The Fly deleted scene | Nightmare Nostalgia

David Cronenberg’s THE FLY is highly regarded by us horror fans as not only one of the greatest remakes of all time but, quite possibly, one of the most gorgeous representations of practical effects in horror films to this very day. In the 35-plus years since the movie’s release, horror fans and aspiring filmmakers look at THE FLY slightly different to the average moviegoer. While the typical viewer sees shock and horror, we see the most tragic love story ever told. Ok, it’s also one of the grossest love fests ever told but nonetheless, tragic as hell. And the following deleted scene just validates that point even further.

The infamous monkey-cat deleted scene most of us have seen already is grotesque in nature and mostly unnecessary. I say mostly because I’m not too crazy about watching animals being mutilated- but it also touches on the absolute desperation at this point in the film for Seth Brundle. You could see the defeat in his mangled face after the terribly gone wrong experiment on the roof, and ummm, ripping off an insect leg that had spawned from his stomach with his mouth. Stating the whole scene is slightly painful to watch would be the understatement of the century- and of course, this deleted scene in particular is no exception to the argument either.

At the height of the end of the film where Brundle ninja attacks Stathis from the ceiling of his now Fly Nest and vomits on the hand and foot of Veronica’s ex, there’s an extended scene where Seth takes the severed foot of Stathis and treats it like the testy morsel he believes it to be. The easy movie-goer in me just thinks this shit is just straight-up nasty, HOWEVER, since I also analyze everything to death, it also demonstrates just how far gone Seth was at the end. This attack had nothing to do with Veronica. It had everything to do with his infamous monologue of “insect politics”. The insect inside him has mostly taken over at this point, with the last moment of humanity in Brundlefly is shown when Veronica asks him to stop before he kills Stathis. Shortly after, he sheds his outer skin to expose the creature it has become.

Don’t watch this while eating lunch, folks. Since the YouTube video is age restricted, just click watch on YouTube in the video box or right here!

Apart from being one of the most beautifully put-together horror movies of the 20th century, (and a remake at that!) Cronenberg’s The Fly might also be the one that induces the most nausea.

I mean, come on. Those of us with that serious gag reflex upon seeing others vomit have to pop a roll of TUMS before a viewing.

Blowing chunks of sugary Hostess donuts aside, the official theatrical release wasn’t even the worst of it. For those unaware, there was a scene so vile, so grotesque and disturbing that during an initial screening in Toronto, it made audience members queasy and a tad upset to say the very least.

In the cut scene, Brundle (Sir Jeff of Goldblum) seeks to reverse his ever-transforming state by teleporting a baboon and a cat from the two telepods into a third while keeping their molecules separate. Instead, it fuses them into a very disturbing “mistake” that he ultimately clubs to death to put Monkey-Cat out of its misery.

According to Producer Stuart Cornfield, the theater guests were disgusted to the point of projectile vomit. The movie has some pretty nasty scenes that could definitely make someone gag a little (as stated), but I suppose this really was just a bit much for some. Apparently, the general public didn’t take to kindly to Brundle experimenting on helpless animals and then bludgeoning them to death.

And it was never seen again until a special two-disc DVD edition was released from 20th Century Fox came about.

My personal take:

The scene had it been kept in, would make some folks take away any pity they may had for Seth, turning him from a helpless victim to an animal-murdering dickbag. However, I can see what they were ultimately aiming for. What I personally see through my own eyes, was an act of complete desperation. Brundle was halfway through his transformation and scrambling to find a cure as time was running short. You could see the defeat in his mangled face after the terribly gone wrong experiment on the roof, and ummm, ripping off an insect leg that had spawned from his stomach with his mouth. The whole scene is slightly painful to watch, but at least for me, not in a bad sense. There are a LOT of scenes from this film that will make you squirm. In my opinion, the scene with the dog in The Fly 2 was way worse than this.

But hey, you be the judge of that!