Even with all of the online negativity one has to contend with throughout the year and all of the “Worst of” lists one must dodge come New Year’s, it’s nevertheless worth saying – it’s a great time to be a horror fan. In addition to the spate of contemporary big screen offerings, VOD darlings and small screen terrors on offer for genre enthusiasts of all sorts, there is an abundance of horror classics being issued to disc in impressive new editions from a number of different labels doing their very damnedest to drain collectors’ wallets in the best possible way.

Following on the heels of the October release of their impressive-as-hell Omen Collection box set, the horror heroes over at Scream Factory are now blessing genre fans with The Fly Collection, a comprehensive five disc box set including every film in the Fly franchise. Boasting a plethora of brand new bonus features and housed in a sturdy box sporting gorgeous new artwork paying homage to each of the five features, The Fly Collection isolates each of the films in the franchise to their own dedicated discs, with each including solid transfers alongside numerous bonus features scattered across the entire set.

With no further delay, let’s dive into each of the discs to see what’s been offered to fans with this impressive collection.

The Fly (1958)

As with most movies bearing an iconic status, it’s easy to find oneself all-too-willing to accept that a widely beloved film is truly great, given its reception over the years and the fondness most viewers have for it. So was my own view of The Fly before this recent revisit, which revealed the 1958 film to be a fun enough creature feature, if not at all a stone cold classic. Based on an original story by French-British writer George Langelaan, the tale is solid enough, positioning itself as a “Whydunit?” murder mystery involving Montreal housewife Hélène’s grisly killing of her husband in a hydraulic press. With her brother-in-law François (a typically excellent Vincent Price) and police Inspector Charas in attendance, a reluctant Hélène recounts the events which led to the ghastly killing.

The resulting story, told in flashback, weaves the tale of driven scientist André Delambre and his greatest invention – a transporter which can teleport inanimate objects across space by disintegrating their atoms and reintegrating them from one transporter cabinet to another. When Delambre decides to transport himself through his own device, a mishap involving a common housefly finds the scientist’s head and arm replaced with the insect’s appendages. After attempts to reverse this condition fail, André implores his wife to destroy any evidence of his condition, leading to the murder which kicked off the story. The film wraps up with a dark yet memorably campy finale involving the unfortunate housefly’s own condition and ultimate fate.

While far from sterling, The Fly is nevertheless an enjoyable enough monster flick, with just enough charm and fun effects on display to help it rise above its occasionally dodgy acting and sluggish second act. The film is given its proper due here on disc, with a commendable presentation and a number of bonus features. The image quality is mostly damned good, if intermittently grainy and soft at times, while the DTS-HD 4.0 audio track is excellent. Scream Factory has added a commentary track with film historians Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr to complement the bonus features ported over from the previous Fox Studio Classics release, which include a trailer, a look back at the film’s making, vintage newsreel footage of the film’s premiere (with the classic Universal monsters in tow!), and an episode of A&E’s Biography focused on Vincent Price.

Return of the Fly (1959)

Even better than its predecessor, 1959’s Return of the Fly bowed only a year after the success of the previous film, following up the sci-fi flick with a tale that feels far more akin to a classic Universal Classic Monsters movie than an Atomic Age creature feature. Picking up years after the finale of The Fly, Return features a returning Price, once again playing François Delambre, here reluctantly guiding his now adult nephew Phillipe in pursuing his late father’s work. When Phillipe is double-crossed by coworker and fellow scientist Alan Hinds (a marvelously slimy David Frankham), the young man finds himself turned into a fly creature much as his father once was. Phillipe’s vengeance-fueled rampage and the race to find a cure for his monstrous condition dovetail in the film’s surprisingly satisfying climax.

Much as it was with the first film, Return takes entirely too long to get to the creature action. And yet, this sequel is more fun than that initial installment, also giving us a far more likeable and interesting protagonist in Phillipe, played very well by Brett Halsey. In contrast to its DeLuxe Color predecessor, Return boasts gorgeous black and white photography, which is perfectly preserved on this disc’s razor-sharp transfer. Seriously, the movie looks outstanding at times. Scream Factory has provided an additional commentary with Alan Hinds actor David Frankham for this disc, adding it alongside two previous commentaries (one with film historian Tom Weaver, the other with Halsey and film historian David Del Valle). We also get a stills gallery (featuring posters, lobby cards and production stills), a TV spot, and a wonderfully hokey theatrical trailer (”The THRILLER CHILLER..That will really..BUG YOU!”).

Curse of the Fly (1965)

Six years after the release of the first sequel, 20th Century Fox brought the third and final film of the original trilogy to the big screen – and wow, is it a bizarre little treat of a movie.

Retconning the previous sequel out of existence and rewriting the original film’s ending, Curse concerns Henri Delambre (The Quatermass Xperiment’s Brian Donlevy), son of original Fly Andre, and his own sons Martin and Albert. The trio have continued on with Andre’s work in teleportation, and have even found success in teleporting human beings over long distances…though not without some unfortunate side effects. Crazed mutants, an escaped mental patient, rapid premature aging and an entire lack of a fly creature all feature in this utterly bonkers B movie. With its strong performances, stylish direction and confident departures from the expectations the franchise had created by this point, Curse of the Fly is an incredibly fun, offbeat horror film that’s worthy of reappraisal outside of its connection to the series it belongs to. Blame its lack of availability over the years for its relative obscurity; let’s hope that this new collection will shine a much-deserved light on this underloved gem.

Included on this disc is another commentary with Haberman and Nasr, as well as interviews with actress Mary Mason (who plays Judith Delambre, Martin’s now-mutated first wife) and continuity supervisor Renée Glynne. A stills gallery, TV spot, and theatrical trailer round out this disc. All in all, a respectful release of a film begging for rediscovery.

The Fly (1986)

What’s to be said about David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake that hasn’t already been covered time and time again? His version of The Fly is an absolute masterpiece, and is hands down the best film in this set. From the lead performances by Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum, to the incredible special effects by Chris Walas, to the strength of Cronenberg’s screenplay and direction – top to bottom, The Fly is an expertly crafted meditation on love, transformation and loss. If you haven’t seen it in some time, make certain to revisit it soon, because it’s one of the greatest sci-fi/horror films ever made. Hell, it’s one of the greatest films, period.

As such, this particular film is given the most love and attention when it comes to its presentation and bonus features. The film is downright gorgeous, boasting a sharp image and beautiful colors. As far as supplements go, Scream Factory has included a number of new bonuses to complement the extras found on the previous Fox Blu-ray release of the film. New to this edition is an audio commentary by film historian William Beard (author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg), as well as a series of newly produced interviews with various principles from the film’s making. These include: This Meshuggener Scientist, featuring executive producer Mel Brooks talking about his feelings on horror films, the origins of the Fly remake, Cronenberg getting the final edit on the film, and his suggestion that led to the film’s memorable arm-breaking moment; Beauty and the Beast, featuring producer Stuart Cornfeld chatting about the film’s making; a fifteen-minute featurette with casting director Deirdre Bowen talking about the film’s casting process (which seems almost like a last minute addition to the disc, given its curiously simple nature compared to the far more produced featurettes surrounding it); David’s Eyes, featuring longtime Cronenberg cinematographer Mark Irwin on the film’s production and his collaborative process with the film’s director; and A Tragic Opera, which has composer Howard Shore revealing insights into his process and illuminating his own working relationship with David Cronenberg.

A wealth of other bonus features are on display here from the previous Blu-ray edition, including: Fear of the Flesh, a 3-part, feature length making-of documentary; The Brundle Museum of Natural History, which finds makeup effects/creature design master Chris Walas touring through Bob Burns’ collection to pore over various bits of surviving Fly effects material; a collection of deleted/extended scenes; film tests; a section devoted to written works surrounding the movie (including the original Langelaan short story, the Cronenberg and original Pogue drafts of the screenplay, and three vintage articles on the production of the film); a wealth of promo materials; still galleries; and a trivia track which runs alongside the feature film.

All in all, an incredible disc befitting a remarkable film.

The Fly II (1989)

Given the success of Cronenberg’s remake, a sequel should have seemed inevitable. And indeed, three years after The Fly’s release, The Fly II arrived on the scene. As with the original Fly‘s first sequel, The Fly II concerns the son of the previous film’s scientist following in his father’s footsteps (portrayed here as Martin Brundle, played by a very young Eric Stoltz). Martin, a young man who displays both his father’s genius and astonishingly accelerated aging (at five years old, he appears to be a man in his twenties), has been raised from birth by Anton Bartok (an intermittently warm and slimy Lee Richardson), the head of the company who financed Seth’s original teleportation experiments. Seeing an opportunity to further and perfect the elder Brundle’s efforts with teleportation, Bartok convinces Martin to take up his father’s work with the telepods. Martin agrees, only to find himself slowly mutating into a fly creature – his dad’s tainted genes rearing their ugly head. With his humanity leaving him bit by bit, Martin discovers his adoptive father’s sinister intentions for himself and the telepods, leading to a climax featuring a rampaging fly monster laying waste to a number of henchmen before finally confronting Bartok face to proboscis.

Stoltz, Richardson, and Daphne Zuniga (as Martin’s love interest Beth) all put in great work here, as does John Getz, the sole returning cast member from the previous film. This movie may hold neither the visual beauty nor the depth of its predecessor, yet it still succeeds as an immensely entertaining B sci-fi/horror flick. Though it may pale next to the masterpiece that precedes it, it easily stands as the second best film in the entire franchise.

As with the Cronenberg film, The Fly II is wonderfully represented on this disc in terms of bonus features. New to this Scream Factory edition is a number of interviews, including: Fly in the Ointment, a very candid talk with Fly producer Stuart Cornfeld, who discusses his leaving the sequel over creative differences and his blunt opinion on the resulting film; Original Visions, an interview with the always affable Mick Garris, who talks about his work on the screenplay, the early superchildren concept he had for the sequel, and his initial, negative reaction to seeing the finished film; Version 2.0, which finds screenwriter Ken Wheat chatting about his experiences with rewriting The Fly II with his brother Jim (the writer recounts a funny story during this interview about a studio exec requesting a scene explaining exactly how the telepods work, which sent producer Mel Brooks into a fit); a talk with Hellraiser cinematographer Robin Vidgeon on his work for the film; Big and Gothic, with composer Christopher Young talking about his first big gig with Fox and expressing his fondness for The Fly II, which he saw as a great tragedy; and an interview with special effects artist Tom Sullivan.

Add to all of that this collection of bonus features from the previous release: interviews with director Chris Walas and producer Steven-Charles Jaffe; retrospective documentaries on The Fly II and the entire Fly franchise; a film production journal; a master class with Young; storyboard-to-film comparisons; the original Electronic Press Kit (with extended EPK interviews), a deleted scene and alternate ending; a teaser and theatrical trailer; and stills/storyboard galleries. It’s one helluva set for a movie that deserves more love than it gets.

This handsome collection, focusing on one of the most enjoyable if often-overlooked horror franchises, is a no-brainer to purchase this holiday season. With its impressive box, fantastic films, and its utterly exhaustive collection of bonus features, Scream Factory has given us what should be considered the definitive collection for Fly fans. If you’re even a casual fan of this series, you owe it to yourself to revisit and rediscover these films in the best way possible, which has now so fortunately presented itself for past and future devotees.