jamesraeburn2003 Henri Delambre (Brian Donlevy) is obsessively continuing the experiments started by his father and has succeeded in creating a machine that can transport human beings. He managed to transport himself from London back to Montreal, but ended up with radiation burns as a result. Despite his determination to carry on with his work, Henri's two sons, Albert (Michael Graham) and Martin (George Baker), are fed up and want to settle down into ordinary lives. Martin has married Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray) who, unknown to him has escaped from the local asylum. When she discovers three people - including Martin's real wife, Judith), who have been turned into deformed mutants as a result of Henri's botched experiments imprisoned in cells at the rear of the Delambre's country mansion; Inspector Charas (Charles Carson) of the local police is called. He becomes suspicious that the Delambre family are carrying on the failed work of Henri's father and, as a result, Henri attempts to destroy all the evidence and transport himself back to London. But, as you will expect, it all goes horribly wrong...A better than expected conclusion to The Fly trilogy which is notable because, unlike its two US made predecessors, this was shot at Shepperton in England at a time when that studio was struggling to find films to make and had laid off many employees. The film is pure scientific mumbo jumbo of the cheesy, drive in b-movie kind. Nevertheless, in the hands of the talented director Don Sharp, the results are better and a bit more polished than one would have expected. The opening sequence in which Patricia Stanley escapes from the asylum wearing only a nightdress is splendidly shot in slow motion as the credits unscroll and the theme tune played by the Royal Philharmonia Orchestra features, perhaps, the most beautiful and haunting piano forte of any horror film. In addition, there is another masterfully staged shock sequence where Patricia awakes in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm to hear piano music playing. When she goes to investigate she encounters Martin's real wife, the disfigured Judith, who was a distinguished pianist, at the piano. We learn that one of the Delambre's servants, Wan (played by the excellent Yvette Rees who was standout in Don Sharp's minor chiller, Witchcraft (1964) was devoted to her mistress and is not happy that Patricia has married Martin and stages the night time encounter so that Judith can attack her. The film is shot in excellent, unsettling black and white by Basil Emmott, a real veteran of British b-movies. Performances are generally good all round but Brian Donlevy who was superb in the Hammer Quatermass movies is less effective here as the mad scientist Delambre. Another let down is the climax that does not quite make the horrific impact upon the audience than it seeks perhaps due to the limitations of the budget and the schedule which I suspect was very tight indeed.All in all, Curse Of The Fly emerges as a better than average conclusion to The Fly trilogy which, to be honest, was never that strong anyway thanks to the handling of its director and crew who perhaps invested more effort into it than it deserved.

Eric Stevenson It seems like this has become a cult favorite for a lot of people. Personally, I didn't see the appeal. I was quite interested in seeing this movie because for the longest time, it wasn't available on home video. It's a pretty rare movie, but it's really not worth looking at. It doesn't help that I haven't seen the other Fly movies. This is weird because it doesn't even feature any flies! It just seemed like it was a hard story to continue with this title! The main problem is the relationship. It's strange because this woman meets the guy and they immediately get married. She just starts the movie right away.There actually is this one really good shot in the film. It's actually the first scene and it shows a window being smashed. This is really a great shot and it's filmed beautifully. If only the rest of the film were like that. Another problem is that the film is too anti-climatic. This seemed like it would more appropriate to be featured in an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". I actually did like the makeup effects in this. They do have some creative ideas. Like many movies, the main problem is that they're not used very well. **

Scott LeBrun The original theatrical series of "Fly" films from 20th Century Fox concluded with this decent entry. In a very atmospheric opening, a young woman named Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray) escapes from a mental institution. Soon, she runs into Martin Delambre (George Baker), one of the current generation of Delambres. This eternally stubborn family is STILL trying to make their teleportation machines run without a hitch. Well, it turns out that they CAN now teleport human beings, but not without biological side effects. The guinea pigs all develop mutations.It may first come as a disappointment that there are no humans with fly heads in this sequel. Instead, the effects involve more limited use of makeup. But as guided by Australian born director Don Sharp ("Psychomania"), "Curse of the Fly" is a reasonably enjoyable addition to this series that goes off on its own merry way instead of offering a retread of the earlier stories. It's got appropriate laboratory sets, a fine music score by Bert Shefter, and some wonderfully moody cinematography by Basil Emmott. The tale spun by screenwriter Harry Spalding has a romantic angle (Patricia and Martin quickly fall in love and are content not to tell each other much about themselves) and, ultimately, a tragic one as well, which is right in line with the first film.Spalding does also exhibit a sense of humour. The Asian assistants are named Tai and Wan (!) (and are played by "Pink Panther" series regular Burt Kwouk and Yvette Rees). The cast performs the material with all the sincerity they can muster. Both Baker and Gray are appealing. Michael Graham is good as disapproving son / brother Albert, as is Jeremy Wilkin as the detective on the case. Brian Donlevy has a nicely authoritative presence as the father who doesn't want anything jeopardizing his scientific work.Nothing special here, but a solidly entertaining sci-fi story.Six out of 10.

IMOvies CURSE OF THE FLY (1965) ** (D: Don Sharp) Nice idea; bad execution. The Delambra family contracts a disease and this results in some sporadic mutations now and then. Other than that, a way too dull and talky movie.