Films About Flies

On two classic shorts.

A still from The Fly (1966)

Happy Halloween! Glad you could join us for a new issue of the Animation Obsessive newsletter. This one is about flies.

Even a single fly can be a symbol of death. A dozen is a sure sign of decay. In horror movies, flies are a staple — their buzzing, their swarming, their grotesque eyes and hairy legs. They make disquieting appearances in paintings and on political figures, hinting that something, somehow, has gone awry.

In animation, two very famous, very unnerving and very different films share the name The Fly. The first originated in Yugoslavia during the 1960s; the second in Hungary during the 1980s. The first was considered for an Oscar; the second won one. Both could, in a sense, be described as horror films. Neither is just about the fly in its title.