Of the three original films that make up the FLY trilogy, 1965’s CURSE OF THE FLY is clearly my favorite. I even prefer it to the David Cronenberg/Jeff Goldblum FLY from 1986 and its unfortunate sequel. There are a number of reasons for this. I always found the first two FLY films to be on the silly side and not very believable especially the second one. This version, made in England, retains the essence of the original story but dispenses with the title monster altogether. What we have instead is a focus on the merits/dangers of teleportation and a character study with striking similarities to JANE EYRE. The black & white photography gives the movie the look of an OUTER LIMITS episode which makes it more plausible and effective. Obviously made on a lower budget than its predecessors, CURSE still manages to deliver more shocks than the first two and in a more realistic manner but they are (fortunately) not nearly as graphic as in the Cronenberg film.
Journeyman director Don Sharp, who has made a number of my favorite British B movies (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, FACE OF FU MANCHU, PSYCHOMANIA) opens the film with a remarkable credits sequence. Filmed in slow motion, it features the heroine Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray) escaping from a Canadian asylum clad only in her underwear and then running down a highway at night. The scene is totally surreal and subtly erotic and immediately grabs our attention. We then follow her on her journey as she meets Martin Delambre (George Baker) who picks her up and, in classic B movie fashion, quickly falls in love with her, marries her, and takes her to his isolated home where trouble awaits. It is here that the Delambre family conduct their experiments in transporting people from one place to another without much success. The failures (which include Martin’s first wife) are locked up away from sight. Slowly but surely Patricia realizes that things aren’t as they should be and that she needs to get out of there.
Thrown into the mix are Martin’s brother Albert (Michael Graham) and their domineering father (Brian Donlevy) who is the driving force behind the experiments. Screenwriter Harry Spalding has created a tense, believable story of experiments gone awry and even manages to inject a little humor into the proceedings (the Asian servants are named Tai and Wan). Donlevy was reportedly in his cups during the filming and occasionally you can hear it in his voice but he gives a solid almost tragic performance. George Baker is very good as Martin who genuinely loves his new wife but has to take injections to keep from aging prematurely. However the movie belongs to Carole Gray who plays her “woman in peril” part without reverting to stereotype. The B&W photography is vivid and the film moves along nicely. If you value sci-fi that features ideas over effects, then CURSE OF THE FLY won’t disappoint.
The Capsule Critic 