Monster of the Day #1681

Updated on December 21, 2017 By Ken Begg 18 Comments

This is the true mark of how much Fox disdained horror. They finally made a fairly big, opulent horror flick and it made them a TON of money and they *still* didn’t start producing more horror movies. Until the ’70s, anyway, with The Omen. They did bow enough to as least ink distribution deals with Regal and Hammer to release their horror fare to the States.

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  • Gamera977

    Yeah, only a teeny-tiny photo of the monster. Not sure what I’d think the movie was about from a glance at the poster without time to read it.

  • KeithB

    So, the fly comes knocking and you scream from behind the screen* door? That’s what *I* get out of the poster, anyway.

    I originally mistyped screen as “scream”, heh.

  • bgbear_rnh

    “Al Hedison” never sounds right. Good that he eventually went with David.

    Once it was human – – even as you and I

    Speak for yourself pal.

  • zombiewhacker

    Well, to be fair, Fox did immediately follow this up with Return of the Fly and then Curse of the Fly.

    Maybe if these sequels had done better at the box office, Fox might have signed on for more 60s horror. Maybe.

  • zombiewhacker

    Yeah, I wonder who eventually convinced Hedison to change his screen name.

    Oh, to have been an Al on the wall during that conversation!

  • Flangepart

    Maybe at the contract signing he got really buzzed.

  • sandra

    It was probably the same person who persuaded Fred Eisley to change his name to Anthony.

  • sandra

    So tell me, if he had the head of a fly, how did he still have the brain of a human ? Particularly since the human-headed fly at the end has a human brain, or it wouldn’t be able to say “Help me”.

  • Gamera977

    Magic? The Force? It’s in the script???

  • bgbear_rnh

    Maybe each got a little bit of human brain?

  • Rock Baker

    Those sequels, at least the first one, were among those commissioned to Regal films. There was a bit less stigma over distributing monster movies than outright producing them.

  • Rock Baker

    That was how I saw it working. In the case of the fly-headed monstrosity, the more base animal aspects of the fly were constantly threatening to take over completely. Some humanity remained, though, indicating that, physical appearances aside, there was a more even mixture of man and insect properties.

    Of course, in the end, it could just be that the fly with a man’s head got the vocal chords and the man with a fly’s head got the soul.

  • Wade Harrell

    Not related to anything, but I know one of the stars of ‘Return’, David Frankham! I also met Vincent Price’s daughter, (Victoria?). They both live here in Santa Fe.

  • God, what a neat little film. and one of the rare instances of a movie being better than the source material.

  • Eric Hinkle

    How much of a brain did it need to speak? I mean, look at the people who host TV talk shows.

  • in lieu of a better place, Merry Christmas all!

    This year marks the first time I’ve worked in a Major Chain Store. Meaning I’ve been bombarded with Christmas music since Thanksgiving. Haven’t minded it as much as I’d thought I might–been too busy to notice really.

    However it did bring a bit of melancholy, as my store often played Burl Ives’ A Holly Jolly Christmas. It’s one Christmas song I could listen to all year round, don’t get me wrong. However it always reminds me of his tragic death in 1978 due to a giant devil sea turtle ramming the helicopter he was traveling in.

    Damn giant devil sea turtles.

    It’s one of the many reasons I avoid the sea side. Of course, if I could find out how Carl Weathers managed to survive being dragged under water by the same giant devil sea turtle (only to be killed by an alien in a Colombian jungle in 1987) I might over come said phobia.

    Anyways, sorry to bring down the moment. I do indeed wish everyone here a Merry Christmas!

  • zombiewhacker

    Yeah, as I recall that was also the same year Carl Weathers was dragged to the bottom of the sea by a giant sea turtle. 1978 just wasn’t a good time to be hanging around turtles, I guess.

    The only worse fate imaginable is realizing that one day you would be married to John Tesh.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Merry Christmas, everyone!