The Fly II (1988)

Directed by Chris Walas. Starring Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zuniga, Lee Richardson, Ann Marie Lee, Frank Turner, Garry Chalk, John Getz, Harley Cross. [R]

Sequel to the 1986 The Fly remake (no relation to Return of the Fly) is a waste of time; where its predecessor was gripping, intelligent and horrific, this movie is dumb, crude and obvious. Reporter Veronica Quaife (previously portrayed by Geena Davis; played here by Saffron Henderson in a bit part) dies in childbirth spawning the “son of Seth ‘Brundle-Fly’”, who’s kept locked up in a laboratory to be studied by scientists. The, ahem, maggot-child blooms into adolescence after just a few years and looks a lot like Eric Stoltz (despite Eric Stoltz looking nothing like Jeff Goldblum). He continues daddy dearest’s experiments with the teleportation pods and gets himself a girlfriend in the form of a pretty young company employee (Zuniga), but, of course, it’s only a matter of time before the insectoid side takes over. Surprisingly mundane most of the way, and then the final act simply degenerates into a lame Alien clone. The “happy” ending is preposterous enough to inspire a spit-take. Makeup specialist Walas’ direction can be best described as the work of someone who should be a makeup specialist (those gooey gore effects and elaborate prosthetics are among the film’s few virtues). Co-written by two future-adapters/directors of Stephen King stories: Frank Darabont and Mick Garris.

32/100