[kokumo]

David Cronenberg's “The Fly”. Was a big fan of the original trilogy growing up but the remake just stands head and shoulders apart. Like “The Exorcist”, the charactors are so magnetic and their situation so compelling and horrific, you can't take your eyes off the screen. Watched it again last night for Halloween and marvelled at how well it still works.

[Jagged]

Oddly of all Cronenberg's films it's my least favourite. For some reason it has never really worked for me. Don't get me wrong, it's an ok film but not a patch on such salacious fare as Videodrome or Rabid. I'm really not sure what it is that marks it down in my book, it's something I've tried to pin down before. Maybe it's just that I prefer the cheesy 50s original. Cronenberg's version seems too highly wrought, and definitely suffers from a surfeit of hideous 1980s style.  I definitely don't find it gut wrenching, although I'm aware many others do.

But then, I didn't think “The Shining” was a masterpiece either 😉

[kokumo]

Quite loved “Rabid” & the companion pic “Shivers”. I'm a canadian so Cronenberg resonates a bit more. Wasn't a huge fan of “Videodrome” or the similar pic about pulsating game consoles which plug into guts. I'd watch either again over the Kubrick version of “The Shining”. It's that time of year when everyone is compiling a ten best list for Halloween and somehow “The Shining” will rank on half of them.The disintergration of the family which is so harrowing in the King novel doesn't translate to the film. The performances are too surreal to make the charactors empathetic imo. It's great looking & stylish but soul-less.  The disintergration of the union between the leads in the remake of “the Fly” (also the disintergration of “Brundle”) is far more impactful for me.

[Steve Dunlap]

While I enjoyed Kubrick's take on “The Shining”, the tv miniseries is apparently a much closer adaptation of the King novel, as it shows the gradual decline of sanity and the breakdown of the family.

[Author]

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