Curse of the Fly (1965)

Truly Dreadful Film

Thanks for the memories!

Awesome Movie

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Henri Delambre (Brian Donlevy) is obsessively continuing the experiments started by his father and has succeeded in creating a machine that can transport human beings. He managed to transport himself from London back to Montreal, but ended up with radiation burns as a result. Despite his determination to carry on with his work, Henri's two sons, Albert (Michael Graham) and Martin (George Baker), are fed up and want to settle down into ordinary lives. Martin has married Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray) who, unknown to him has escaped from the local asylum. When she discovers three people - including Martin's real wife, Judith), who have been turned into deformed mutants as a result of Henri's botched experiments imprisoned in cells at the rear of the Delambre's country mansion; Inspector Charas (Charles Carson) of the local police is called. He becomes suspicious that the Delambre family are carrying on the failed work of Henri's father and, as a result, Henri attempts to destroy all the evidence and transport himself back to London. But, as you will expect, it all goes horribly wrong...A better than expected conclusion to The Fly trilogy which is notable because, unlike its two US made predecessors, this was shot at Shepperton in England at a time when that studio was struggling to find films to make and had laid off many employees. The film is pure scientific mumbo jumbo of the cheesy, drive in b-movie kind. Nevertheless, in the hands of the talented director Don Sharp, the results are better and a bit more polished than one would have expected. The opening sequence in which Patricia Stanley escapes from the asylum wearing only a nightdress is splendidly shot in slow motion as the credits unscroll and the theme tune played by the Royal Philharmonia Orchestra features, perhaps, the most beautiful and haunting piano forte of any horror film. In addition, there is another masterfully staged shock sequence where Patricia awakes in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm to hear piano music playing. When she goes to investigate she encounters Martin's real wife, the disfigured Judith, who was a distinguished pianist, at the piano. We learn that one of the Delambre's servants, Wan (played by the excellent Yvette Rees who was standout in Don Sharp's minor chiller, Witchcraft (1964) was devoted to her mistress and is not happy that Patricia has married Martin and stages the night time encounter so that Judith can attack her. The film is shot in excellent, unsettling black and white by Basil Emmott, a real veteran of British b-movies. Performances are generally good all round but Brian Donlevy who was superb in the Hammer Quatermass movies is less effective here as the mad scientist Delambre. Another let down is the climax that does not quite make the horrific impact upon the audience than it seeks perhaps due to the limitations of the budget and the schedule which I suspect was very tight indeed.All in all, Curse Of The Fly emerges as a better than average conclusion to The Fly trilogy which, to be honest, was never that strong anyway thanks to the handling of its director and crew who perhaps invested more effort into it than it deserved.

Third and final film in "The Fly" trilogy is set many years later, where three descendants of Andre Delambre are still trying to perfect the teleportation device, so that they can help humanity(and make a fortune) Carole Gray plays a mental asylum escapee who has married grandson Martin(played by George Baker) while his father(played by Brian Donlevy) is unhappy about it, but accepts her. She will discover that some unfortunate deformed people who had unsuccessfully gone through the machine are hidden away in the mansion, but survived. This will push her over the edge, as the Delambre family seems doomed... Pointless and inept attempt to revive this series is again damaged by a low budget, with ineffective makeup F/X and black & white filming, not to mention an unsatisfying end.

To be sure, there are genuinely scary moments in this film, but the cons outweigh the pros. The opening sequence of the lovely Carole Gray making her escape from the insane asylum is very atmospheric. PROS: She's in bra and panties and the scene is in slow motion. CONS: But then George Baker (as Martin) sees her running down the road ,in her skivvies, in the Canadian night, and MARRIES her!?Then we're introduced to Martin's father, Henri (Brian Donlevy). It seems he's recuperating from something on a couple of sawhorses. PROS: Good laboratory set. CONS: Mr. Donlevy's voice rises to a laughable squeek when he gets agitated. The family's curse is being fanatical about matter teleportation. "Imagine being able to send help where it's needed INSTANTLY!", squeeks Henri.Various other characters are introduced: Chinese servants (Tai and Wan), the director of the asylum, the police inspector, the misshapen human teleportation guinea pigs, etc. PROS: good makeup on the "failures". CONS: A Caucasian actress trying to portray an Asian house servant. It's stupid and offensive, especially when she speaks in "Engrish".It all goes to Hell in the end, of course. The former lab assistants are fused horribly into a large, multi-limbed, gelatinous mass. Daddy gets disintegrated. Martin keels over and ages into a skeleton. The police inspector leads the now numb Ms. Gray away as the music swells.Thank God it's finally... THE END

Even without the presence of Vincent Price, "Curse of the Fly" turns out to be quite the effective sci-fi horror thriller, and for me, a welcome treat courtesy of my local library, since I didn't know this third entry in the "Fly" series even existed until today. The picture effectively follows up on events of the original Price thriller, which I remember to this day as one of the all time great horror flicks to leave it's indelible impression on my youthful upbringing. Even if it doesn't have the audacity of 'Pleeeasee, help meee", I thought the picture did a real fine job of spanning the generations utilizing the original teleporter gimmick.But gee, what's with the whole VE3TTF Montreal/G2FRR London business? Did the Delambre's really have to go through all that protocol just to talk to each other? It seemed pretty clever the first couple of times, but wore thin after awhile, and after all, who else would it be on the other end of the line? But I guess that's part of what gives this flick it's unique character. What's really unique though was the way the picture opens. That was a head scratcher actually, I had to check the DVD sleeve to be sure I was watching the right movie. Escaping from the Fournier Mental Hospital (nice set up), Pat Stanley traverses the Canadian countryside in her underwear until rescued, so to speak, by Martin Delambre (George Baker) on his way back home to Montreal. Now think about this - without ever questioning why she might have been traipsing around in her undies, the couple spends a week together before Martin pops the question. Not exactly the best recipe for a lasting marriage, but then again, there have probably been odder scenarios.The fact that you never even see a 'Fly' in this movie shouldn't come as a let down; the whole idea of the picture supports the premise of a Delambre legacy that resulted in tragedy the first time around, and continues to rear it's ugly head, or other mutations as the case may be. The creature effects are reasonably daring enough without going over the top, thereby helping to maintain suspense throughout. If I were rating the trio of pictures in the 'Fly' series, I'd place this second to the original starring Vincent Price. Brian Donlevy is convincingly conflicted and creepy enough to take up the Delambre mantle as he tries to keep his sons in line with the scientific mission. Besides the principals, Burt Kwouk and Yvette Rees are convincing as the loyal Asian servants, but one has to wonder - Tai and Wan - Taiwan? Who makes this stuff up?