography as a demotion, but those people are horribly misguided. Flies are black anyway. It's not like we're missing out on a spectrum wheel of fluorescent greens and pinks. On second thought, that would be awesome. I digress!
You can skip 1965's Curse of the Fly. It doesn't actually have anything to do with flies, if you can imagine that. What's next, a Halloween movie without Michael Myers???
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