RETURN OF THE FLY (1959)
Article #630 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-5-2002
Posting date: 4-30-2003

The son of a scientist who was transformed into a half man/half-fly follows in the footprints of his father by continuing his experiments.

I’ve always had a fondness for the original THE FLY; the movie had strong characters, a compelling sense of mystery, and an emotionally resonant story. This immediate sequel retains some of the basic plot elements, but throws out the above qualities and replaces them with stock situations; there is no mystery, the characters are ordinary, and the story is routine. Vincent Price is the only actor returning from the original, but he’s consigned to a fairly uninteresting role. The acting and the effects aren’t bad, there are some memorable images, and those who prefer more conventional and predictable stories may even prefer this one to the original. Me, I miss the inner conflicts that fleshed out the character of the monster from the first movie; this one is just a typical marauding monster once it cuts loose. It’s not a bad movie by any means, but it is several steps down from the original.