8 Horror Movies Where Only One Person Dies

8. The Fly

Even now, 34 years after its release, David Cronenberg's The Fly is a gloriously gruesome movie whose practical effects work stands out as something truly special.

As science fiction and body horror collide, the determined scientific drive of Jeff Goldblum's Seth Brundle results in a terrifying hybrid creature that eventually becomes more fly than man. The initial plans of Seth was to master teleportation. And while he had some success on that front, Brundle hadn't accounted for an unassuming fly to be in one of his telepods at the time he opted to test out teleportation for himself.

The end result of that, famously, is that Brundle and this fly fuse together, with the eccentric scientist slowly losing his human emotions and capability of thought - not to mention his physical appearance - as things hurtle from scientific discovery to grim and creepy transformation.

Loosely based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story, Cronenberg's The Fly only features one casualty. That casualty being Goldblum's Seth Brundle - who, in a moment of clarity at what he's become, is killed off after begging Geena Davis' Ronnie Quaife to put a bullet in his human-fly hybrid head.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 22nd Jun 2020

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