Return of the Fly (1959)

Return of the Fly is the first sequel to the horror film The Fly (1958). It was released in 1959 as a double feature with The Alligator People. It was directed by Edward Bernds. Unlike the previous film, Return of the Fly was shot in black and white.

Vincent Price was the only returning cast member from the original. It was intended that Herbert Marshall reprise his role as the police inspector, but due to illness, he was replaced by John Sutton.

The film was followed by a third sequel, Curse of the Fly (1965).

Plot
Now an adult, Phillipe Delambre (Brett Halsey) is determined to vindicate his father by successfully completing experiment he had worked on. His uncle Francois (Vincent Price) refuses to help. Phillipe hires Alan Hines from Delambre Frere and uses his own finances, but the funds run out before the equipment is complete. When Phillipe threatens to sell his half of Delambre Frere, Francois relents and funds the completion. After some adjustments, they transporter to "store" and later re-materialize test animals.

Alan Hines turns out to be Ronald Holmes, an industrial spy. Holmes tries to sell the secrets to a shadowy cohort named Max. Before Holmes can get away with the papers, a British agent confronts him. Holmes knocks him out and uses the transporter to "store" the body. When re-materialized, the agent has the paws of a guinea pig that had been disintegrated earlier, and the guinea pig has human hands. Holmes kills the rodent and puts the dead agent in his car, which he sends into the Saint Lawrence River.

Phillipe confronts Holmes about all the oddities, with a fight ensuing and Phillipe being knocked out. Holmes hides Phillipe the same way he did the agent, but in a twist of malice, he catches a fly and adds it to the transporter with him. Francois re-materializes Phillipe, but with a fly head, arm and leg while the fly has his head, arm and leg, becoming "PhillipeFly". PhillipeFly runs into the night, tracking down and killing Max. He waits for Holmes to arrive and kills him, too. PhillipeFly returns home, where Inspector Beecham found and captured the other PhillipeFly. Both are placed in the device together and successfully reintegrated.

Cast

 * Vincent Price as Francois Delambre
 * Brett Halsey as Phillipe Delambre
 * David Frankham as Ronald Holmes / Alan Hinds
 * Danielle De Metz as Cecile Bonnard
 * John Sutton as Inspector Beecham
 * Dan Seymour as Max Barthold
 * Jack Daly as Granville
 * Janine Grandel as Mme. Bonnard
 * Michael Mark as Gaston
 * Richard Flato as Sgt. Dubois
 * Barry Bernard as Lt. MacLish
 * Pay O'Hara as Inspector Evans
 * Francisco Villalobos as The Priest
 * Florence Strom as The Nun
 * Joan Cotton as The Private Duty Nurse
 * Ed Wolff as The Fly-Creature

Production and release
The script of the film was written specifically to use the standing sets from The Fly (1958). Kurt Neumann, who directed The Fly, died in 1958 so Robert L. Lippert, who financed the original, had to find a new director. He hired director Edward Bernds and producer Bernard Glasser, who had done Space Master X-7 for Lippert.

The budget was more than the normal $125,000 for Lippert productions. He says that the budget was $275,000 - $25,000 of which went to Vincent Price's fee.

Bernds says his original draft of the film incorporated footage from the first Fly movie, but they were not allowed to use it. He also said, Vincent Price insisted on reading the script before signing on to the film. Once he did, he objected when Bernds cut down on some of his scenes for length.

Filming started on 2 February 1959. The film was shot on the Fox lot in Westwood. The film was finished on March 1959 and released as a double bill with The Alligator People (1959).

During a particular dialogue scene, actor David Frankham rather conspicuously handles a cane, which closely resembles the wolf-head walking stick famously utilized in Universal's film, The Wolf Man (1941).

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 38% based on 13 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 4.8/10. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two and a half out of four stars, calling it "[an] Adequate sequel to The Fly".

Horror punk band The Misfits pay tribute to the film with their 1978 song "Return of the Fly".