It'd be funny if life wasn't so sacred.

The Fly is directed by Kurt Neumann and adapted to screenplay by James Clavell from the short story written by George Langelaan. It stars David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman and Betty Lou Gerson. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Karl Struss.

When science goes berserk, The Fly finds Hedison as scientist Andre Delambre, who after successfully inventing the ability to transmit matter from one place to another - falls prey to a cruel slice of horrific fate...

Kurt Neumann would sadly pass away shortly after The Fly was released. Itself a terrible shame, it's doubly sad that he didn't get to see his film become a cult favourite with longevity assured. It's a film that smartly blends sci-fi with horror, and even managing to be fun into the bargain.

It's sometimes by modern observers accused of being too slow, but really it's a lesson in fine story telling. For at the heart of the tragic tale is a bountiful love story, the loyalty of a great wife in full effect. Throw in Andre's stoic pursuit of a science to benefit mankind, and this is a film that needs time to lay the story foundations.

Once we get to the horrors, and the surviving characters of the flashback structure play out this fateful tale, it simultaneously grips and fascinates. The effects work of course now looks a bit creaky, but those who first sampled them many decades ago have never ever forgotten the impact of the critical sequences.

Two pretty poor sequels would follow, which in turn would see a brilliant remake by David Cronenberg some 28 years later. Neumann's film is still a great piece of 1950s sci-fi, clinically adapted from a genius piece of short story writing. Loop holes exist, of course, but who cares, dive in and be haunted by what transpires on the screen. 8/10

**_“Help me, help me”_**

An inventor (David Hedison) creates an amazing teleportation device that leads to horrific problems. Patricia Owens plays his loving wife, Vincent Price his brother and Herbert Marshall an inspector.

"The Fly" (1958) is classic 50’s sci-fi/horror that led to two B&W sequels (1959, 1965) and two remakes in the 80s (1986, 1989). Just so there’s no mistake, this is in full color and was never B&W, as some misremember.

There are naturally dated aspects, but I find it more effective than the gory 1986 remake. Everything builds to the horrifying climax, which is iconic. There’s even some welcome human interest for those who watch closely.

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot at Fox Studios, Century City, Los Angeles. One source also includes Montréal, Québec, although I can’t figure out what scene(s) that would be.

GRADE: A-/B+

"The Fly" is a lot of fun with plenty of creeps shocks and even a bit of gore. Right from the start "The Fly" shows us a rather gory scene of a man who's head has been crushed by his wife using an industrial press. You don't normally see gore like this in any 50's sci-fi feature so this brings an initial shock. The story then settles in to recall the story of the characters leading up to the murder. We find out that the husband/scientist had invented a transportation machine that can beam things Star-Trek style from one cabinet to another. I don't think the story of "The Fly" is a mystery to any self-respecting sci-fi fan so let's just say the scientist tries to transport himself and well that's where the fun begins. The behavior of wife Helene is curious. She loves her husband so much that she goes to great lengths to help him. The story centers on her and that's a good thing because Patricia Owens shines as wife Helene. I really don't want to spoil what I think are some neat surprises but I have to say that the reveal of the scientist's transformation to Helene is a great moment. Even greater are his final moments of rage when he fights his crazed impulses until he ends up destroying his lab. Very late in the movie there is a scene that is very creepy and is one of my favorite sci-fi/horror moments of all time. It looks so weird and is such a shock...let's just say when you hear "Help Me! Help Me!" you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It scared the Hell out of me as a kid and still gives me shivers today. The only drawback of "The Fly" is that about 50 minutes crawl by before we get to the terrifying fallout of the scientist's experiments.