David Cronenberg’s THE FLY (1986) Turns 40: The Greatest/Grossest Love Story Ever Told

THE FLY (1986) d. David Cronenberg (USA/Canada)
THE FLY II (1989) d. Chris Walas (USA/Canada)

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After years of building a reputation as a fiercely intelligent filmmaker that deftly combined gooey special effects, challenging technical concepts, and emotional narrative heft, Canadian David Cronenberg finally hit the jackpot in this updating and reimagining of the 1958 classic, THE FLY. Rather than the simple swapping of heads and hands, brainy inventor Seth Brundle (played to perfection by Jeff Goldblum) sees his transporter pods inadvertently become gene splicers when a wayward fly enters the equation.

ELEVATOR (2011) review

Elevator (2011) (1st viewing) d. Svendsen, Stig (USA)

Another low-budget effort about a group of people trapped in a confined area (a prominent theme for the festival this year), stripped down to its barest bones with this single set, near real-time thriller about the titular flying box that gets stuck between floor with an impressive but not unbelievably diverse mix of individuals on board. Tensions predictably rise, but screenwriter/producer Marc Rosenberg has a few original tricks up his sleeve, and Svendsen keeps the energy and shocks clipping right along. The always welcome John Getz shares the screen with Chicago actor Joey Slotnik and a septet of others (including the long absent Shirley Knight), and suffice to say, things don’t turn out pretty as the best and worst in all comes to the fore.