The Fly Turns 40 and It’s Still the Most Heartbreaking Horror Movie Ever Made
Nobody Was Ready for This Movie
We walked into the theater on August 15, 1986, expecting a creature feature. A fun little sci-fi horror about a guy who turns into a bug. Maybe some jump scares. Maybe some goo.
Nobody was ready for what David Cronenberg actually made.
The Fly wasn’t just a horror movie. It was a love story. A tragedy. A two-hour gut punch that left you sitting in the dark staring at the credits wondering what just happened to your emotions.
Forty years later, it still does that.
And if you caught it on VHS a year or two after release, in somebody’s basement with the lights off? You remember exactly how it felt. That movie didn’t scare you the way a slasher scared you. It made you sad in a way horror movies weren’t supposed to.
Jeff Goldblum Was Never Better
Here’s something wild. The studio didn’t want Jeff Goldblum. They wanted a bigger name. Mel Gibson was offered the role and turned it down to make Lethal Weapon. The shortlist included Michael Keaton, John Lithgow, Willem Dafoe, and John Travolta.
Cronenberg pushed for Goldblum because he was willing to spend five hours a day in prosthetic makeup. Five hours. Every single shooting day for the later transformation stages. Five pounds of prosthetics on his face before he could even start acting.
And what he did with that role was extraordinary.
Seth Brundle starts the movie as the most charming, awkward, brilliant weirdo you’ve ever seen. Goldblum played him like a nervous puppy who just discovered the secret to the universe. He’s magnetic. You fall for him immediately, the same way Veronica does.
Which is exactly what makes everything that comes next so devastating.
The transformation isn’t sudden. It’s slow. Stage by stage. First he’s just… different. Stronger. More confident. Then the skin starts changing. Then the fingernails come off. Then the ears. And Goldblum plays every single stage with this horrible awareness of what’s happening to him.
That scene where he looks in the mirror and says he’s becoming “Brundlefly”? He’s trying to joke about it. That’s the most human thing in the movie. When everything is falling apart, you make jokes. We all do that.
Geena Davis Made It a Real Love Story
Here’s the part most people don’t talk about enough.
Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum were actually dating during filming. Cronenberg was initially hesitant to cast her because of their real relationship, but Goldblum pushed for it. He knew what it would bring to the screen.
He was right.
Their chemistry wasn’t acting. When Veronica watches Seth deteriorate, when she holds his hand while pieces of him are literally falling off, when she makes the decision at the end… that’s not movie magic. That’s two people who actually loved each other playing out the worst possible version of losing someone.
People call The Fly a body horror movie, and it absolutely is. But strip away the telepods and the insect DNA and what you’ve got is a story about watching someone you love change into a person you don’t recognize anymore. About a disease that takes them piece by piece while you stand there unable to stop it.
Cronenberg has said publicly that the movie is about aging. About disease. About the inevitability of the body betraying us. Every person who has watched a parent or partner go through something terrible recognizes what Veronica goes through. That’s why The Fly hits so much harder than a regular monster movie.
It’s why people cry at a horror film.
The Practical Effects Won an Oscar
Chris Walas and Stephan DuPuis won the Academy Award for Best Makeup. And they earned every bit of it.
The transformation required seven distinct stages, each more horrifying than the last. More than 30 crew members spent three months in pre-production designing and building over two dozen prosthetic rigs, puppets, and full body suits.
Stage one looks like a bad allergic reaction. Blotchy skin. Nothing too alarming. By stage four, Goldblum was wearing complete facial appliances and a full body suit. By stage five, the daily makeup application took a minimum of four hours.
None of this was CGI. In 1986, practical effects artists were gods, and The Fly might be their greatest achievement. Every oozing wound, every falling body part, every strand of mucus was real, physical, on set, in front of the camera.
The vomit? A mixture of milk, eggs, and honey. The melting hand effect used the same technique as the melting face in Raiders of the Lost Ark. A wax sculpture over the real hand, slowly dissolved under hot lights while the camera ran at low speed.
When people talk about why 80s horror still looks better than modern CGI creatures, this is the movie they’re thinking of. Because even when your brain knows it’s fake, your stomach doesn’t.
The 40th Anniversary Screenings
The horror community is celebrating the anniversary properly. Multiple theaters are running special 40th anniversary screenings throughout 2026.
HorrorBuzz hosted a full Horror Movie Night event at The Frida Cinema in Orange County with trivia, prizes, and a themed pre-show. The Waldo Theatre in Maine ran a one-night-only screening presented by The Emporium Spooky Goods. ArtsQuest is hosting a 40th anniversary screening. And the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline has featured the film alongside live events.
If you get a chance to see this on a big screen, take it. The Fly was made for a dark theater. The sound design alone is worth the ticket. And watching Seth Brundle’s transformation on a screen larger than your body hits completely different than your TV at home.
Why The Fly Still Matters at 40
Every few years somebody tries to make “elevated horror.” A horror movie that’s really about something. That has themes and emotional depth and acting performances that could carry a drama.
The Fly did all of that in 1986 and nobody called it “elevated” because the word hadn’t been invented yet. They just called it terrifying and sad and brilliant.
Jeff Goldblum gave one of the greatest performances of the decade. Geena Davis proved she could carry emotional weight that would break most actors. David Cronenberg made a studio horror movie that doubled as a meditation on mortality. Chris Walas built practical effects that still look better than anything a computer has rendered since.
And the ending. The ending of The Fly is one of the most devastating moments in 80s cinema. If you know, you know. If you haven’t seen it, go find it. But maybe have tissues ready.
Because The Fly isn’t really about a man who turns into an insect. It’s about loving someone and losing them to something neither of you can control. And that’s a horror that never gets less scary, no matter how many years pass.
If you grew up in the 80s and you’re looking for more trips down memory lane, check out our 80s Movies guide for the complete list. And don’t miss our coverage of Aliens turning 40, Stand by Me at 40, and Transformers: The Movie at 40. 1986 was one of the greatest years in movie history and we’re covering all of it.
For more 80s deep dives, explore our 80s Nostalgia guide.
FAQ
When did The Fly come out?
The Fly premiered on August 15, 1986. It was directed by David Cronenberg and starred Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle and Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife.
Did The Fly win any awards?
Yes. Chris Walas and Stephan DuPuis won the Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 59th Academy Awards in 1987. The practical transformation effects are still considered some of the greatest ever created.
Were Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis really dating during The Fly?
Yes. Goldblum and Davis were in a real relationship during filming and later married in 1987. Their genuine chemistry is a major reason the love story feels so authentic. They divorced in 1990.
Who else was considered for the role of Seth Brundle?
Mel Gibson was offered the role but turned it down to make Lethal Weapon. The studio also considered Michael Keaton, John Lithgow, Willem Dafoe, James Woods, Richard Dreyfuss, and John Travolta before Cronenberg fought for Goldblum.
Are there 40th anniversary screenings of The Fly in 2026?
Yes. Multiple theaters are hosting special screenings, including The Frida Cinema in Orange County (with HorrorBuzz), The Waldo Theatre in Maine, ArtsQuest, and Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. Check your local independent theaters for screenings as August 15 approaches.
