I found this to be not too bad, considering its rather dismal reputation; still, it's definitely a letdown as both a follow-up to the two previous FLY movies as well as WITCHCRAFT (1964; the film was made by several of the same people).
The plot, at least, does try something relatively different: people can't keep changing into man/fly hybrids (accidentally or not) from picture to picture. Even so, it's not believable that two generations on from the David Hedison character in the original, the members of the Delambre (curiously mispronounced by everyone throughout!) family are still suffering the symptoms of his mutation. How is that even possible? The scientist played by Brian Donlevy is, ostensibly, a brother to Brett Halsey from RETURN OF THE FLY (1959) where it's clearly established that Hedison only had one son; if, on the other hand, he's supposed to be the embodiment of an older Halsey, why change the name from Philippe to Henri and let's not forget that Inspector Charas from the first film turns up again here, when he was already an old man back then?!
That said, however, it's interesting that George Baker's character is made to age from time to time (given the very brief lifespan of a fly). Donlevy, then, approaches his role as if he were tackling Professor Bernard Quatermass (from the two Hammer films of the 1950s) for the third time which isn't in itself a bad thing; his demise during the busy climax is at once ironic and amusing. Lovely leading lady Carole Gray also appeared in DEVILS OF DARKNESS the same year, which I just watched; unfortunately, even if she's seen mostly in her underwear throughout (right from the effective slow-motion credit sequence), her character is also sedated for a good part of the duration!
Apart from the typically weird goings-on in a remote old mansion (sinister-looking female servant played by Yvette Rees, the revived descendant from WITCHCRAFT straight out of REBECCA [1940], disappearing members of the household turning up as mutants hidden away in the backgarden like something out of H.G. Wells' "The Island Of Dr.Moreau"!), as I said, the plot sees the re-appearance of the Inspector from the first film (though played by a different actor) who's still following the family 'fortunes' from afar. Incidentally, the introduction of Gray's character as mentally unstable seems an irrelevant plot point since it subsequently goes nowhere. The teleporting machine has a more streamlined design this time around (being horizontal as opposed to vertical); even if the scientists are no more careful than before given their alarming number of failures if anything, one feels glad that some definite progress has been made in the experiments after all this time, since characters are now able to be transported from one city to another!
The plot, at least, does try something relatively different: people can't keep changing into man/fly hybrids (accidentally or not) from picture to picture. Even so, it's not believable that two generations on from the David Hedison character in the original, the members of the Delambre (curiously mispronounced by everyone throughout!) family are still suffering the symptoms of his mutation. How is that even possible? The scientist played by Brian Donlevy is, ostensibly, a brother to Brett Halsey from RETURN OF THE FLY (1959) where it's clearly established that Hedison only had one son; if, on the other hand, he's supposed to be the embodiment of an older Halsey, why change the name from Philippe to Henri and let's not forget that Inspector Charas from the first film turns up again here, when he was already an old man back then?!
That said, however, it's interesting that George Baker's character is made to age from time to time (given the very brief lifespan of a fly). Donlevy, then, approaches his role as if he were tackling Professor Bernard Quatermass (from the two Hammer films of the 1950s) for the third time which isn't in itself a bad thing; his demise during the busy climax is at once ironic and amusing. Lovely leading lady Carole Gray also appeared in DEVILS OF DARKNESS the same year, which I just watched; unfortunately, even if she's seen mostly in her underwear throughout (right from the effective slow-motion credit sequence), her character is also sedated for a good part of the duration!
Apart from the typically weird goings-on in a remote old mansion (sinister-looking female servant played by Yvette Rees, the revived descendant from WITCHCRAFT straight out of REBECCA [1940], disappearing members of the household turning up as mutants hidden away in the backgarden like something out of H.G. Wells' "The Island Of Dr.Moreau"!), as I said, the plot sees the re-appearance of the Inspector from the first film (though played by a different actor) who's still following the family 'fortunes' from afar. Incidentally, the introduction of Gray's character as mentally unstable seems an irrelevant plot point since it subsequently goes nowhere. The teleporting machine has a more streamlined design this time around (being horizontal as opposed to vertical); even if the scientists are no more careful than before given their alarming number of failures if anything, one feels glad that some definite progress has been made in the experiments after all this time, since characters are now able to be transported from one city to another!