Rish Outfield's reviews
As tyranist mentioned, this year's festival was much more quality-focussed than quantity-focussed. Sometimes even scum like me needs to take a break and watch Star Wars. I was pleased to have a buddy of mine join us for The Fly and Return of the Fly. This buddy was one I'd drag to horror movies all the time before the site began, and I had missed him. Certainly that affected my response to these films. But even without my pal, I'm not blind enough to not notice how great this movie was. It hit me hard and was my favourite of the films we watched in this year's Festival.
Vincent Price starred in this one too. I wish I could've known the man. Since tyranist aptly described it below, I'll simply say that it was a very, very fine film. Probably the main reason this works so well is how seriously the filmmakers take the story. Though it's tempting (and often rewarding) to lighten Sci-Fi and Horror, or simply poke fun at it, The Fly remains straight-faced, even though there's a certain absurdity to the whole situation. What results is a surprisingly effective and powerful film, in many ways more Tragedy than Horror. The tragedy is so powerful, in many ways because the film was made in the Fifties, when movies were more trite and cowardly (ESPECIALLY Horror).
The creature, while not magnificent by today's standards, is well-created and interesting. Plus, they hold off on showing it just long enough for it to be shocking when it's revealed. David Cronenberg's 1986 remake is technically brilliant, disturbing in theme, boasts a great performance from Jeff Goldblum, and is repellently violent, but it lacks the heart of this film, and to me, pales in comparison. This is one of the few films on the site that has reduced me to tears, and I think it ranks up there with Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Creature From the Black Lagoon as the best of 50's Horror.
Best Scare: The (in)famous "help me!" scene freaked out and even scarred many a filmgoer, and half a century later, it still does.
I'd Recommend It: Highly. This deserves to be called a classic.

The tyranist's thoughts
As creepy and weird as its remake tried to be this one is a masterpiece of horror for its period. With special effects well beyond my expectations and a pretty good little story, you can imagine this as a cross between the monster flicks of the time and Hitchcock. Lots of suspense and misdirection, but at the core there is something not human.
So the movie starts out with an unusual murder and everything points to a wife having killed her husband in cold blood. But she appears insane, and the more of the story that unravels the more she might be insane.
Vincent Price was as good as ever in this one and the script was really nice, but best of all was the monster. I was blown away by what they managed to achieve. I've never seen another movie from the '50s that even comes close. In addition to the quality of the effect, they successfully kept it hidden until the end of the movie, something that modern film makers could take a cue from.
Take the time to see this one. Its sequel may not be worth it to you, but this is a must see.