The Fly: 8 Reasons Why Cronenberg's Body Horror Is The Best Remake Of All Time
2. The Fly Is Still Relevant As A Cautionary Tale
As well as its ability to shock and symbolise, The Fly holds up well as a cautionary tale for the scientific community, highlighting the pitfalls mankind could plunge into when meddling where they shouldn't.
In a sense, the movie is about a machine turning on its creator - not with the out-and-out malice of Terminator's Skynet, but the cold logic it presents when greeted with two generic patterns was Seth's downfall.
Cronenberg rams this point home at the movie's climax when a mortally-wounded Brundlefly is merged with one of the telepods - as was the case with blood transfusion pioneer
Alexander Bogdanov,
our protagonist's life's work literally kills him.
This scene is alluded to early in the film with a clever piece of foreshadowing when Seth rolls on one of his circuit boards in bed and it becomes embedded in his back, a subtle nod to Brundlefly being merged with his own technology later on.