Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 1 — The Fly (1986)

The way David Cronenberg’s new THE SHROUDS splices together unsettling ideas about technology and bodily transformation made us think of… well, a lot of his filmography, but the film’s visceral interest in how the human body decays feels directly connected to the director’s unlikeliest hit, his remake of THE FLY. We’re joined this week by critic and our nascent “gross and scary” correspondent Charles Bramesco to teleport back to 1986 and examine what lies beneath the rotting flesh of THE FLY, from its tender central relationship to its oozing physical effects to its Howard Shore score, that makes it a distinctly Cronenbergian grossout. Then in Feedback, a listener uses our recent discussion of THE THIN MAN to broach a bigger question about what we value most in our mystery stories.

Please share your thoughts about THE FLY, THE SHROUDS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:38

The Fly Keynote: 00:03:39-00:08:18

The Fly Discussion: 00:08:19-00:44:11

Feedback/outro: 00:44:12-end