What is the iRankMovies score for The Fly?

Name: The Fly
Director: David Cronenberg
Genre: horror, science-fiction
Released: 1986
Duration: 1 h 36 min
Rating: 7.6

The Fly has an iRankMovies score of 81.3/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

The Fly (1986)

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Release:1986

Runtime:1h 36m

Country:Canada

Director:David Cronenberg

Language:English

Genre

HorrorScience Fiction

See the best horror movies →

Keywords

monsterExperimentMutationToronto CanadaMutant Transformation HalloweenRemake

iRank81

The Fly rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.6/10· 221K votes

Rotten Tomatoes93%

Metacritic81%

TMDb7.432/10· 5K votes

With 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.6/10 on IMDb and 81/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About The Fly

When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

Cast of The Fly

Jeff Goldblum
as Seth Brundle
Geena Davis
as Veronica Quaife
John Getz
as Stathis Borans
Joy Boushel
as Tawny
Leslie Carlson
as Dr. Cheevers
George Chuvalo
as Marky
Michael Copeman
as 2nd Man in Bar
David Cronenberg
as Gynecologist
C
Carol Lazare
as Nurse
S
Shawn Hewitt
as Clerk
Typhoon
as Baboon (uncredited)
A
Ann Green
as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

The Fly facts

Budget: $15M
Box office: $60.6M
Collection: The Fly (1986) Collection

Our take on The Fly

David Cronenberg's 1986 fusion of horror and science fiction follows Seth Brundle, a scientist who cracks teleportation and rashly tests it on himself, unaware that a housefly has slipped into the pod. What begins as triumph curdles into a slow, agonizing transformation as man and insect merge. Cronenberg turns the premise into a devastating study of bodily decay, obsession and love tested by physical horror, grounding the grotesque effects in real emotional stakes. It suits viewers drawn to intelligent, deeply unsettling genre cinema where the true terror is watching a person come apart. Anyone squeamish about body horror should be warned, but few films of its kind hit harder.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Body horror transformation excels through practical effects and committed performance work
•Intimate relationship drama provides emotional weight beneath genre spectacle extremity
•Psychological deterioration arc demonstrates nuance in exploring tragic inevitability throughly

What the audience disliked

•Grotesque imagery may overwhelm viewers sensitive to visceral horror visual language
•Second half relies increasingly on shock value over substantive thematic exploration

Saga: The Fly (1986) Collection