The Fly Collection

 

The Fly [1958]       Return Of The Fly [1959]       The Curse Of The Fly [1965]

 

Titles

 

 

 

The Fly
Stars David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman
Directors: Kurt Neumann

Theatrical Release Date: July 16th, 1958
Synopsis This is the original version of a scientist experimenting with matter transference accidentally exchanging one arm and his head with that of a fly which was in the transfer chamber.

Return of the Fly
Stars Vincent Price, Brett Halsey, John Sutton, David Frankham, Dan Seymour
Directors: Edward Bernds
Theatrical Release Date: July 1959
Synopsis Fifteen years after his father's experiments with matter transmission fail, Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey) and his uncle Fran ois (Vincent Price) attempt to create a matter transmission device on their own. However, their experiments have disastrous results, turning Philippe into a horrible half-man, half-fly creature.

Curse of the Fly
Stars Brian Donlevy, George Baker, Carole Gray, Yvette Rees, Burt Kwouk
Directors: Don Sharp
Theatrical Release Date: May 1965
Synopsis Remember that scientist that was trying to perfect a matter transportation machine but got fused with a fly when one of the little critters got into the transporter with him? Well, this story is about three of his descendents (a son, Henri Delambre, played by Brian Donlevy and two grandsons). Seems the son wants to continue and perfect the machine while his two sons want to get out of the scientist business and live "normal" lives. The oldest son, Martin, decides to take a wife (who just happens to have escaped from a mental hospital after her parents died). Martin's father is not happy with this intrusion but finally gives in because he understands him son's needs. They all try to be a happy family until humans used in botched experiments are discovered by the new bride and the police nearly discover the lab while looking for Martin's wife. Everyone tries to get out of there via the transporter but things just don't go according to plan... 

Posters

Theatrical Releases: Various from 1958 - 65

  DVD Reviews

DVD Review: 20th Century Fox (4-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

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Distribution 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC
Time: Over 5 hrs. total on 4 discs
Audio

English (original mono), English (2.0) DUB: Spanish (mono) 

NOTE: The Fly has English (4.0)
Subtitles English (Hoh), Spanish, French,  None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Aspect Ratio:
All Original Aspect Ratios - 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Edition Details:


Act of Violence
• Commentary by Hedison and historian David Del Valle

Bonus Disc

• 1997 Vincent price A+E Biography

• Featurette: Fly Trap: Catching a Classic

• Stills galleries, pressbooks and posters for all three films

• 12-page color flyer with photos and factoids


DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2007
4 Slim cases inside a cardboard box
Chapters: 24 + 20 in the last 2

 

Comments:

The new Fly Collection with The Fly (1958), Return Of The Fly (1959) and The Curse Of The Fly (1965) sport new transfers, packaging and supplements compared to the original Fox releases (Curse getting its debut in NTSC - already available in PAL in Australia). There are 4 discs - one for each film and a 4th Bonus disc of supplements.

Technical specifications of the discs: All (including the Bonus Disc) are single-layered and coded for region 1 in the NTSC standard housed in slim transparent keep cases. Each have original English audio (4.0 for The Fly and mono for the other 2) with Spanish DUBs. There are options for English (hearing impaired), Spanish or French subtitles (examples below). All transfers are progressive and anamorphic in their original aspect ratios (2.35:1). The Fly (original) is in color and the other 2 are black and white.

NOTE: There are no French subtitles offered on The Fly (original) but there is  a French DUB.

The packaging and artwork are wonderful.

Image: Even though they are still on single layered discs  there is an improvement in the image with far less artifacts and superior color (see samples below) compared to the 2000 Double Feature DVD package (with The Fly and The Return of The Fly). Audio was clear and clean and I didn't notice too much benefit from the 4.0 track of the original The Fly. The original DVD release of The Fly had some monitor bloom style distortion which has been corrected in the new release. Black levels of The Return are quite pitch and detail appears even sharper. Some may note some minor movement in the frame but I don't feel it is significant. 

Extras - There is a great fun commentary on the 58' version of The Fly by David (Al) Hedison and historian David Del Valle. They don't talk about a lot of the minute details of the film but still much, irrelevant to the film, Hollywood style gossip brought up and there are no lengthy gaps - it is generally worth listening to. They discuss the co-stars - Price, Marshall and Patricia Owens as well as the film's financial success for the studio. The other two films/DVDs have no extras but there is a bonus disc with a 1997 Vincent price A+E Biography and a featurette: Fly Trap: Catching a Classic which has many talking heads bringing up memories of the films debut impact and how much what they recall about it. There are also stills galleries, pressbooks and posters for all three films in their own sections. I appreciated the nice little 12-page color flyer with photos and factoids. It is fitting to the genre artwork chosen for the package.

Overall impression: Depending on how much you enjoy these films, and also may want The Curse of... then this boxset has enough - improved transfers, decent extras and slim cases. I'm a sucker for this 50's sci-fi genre and I'm glad I own it in one complete and nicely laid out boxset. But that's me...    

Gary W. Tooze

 


DVD Menus


 

Extras:

 

 

Slim Keep Case Cover

 

The Fly

 

 

 

Screen Captures

The Fly

Stars David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman
Directors: Kurt Neumann

Theatrical Release Date: July 16th, 1958

Differing greatly from David Cronenberg's very loose remake, this sci-fi classic is equally entertaining in its love of the grotesque. When scientist Hedison's matter-transference experiment goes wrong, he ends up with a fly's head and wing, while the insect in question is lumbered with his head and arm. His attempts to reverse the process inevitably fail, and he gradually goes insane, leading to a pleasingly bleak finale in which his wife crushes his head in a steam press and the fly gets trapped in a spider's web. Ludicrous stuff, of course, but Price lends his own inimitable and delightful brand of bravura to the role of Hedison's concerned brother, while James (Shogun) Clavell's script successfully treads a fine line between black comedy and po-faced seriousness.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Fox (Double Feature Disc - released Sept. 2000) - Region 1 NTSC TOP vs. Fox (Fly Collection package) - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM

Fox (Double Feature Disc - released Sept. 2000) - Region 1 NTSC TOP vs. Fox (Fly Collection package) - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM

 

 

 

Slim Keep Case Cover

 

Return of the Fly

 

 

 

Screen Captures

 

Return of the Fly

 

Stars Vincent Price, Brett Halsey, John Sutton, David Frankham, Dan Seymour
Directors: Edward Bernds
Theatrical Release Date: July 1959


Virtually a re-run of the original shocker, with surviving brother Price issuing dire warnings before young master Halsey reassembles his late dad's matter transference equipment and swiftly ends up in the same half-man/half-fly state himself. Passable enough for genre addicts, but watching it straight after the first film probably isn't a good idea.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

 

 

Fox (Double Feature Disc - released Sept. 2000) - Region 1 NTSC TOP vs. Fox (Fly Collection package) - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM

 

 

 

 

Fox (Double Feature Disc - released Sept. 2000) - Region 1 NTSC TOP vs. Fox (Fly Collection package) - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM

 

 

 

Slim Keep Case Cover

 

The Curse of the Fly

 

 

Screen Captures

 

The Curse of the Fly

 

Stars Brian Donlevy, George Baker, Carole Gray, Yvette Rees, Burt Kwouk
Directors: Don Sharp
Theatrical Release Date: May 1965

The third of three loosely-connected films based on George Langelaan's famous short story, Curse of the Fly (1965) has gotten a bad rap over the years. The modestly-produced first picture, The Fly (1958), had been an unexpected hit for 20th Century-Fox, so much so that it spawned vastly inferior imitators like The Alligator People (1959) and The Wasp Woman (1960), as well as a quickie sequel of its own, Return of the Fly (1959). Where the first two pictures were shot on Fox's lot in Beverly Hills, the unjustly maligned Curse of the Fly was produced in England for very little money (less than $100,000) and stylistically looks nothing like its predecessors...

Excerpt from Stuart Galbraith IV 's review at DVDTalk located HERE

 

 

 

DVD Box Cover

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Distribution 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC

 




 

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