2. Brundlefly in The Fly
Watching David Cronenburgs The Fly is quite an experience. Of course its a horror film and you get gruesome special effects (Academy Award winning in fact) but the overarching reaction to the films events isnt so much fear, but rather an elongated sadness that pulls you down to the depths rarely repeatedly plundered by fiction (save for anyone keeping up to date with the Walking Dead comics). There doesnt need to be too much analysis for this one, The Fly is the deterioration of one man, Seth Brundle (played brilliantly by Jeff Goldblum) who strove to excel in his field and even managed to succeed in his big scientific experiment before, like so many inhabitants of Spidermans world before him, he fell victim to an accident. Brundle pours all of his efforts in getting his teleportation device working with living tissue following a mishap where a baboon is turned inside out. Once he has things working (and, bear in mind, having already tested in on a second, more fortunate baboon) he puts himself into the experiment. A risky move, obviously, but surely the experiment will either prove a great success or kill him relatively quickly. Sadly, a housefly enters the teleport pod with Brundle and from then on he painfully transforms into a horrific creature. He even goes mad, trying to fuse his girlfriend, their unborn baby and himself together into a sort of ultimate family all the while youre starting to forget the charming, brilliant man at the start of the film. Finally, when he realises all hope is lost, he begs to be put down, which his reluctant girlfriend slowly brings herself to do. Tragedy with a capital... well, everything.