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Newcomers to science fiction might not know where to start diving into this strange and fantastical genre -- or even if it's worth the ride. But, good news! Sci-fi is incredibly versatile, containing elements and expectations that fit into several subgenres like action, horror, romances, and even comedies.

The World Fantasy award-winning Ray Bradbury once told The New York Times (via Reuters), "In science fiction, we dream." Sure, the genre allows writers, filmmakers, and viewers to imagine far-flung, fantastical worlds and creatures. But it's also a clever way to comment on humanity. Bradbury also said, "Science fiction is also a great way to pretend you are writing about the future when in reality you are attacking the recent past and the present." Sci-fi asks questions like: What might the world be like if we all suddenly learned that we are part of something larger?

Here's a chronological list of landmark...

Don Kaye Jan 2, 2020

The Fly remains one of sci-fi’s strangest and most iconic franchises.

The Fly -- the 1958 version or the 1986 remake, take your pick -- stands as one of the most memorable sci-fi/horror hybrids of its time. So it’s not surprising that Scream Factory recently released one of its now-standard deluxe boxed Blu-ray sets, containing all five films in the series and a truckload of special features, some ported over from the films’ separate DVD releases and others brand new.

What’s that, you say? All five films? Correct. For most people, the title The Fly brings up two iconic images: either David (Al) Hedison with a giant fly’s head on his shoulders or Jeff Goldblum in heavy prosthetics as he mutates into the monstrous amalgam known in the 1986 film as Brundlefly. Casual viewers may not be aware that the original film spawned two sequels,...

[This Halloween season, we're paying tribute to classic horror cinema by celebrating films released before 1970! Check back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic horror films, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Halloween 2019 special features!]

As a child of the ’80s, my primary version of The Fly is the David Cronenberg body horror extravaganza. It’s a favorite of mine not only because of its timeless practical effects, but also because it’s one of the great tragedies of its day. So when I first visited Kurt Neumann’s version from 1958, I assumed I’d need to brace myself for a campier, creature feature sort of vibe. But I was surprised to discover a film that truly is a spiritual predecessor to its remake. Both films explore a man’s mental and physical deterioration and the tragic consequences for those around him, but Neumann takes a very different path to get there.

The broad strokes are the same: a scientist invents a teleportation machine, gets ahead of himself in the experimentation process, and accidentally merges with a fly when the unlucky insect joins him in...

The blacklist strikes back as both writer Ben Maddow and director Martin Ritt examine the booming ’50s phenomenon of The Suburbs. No money up front will get you into an ‘estate’ of your dreams, provided you’re white. Possibly a little too direct in its messaging of sickness in the American dream, much of what we see in the ticky-tacky subdivision of Sunrise Hills will ring true to those of us who lived it.

No Down Payment

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date April 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Joanne Woodward, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, Pat Hingle, Robert H. Harris, Aki Aleong, Charles Herbert, Mimi Gibson.

Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle

Film Editor: Lois R. Loeffler

Original Music: Leigh Harline

Written by Philip Yordan, front for Ben Maddow; from the book by John McPartland

Produced by Jerry Wald...

Back when interracial marriage was a shady topic (are those dark days coming back?) the U.S. military had some adjustment issues. Full integration of the ranks didn’t remove the anti- Japanese bigotry. James Michener’s novel has been transformed into a big-scale romance, with Marlon Brando coming to terms with a split in loyalty between the flag and his private life. The big shock is that the Paul Osborn’s screenplay doesn’t let the military off easy.

Sayonara

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 147 min. / Street Date November 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Marlon Brando, Patricia Owens, James Garner, Martha Scott, Miiko Taka, Miyoshi Umeki, Red Buttons, Kent Smith.

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks

Film Editors: Philip W. Anderson, Arthur P. Schmidt

Production Design: Ted Haworth

Original Music: Irving Berlin, Franz Waxman

Written by Paul Osborn from the novel by James Michener

Produced by William Goetz...

By John M. Whalen

In MGM’s 1958 Western “The Law and Jake Wade,” Robert Taylor rides down from the Sierra Nevada mountains early one morning into a small town and busts his old partner-in-crime, Clint Hollister (Richard Widmark), out of the hoosegow. Hollister is a nasty guy. Not satisfied with escaping a hanging, to Jake’s dismay, he clubs the sheriff and shoots a couple of people out in the street while he and Jake make their getaway. Jake has to take his rifle away from him to keep from killing more people.

Back up in the mountains Clint wants to ride on with Jake but Jake says no. He busted Clint out of jail because he figured he owed him for doing the same thing for him once. Now they’re even. Clint doesn’t agree. There’s that matter of the $20,000 they stole on their last job together.

“Charming” is not often a word associated with horror films; it’s counterintuitive to what the genre usually stands for—you know, terror and tension, followed by release and a sense of ease, then repeat—but yet here we are with a romantic tale about a boy, a girl, a teleportation device, and the insect that comes between them. Welcome to the world of The Fly (1958), where the hosts are welcoming, the police polite, and the monster bug-eyed.

Released by Twentieth Century Fox in July, The Fly pulled in $7 million against its $300,000 budget, enticing audiences with a tale often told at the time—sold as another Atomic Age Monster Mash, The Fly instead uses a much smaller (and human) canvas to convey a message of obsession and the love that ultimately ends it. Having said that, you also get a man with a fly head and some neat-o transportation sequences,...

Many of MGM’s productions were scraping bottom in 1958, yet the studio found one more acceptable western vehicle for their last big star still on contract. Only-slightly corrupt marshal Robert Taylor edges toward a showdown with the thoroughly corrupt Richard Widmark in an economy item given impressive locations and the sound direction of John Sturges.

The Law and Jake Wade

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens, Robert Middleton, Henry Silva, DeForest Kelley, Henry Silva, Burt Douglas, Eddie Firestone.

Cinematography: Robert Surtees

Film Editor: Ferris Webster

Written by William Bowers from a novel by Marvin H. Albert

Produced by William B. Hawks

Directed by John Sturges

As the 1950s wore down, MGM was finding it more difficult to properly use its last remaining big-ticket stars on the steady payroll, Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor. Cyd...

Hey, Ib Melchoir’s Opus Mars-us is back, in a not-bad new scan and color-grading job. If the nostalgia bug has bitten you deep enough to appreciate a fairly maladroit but frequently arresting space exploration melodrama, this may be the disc for you. Let’s be honest: Nobody can resist the allure of the fabulous Bat-Rat-Spider-Crab, and in glorious Cinemagic, no less.

The Angry Red Planet

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1960 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Street Date June 27, 2017 / 17.28

Starring: Gerald Mohr, Nora Hayden, Les Tremayne, Jack Kruschen.

Cinematography: Stanley Cortez

Film Editor: Ivan J. Hoffman

Original Music: Paul Dunlap

Written by Ib Melchior from a story by Sid Pink

Produced by Norman Maurer & Sid Pink

Directed by Ib Melchior

Unjust though it may be, not all Savant reviews make the national news feed, but my old 2001 coverage of the pretty miserable MGM DVD of The Angry Red Planet got quoted all over the place,...

More than 30 years after David Cronenberg’s body-horror benchmark hit theaters and nearly half a century since Kurt Neumann’s version did, “The Fly” is ready to be loosed upon the world once again. Deadline reports that J.D. Dillard, whose directorial debut “Sleight” premiered at Sundance last year, is in talks to co-wrote and direct a new take on the sci-fi story for Fox.

Read More: Sundance Review: ‘Sleight’ Is An Intriguing Blend Of Street Sensibilities, Mysterious Magical Science & Coming Of Age Tropes

Alex Theurer, who co-wrote “Sleight,” will once again serve as Dillard’s writing partner. Their previous collaboration, which stars Jacob Latimore as a street magician who begins selling drugs to make ends meet for himself and the sister he’s raising on his lonesome, arrives in theaters on April 7 courtesy of WWE Studios and Blumhouse. Dillard and Theurer are also at work on “Sweetheart,” a thriller starring...

It’s a new year but we’re still looking at remakes and what makes them good or bad. For our latest article, we’ve got one of the good ones as we break down David Cronenberg’s The Fly.

It’s often the case where the original film is clearly better than the remake, or sometimes vice-versa. In this case, however, it’s actually hard to determine which of them is better because they’re both so well done. Both were financially successful and well-reviewed. Both versions inspired sequels. For horror fans, both versions of this film are worth a viewing. Additionally, they both had great poster catchphrases. The 1958 version had, “He was once human!” and the remake had the even more memorable “Be afraid! Be very afraid!”

The original version of The Fly (1958), based on a short story by George Langalaan, was made during the sci-fi boom of the 1950s,...

Top Ten Scream Queens: Barbara Steele, who both emitted screams and made others do same, is in a category of her own. Top Ten Scream Queens Halloween is over until next year, but the equally bewitching Day of the Dead is just around the corner. So, dead or alive, here's my revised and expanded list of cinema's Top Ten Scream Queens. This highly personal compilation is based on how memorable – as opposed to how loud or how frequent – were the screams. That's the key reason you won't find listed below actresses featured in gory slasher films. After all, the screams – and just about everything else in such movies – are as meaningless as their plots. You also won't find any screaming guys (i.e., Scream Kings) on the list below even though I've got absolutely nothing against guys who scream in horror, whether in movies or in life. There are...

Scariest movies ever made: The top 100 horror films according to the Chicago Film Critics (photo: Janet Leigh, John Gavin and Vera Miles in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho') I tend to ignore lists featuring the Top 100 Movies (or Top 10 Movies or Top 20 Movies, etc.), no matter the category or criteria, because these lists are almost invariably compiled by people who know little about films beyond mainstream Hollywood stuff released in the last decade or two. But the Chicago Film Critics Association's list of the 100 Scariest Movies Ever Made, which came out in October 2006, does include several oldies — e.g., James Whale's Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein — in addition to, gasp, a handful of non-American horror films such as Dario Argento's Suspiria, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre, and F.W. Murnau's brilliant Dracula rip-off Nosferatu. (Check out the full list of the Chicago Film Critics' top 100 horror movies of all time.

We’re almost done with our Vincent Price trailer spotlight, but weren’t going to stop without featuring The Fly. Here’s a look at the original trailer and we’ve also included some high-resolution promotional photos that we featured earlier this year:

“When a scientist (David Hedison) attempts to transfer matter through space, things go horrifically wrong and two grotesque man-fly hybrids are created. Now, with the head of a fly and a wing in place of one of his arms, the scientist desperately hopes that he, his wife (Patricia Owens) and his brother (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant and reverse the experiment.”

If you’d like to catch up on the other trailers we’ve recently featured, visit the following links:

The Pit and the Pendulum The Abominable Dr. Phibes Fall of the House of Usher The Masque of the Red Death The Haunted Palace Scream and Scream Again...

While growing up, I among the last generation that got to watch classic black and white and early color horror films day and night. Before talk and game shows became cheap fare, New York stations would run movies before dinner and throughout the evening. Some were cheesy, even to my pre-adolescent eyes, but others were just downright scary. Among the latter was the effectively creepy The Fly. 20th Century Home Entertainment has just released this beloved classic on Blu-ray and it has been nicely transferred to enthrall a new generation.

Of course, many of the readers here probably only know the fun and weird remake by David Cronenberg, which does nicely stand on its own, but the original is well worth a loo, too.

Released in 1958, it was one of Fox’s truly great horror/sci-fi offerings after decades of inferior efforts. The film is based on the forgotten George Langelaan...

Kurt Neumann’s 1958 science-fiction film The Fly has finally had its day on Blu-ray, in a new release from 20th Century Fox. How very pretty it looks.

The Fly differs markedly from many other science-fiction/horror films of its ilk. Scientist Andre Delambre (David (Al) Hedison) is far from the typical mad scientist we’re used to seeing in stories like Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Andre’s greatest desire is to do good, not evil; his inventions are by way of helping the world rather than a simple desire to aggrandize himself. He’s trying to do humanity a service, and part of the film’s horror is in how little he deserves what happens to him.

The film begins almost at the end of the story. Andre is dead, crushed by a hydraulic press in his own factory, his head and arms obliterated beyond recognition. His...

“Help me!” The Fly shocked 1950s audiences, but you may not realize that the “Merchant of Menace” Vincent Price is more of a supporting character (he still gets top billing) and that David Hedison is the titular fly. The technology may be very 1950s but the Fly makeup is still very effective and the transfer is great. Andre Delambre (David “Al” Hedison) is dead. A night watchman found him in the hydraulic press at the Delambre factory; both his head and hand had been liquefied into a bloody mess (really quite gruesome considering that this is from 1958). His wife Helene (Patricia Owens) was seen running from the scene. She calls his brother Francois (Vincent Price) to come...

Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week

"Star Trek Into Darkness"

What's It About? J.J. Abrams' second "Star Trek" installment follows the Enterprise crew when they're called back home and find an unstoppable force of terror within their own organization. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) leads the Enterprise against a one man weapon of mass destruction. Why We're In: This sequel is exhilarating from start to finish with tons of spectacle and a solid narrative. Abarams' film perfectly mixes classic references that will excite any "Star Trek" fan, but won't make newbies feel left out. "Star Trek Into Darkness" was one of Moviefone's Best Movies of 2013 (So Far).

Watch: Get a behind-the-scenes look at the special effects of "Star Trek Into Darkness" (Video)

Rt & Follow to win a @StarTrekMovie #IntoDarkness Blu-ray & movie poster autographed by Jj Abrams and cast! Rules: http://t.co/8i1T01cxD0

- moviefone (@moviefone) September 10, 2013

Moviefone's...

We have a treat for classic horror fans today. Fox is going to be releasing the Blu-ray version of 1958′s The Fly, starring Vincent Price, and we’ve been provided with a number of high resolution stills from the horror classic. This movie will be available starting on September 10th and features a number of special features that we’ve listed below.

“When a scientist (David Hedison) attempts to transfer matter through space, things go horrifically wrong and two grotesque man-fly hybrids are created. Now, with the head of a fly and a wing in place of one of his arms, the scientist desperately hopes that he, his wife (Patricia Owens) and his brother (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant and reverse the experiment.”

Special Features:

Commentary with Actor David Hedison and Film Historian David Del Valle Biography: Vincent Price Fly Trap: Catching a Classic Fox Movietone News...

Got news tonight that 20th Century Fox is sending another of their classic horror titles to Blu-ray. Coming at us on Sept. 10th will be the Vincent Price classic The Fly.

Synopsis:

When a scientist (David Hedison) attempts to transfer matter through space, things go horrifically wrong and two grotesque man-fly hybrids are created. Now, with the head of a fly and a wing in place of one of his arms, the scientist desperately hopes that he, his wife (Patricia Owens) and his brother (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant and reverse the experiment.

Special Features:

● Commentary with Actor David Hedison and Film Historian David Del Valle

● Biography: Vincent Price

● Fly Trap: Catching a Classic

● Fox Movietone News

An all time favorite this one is another “must own” for any true horror fans collection.

Not since I was a child and I stumbled upon the classic 1958 film, The Fly (late at night, while my parents were sleeping) have I been brave enough to rewatch it. Now as news of the film’s Blu-ray release comes out for this fall, I think I can muster the courage. Here are details of the release.

Synopsis:

When a scientist (David Hedison) attempts to transfer matter through space, things go horrifically wrong and two grotesque man-fly hybrids are created. Now, with the head of a fly and a wing in place of one of his arms, the scientist desperately hopes that he, his wife (Patricia Owens) and his brother (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant and reverse the experiment.

Special Features:

● Commentary with Actor David Hedison and Film Historian David Del Valle

● Biography: Vincent Price

● Fly Trap: Catching a Classic

● Fox Movietone News

The Fly Blu-ray...

Fox has officially announced that they will release 1958′s The Fly to Blu-ray in September. The newly restored version includes a handful of bonus features and we’ve included various release details below, along with the new cover artwork.

“When a scientist (David Hedison) attempts to transfer matter through space, things go horrifically wrong and two grotesque man-fly hybrids are created. Now, with the head of a fly and a wing in place of one of his arms, the scientist desperately hopes that he, his wife (Patricia Owens) and his brother (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant and reverse the experiment.”

Special Features:

Commentary with Actor David Hedison and Film Historian David Del Valle Biography: Vincent Price Fly Trap: Catching a Classic Fox Movietone News

The Fly Blu-ray:

Street Date: September 10, 2013 Screen Format: Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English 4.0 DTS HD-ma Spanish Dd 1.0 French Dd 1.0 Subtitles: English Sdh / Spanish Total...

20th Century Fox Studio Classics will debut four classic films on Blu-ray this September and October. The Fly will arrive on Blu-ray September 10th. A Letter to Three Wives will follow on September 17th. Fantastic Voyage and Voyage to the Bottom will arrive on Blu-ray October 8th. The Fly - When a scientist (David Hedison) attempts to transfer matter through space, things go horrifically wrong and two grotesque man-fly hybrids are created. Now, with the head of a fly and a wing in place of one of his arms, the scientist desperately hopes that he, his wife (Patricia Owens) and his brother (Vincent Price) can capture the other mutant and reverse the experiment. Special Features include: Commentary with...

Kerr in the 1958 box-office blockbuster musical South Pacific (seen above with love interest France Nuyen) and his (few) other post-Tea and Sympathy efforts [Please check out the previous article: "The Two Kerrs in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy."] Director Curtis Bernhardt's Gaby (1956) was a generally disliked remake of Waterloo Bridge, with Kerr and leading lady Leslie Caron in the old Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh roles (1940 movie version -- and even older Douglass Montgomery and Mae Clarke roles in the 1931 film version). Jeffrey Hayden's The Vintage (1957), starring Kerr and Mel Ferrer absurdly cast as Italian brothers, also failed to generate much box-office or critical interest. MGM leading lady Pier Angeli played Ferrer's love interest in the film, while the more mature and married French star Michèle Morgan (a plot element similar to that found in Tea and Sympathy) is Kerr's object of desire. (Pictured above: South Pacific cast members John Kerr and France Nuyen embracing.) Also in the mid-'50s, John Kerr...

Claire Bloom, Julie Harris, The Haunting The Movies’ Top Ten Scream Queens 10 – Mary Philbin, The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Okay, so this is a silent film; in other words, Universal star Mary Philbin's screaming was all in my head. But it worked. Lon Chaney at his most grotesque had the title role; Norman Kerry was Philbin's dashing leading man. Rupert Julian directed. 9 – Patricia Owens, The Fly (1958). Wouldn't you also scream if you saw a fly named Andre — who happens to be your husband, no less — coming straight at you? David Hedison plays the unlucky Andre, a scientist who exchanges his head with that of a buzzing fly. Kurt Neumann directed the 1958 The Fly, which, though less pretentious, I find more disturbing than the 1986 David Cronenberg remake starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. 8 – Denise Cheshire, Jaws (1975). Few people know the name of the soon-to-be shark-breakfast swimming woman in Steven Spielberg's Jaws,...

Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films being made available by Netflix for instant streaming. Important Note: There may be some films that do not become available on the specified dates. This is merely a report of the most accurate release dates I can find, but is not directly confirmed by Netflix themselves.

American: The Bill Hicks Story (2010)

Streaming Available: 06/29/2011

Synopsis: Since his tragic death from cancer at age 32, comedian Bill Hicks’s legend and stature have only grown, and this unique documentary tells his story, blending live footage, interviews and animation to fill in the details of a life cut short. A comic’s comic and unflagging critic of hypocrisy and cultural emptiness, Hicks was one of a kind, a Lenny Bruce for the late 20th century,...

Bring your fly swatters to The Missouri History Museum.s Grand Hall tonight! The Vincentennial Vincent Price Film Festival kicks off tonight with the 1958 fave The Fly. A matter-transference experiment goes horribly wrong when scientist Andre Delambre (David Hedison) swaps his head and arm with a fly.s head and wing. His attempts to reverse the process inevitably fail, and he gradually goes insane, leading to an unforgettable finale. Despite the film.s outlandish premise, Vincent Price lends gravity to the role of Andre.s concerned brother, and James (.Shogun.) Clavell’s script successfully treads the fine line between grotesque black comedy and seriousness. .The Fly. spawned two sequels and a memorable 1986 remake from director David Cronenberg. Co-stars include Patricia Owens as Andre.s wife and Herbert Marshall as a sympathetic detective. There will be activities, a cash bar, and a special bonus at the door for Vincent Price look-a-likes.

Throughout history there have been tales, legends, what-have-you about beautiful women and their effect on creatures considered unworthy or dangerous or abominations. The “love of a good woman” scenario carried to an extreme as these women do indeed usually fall in love with their hideous “captors”. Many of these stories go way back in oral history: fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast, several Greek myths - Persephone and the God of the Underworld. But it is in horror films that we see this phenomenon the most. All the way back to Lon Chaney and his Phantom of the Opera – although it could easily be argued that Christine was none too pleased when she de-masked her captor. But there are other horror (horrible?) couples that have endured in the genre:

1. King Kong and his Ann Darrow (Fay Wray in 1933, Naomi Watts in 2005) – King Kong is the film that gave...