YMMV / The Fly (1958)

• Common Knowledge: Vincent Price does not play André (he instead plays his brother François), though many people think he does.
• Designated Villain: The spider gets crushed to death for the mortal sin of being a carnivore. Or perhaps merely because it was next to the André-headed fly which freaked out Inspector Charas to the point of feeling it necessary to kill both.
• Narm:
  • While the reveal and bizarre sight of the transformed André was genuinely frightening to 1950s audiences, it hasn't aged especially well. Since the fly's head mask isn't expressive, and André of course can no longer speak, the final stretch of the extended flashback is mostly dramatic staggering and smashing on his part. This was not uncommon in B-movies of the era as any Mystery Science Theater 3000 viewer can attest, but this film has significantly more lavish production values and better acting than most of those, so for it to suddenly take a turn into the sort of hijinks Matinee went on to spoof is unintentionally funny.
  • The infamous "HEEEELP MEEEE!" climax for some, though others find it Nightmare Fuel. They had to keep reshooting the scene because Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall couldn't stop cracking up, and David Hedison (who played André and the André-headed fly) found the high-pitched voice more funny than horrifying.
• Retroactive Recognition: The title character is a young Felix Leiter.
• Signature Scene: The scene where the André-headed fly is revealed is often the subject of parody. It was even referenced as a Mythology Gag in the 1986 remake, when Seth — under completely different circumstances — whimpers "Help me. Please, help me".

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