Metacritic reviews

It may be slow to begin with, but it all results in an unexpected finale that is sure to shock and stay with you long after the movie has ended.

The Fly...will send cold chills down the spines of the most hardened horror addict. It's a dilly. [29 Aug 1958, p.9D]

The film is both fun and frightening, and can also be viewed (however modest its intentions) as a commercialized techno-version of Franz Kafka's allegory Metamorphosis.

The Fly is a study in how the boldness of new discoveries is compromised by science’s need for precision, but it’s also a nightmarish tale of a comfortable little family, and a nagging little buzz.

Believe it or not, The Fly happens to be one of the better, more restrained entries of the "shock" school. As produced and directed by the late Kurt Neumann, with an earnest little cast headed by Al Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price, this is a quiet, uncluttered and even unpretentious picture, building up almost unbearable tension by simple suggestion.

One strong factor of the picture is its unusual believability. It is told as a mystery suspense story, so that it has a compelling interest aside from its macabre effects. There is an appealing and poignant romance between Owens and Hedison, which adds to the reality of the story, although the flashback technique purposely robs the picture of any doubt about the outcome.

The original The Fly scared baby boomers something fierce in its day, but time hasn’t been kind to it; in fact, its big scare moments seem almost ludicrously chaste.

Slightly above average 50s science fiction (1958), enlivened by a nearly literate script by James Clavell (Shogun).

With such a dramatic opening The Fly has a lot to live up to and what emerges is a sad story of considerable pathos despite the ridiculous plot.

Tacky low-budget picture about a scientist whose carelessness gets him into a tragic pickle.