Return of the Fly (1959)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Edward Bernds

Writers:

Edward Bernds (writer)
George Langelaan (short story "The Fly")

Release Date:

July 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Blood-curdling giant fly creature runs amuck!!!

Plot:

15 years after the events of "The Fly," Andre's son does some transportation experimentation of his own.

Plot Keywords:

Experiment | Fly | Botched Teleportation | Inspector | Scientist

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Francois Delambre
Brett Halsey	...	Philippe Delambre
John Sutton	...	Insp. Beecham
David Frankham	...	Ronald Holmes, alias Alan Hinds
Dan Seymour	...	Max Berthold
Danielle De Metz	...	Cecile Bonnard
Jack Daly	...	Granville (reporter)
Janine Grandel	...	Mme. Bonnard
Michael Mark	...	Gaston (watchman)
Richard Flato	...	Sgt. Dubois
Gregg Martell	...	Cop
Barry Bernard	...	Lt. MacLish
Pat O'Hara	...	Insp. Evans
Francisco Villalobos	...	Priest
Joan Cotton	...	Nurse

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:K-18 (re-rating) | Spain:T | UK:12 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16

Company:

Associated Producers (API)

Trivia:

The movie double billed with The Alligator People (1959).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Francois and Philippe visit Andre's laboratory from the first film, the messages Andre wrote on the blackboard can still be seen. But at the end of the first film, Helene had told Inspector Charas she had rubbed them off the board to cover up Andre's experiment.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Francois Delambre: [voice over] Here passes from this earth Helene Delambre, widow of my brother, Andre, whom I loved deeply, hopelessly. She was destroyed in the end by dreadful memories, a recollection of horrors that did not dim as the years went on, but instead grew monstrously, and left her mind shocked and unsteady, so that death, when it came, was a blessed release.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Transformations: Looking Back at 'The Fly II' (2005) (V)

Enjoyable sequel, not on par with the original

THE FLY was a fairly classy, atmospheric sci-fi movie with some horror overtones. It was fun and campy, but also somewhat disturbing in its depiction of a man losing his humanity, a theme which was explored more deeply in David Cronenberg's astonishing remake.

RETURN OF THE FLY is basically a cheap follow-up which is better than it should be. This is mostly due to the always reliable Vincent Price, who returns as the brother of the scientist who became the fly-monster in the original. Here, he desperately tries to sway his nephew from following in his father's footsteps.

The movie concentrates on the son's attempts to recreate his father's teleportation equipment with a hesitant Price helping out, then shifts gears as his other partner, a British ex-con, is discovered to be attempting to steal the research.

This leads to a few misadventures with the teleportation machine resulting in a man becoming a human guinea pig (literally), and ultimately the son becoming a fly-monster himself.

Shot in stark black and white (as opposed to the original's lush Technicolor), RETURN OF THE FLY has a sleazy, grindhouse quality to it. Whereas the original explored the horror of losing one's mind and physical being, this time it's basically just a "monster roaming the countryside" scenario, with any psychological or philisophical aspects thrown out the window in favor of cheap thrills. And while the make-up effects are somewhat improved upon, the ridiculous optical effect of the son's head on a fly's body is unintentionally funny.

Overall, however, it's entertaining enough, and above average for the B-horror movies of the era, though it may be disappointing for fans of the original.