In the world of horror remakes, most of them get clocked as bad to terrible. An especially good one takes the original piece of work and makes it its own. Often, this results in at the very least a competent standalone film. Think of the recent The Invisible Man film. Sometimes, if a remake is particularly well done and made its own, it can actually become the version the public is most familiar with.
Just like in the 2000s when all of the 1970s and 1980s horror films were getting remakes, the 1980s was a big time for 1950s remakes. Some were bad, some were pretty good. One that has truly stood the test of time as a film completely its own is David Cronenberg's The Fly. It was loosely based on a 1957 short story and a 1958 film by the same name, but The Fly from 1986 is completely its own beast. Its popularity has gotten to the point where many don't even know it's a remake. As a whole, Cronenberg's version is one that has become a huge favorite for so many horror lovers.
There's a lot to the film and it's definitely one that should be gone into as blind as possible because it's a very wild ride. The brief summary is that a scientist named Seth Brundle, played by Jeff Goldblum, has invented "telepods" that can be used as instant teleportation devices. He meets a science journalist named Veronica, played by Geena Davis, and she begins to document his work. After trying them out for himself, Seth begins to experience some very strange symptoms and it's clear that something went wrong.
Cronenberg is a director known for his body horror. He's famous for the gruesome, and this film is a shining example of that. The Fly is also really the true definition and embodiment of what the body horror genre is. The real criteria for being a body horror film is that the horror showcased in the movie is a grotesque or disturbing violation of the body. The Fly does this through the transformation of its main character.
The transformation that happens to Seth Brundle's body, eventually turning him into Brundlefly, is graphic and gross. It looks so realistic and it's so well-acted that it induces a cringe, maybe even a gag. Some parts are so hard to look at, but because it's so well done it's impossible to look away. The film actually won the Oscar that year for its special effects, and upon watching the film it's so clear as to why. The practical effects are nothing short of incredible, and the film as a whole holds up incredibly well with the horror films of today.
The body horror genre is such an effective one because it induces these visceral reactions. As a person with a body, thinking about horrible things happening to it against your will is not only scary, but very sad. This is portrayed phenomenally in The Fly. Even though Seth Brundle has transformed so much against his own will that he doesn't even have his own name anymore, he's still very relatable and sympathetic.
The whole transformation is shown on screen. Not just the gross stuff like when his fingernails start to fall out and his skin starts to change, but the emotional transformation as well. He goes through all stages of grief throughout the film, and it's shown in a very stark and relatable way. By the end of the movie, at the end of his transformation, he wants to die. And as viewers looking in on the situation, it's easy to feel bad for him.
The original 1958 version of The Fly is by no means a bad movie at all. It's a lot of fun, and it's got Vincent Price in it which is always a massive plus. But it's not really what one would call scary, and it doesn't really stick with audiences. Cronenberg's The Fly takes that same basic premise and just amps it up to infinity. It's incredibly effective, it's scary, it's gross, and it does stick for days and weeks after watching. In many ways they're so different, they can't even be compared. If they had to be though, it's likely that the majority of people would prefer The Fly 1986 to The Fly 1958. This alone is a testament to how good the movie is. It's very rare that a remake would be more commonly preferred than an original film.
Both versions of The Fly have sequels in their respective series. The sequel to Cronenberg's The Fly, appropriately called The Fly II, was actually directed by Chris Walas who did the amazing special effects in the 1986 film. However, it was not super well received and is generally forgotten about. There have been talks about reviving the title, in either another remake or a "spiritual sequel" which has been made popular within the horror genre in recent years. However, this film stands up so well on its own that it's very hard to imagine that being as successful or effective. Just for once, maybe it would be best to let something lie alone in its brilliance.