Welcome to Movie Nights @ Analog Wine Library
Film Fanatic Movie Nights is a series of communal film experiences designed to stimulate the senses, feed the mind, and dazzle the eyes. Each film is presented by a film fanatic curator who introduces the film, sets the stage with background and insight, and leads an informal discussion afterward. Whether you come as a viewer, a movie buff, or a full-on fanatic — you're among friends here.
This screening is part of Champaign-Urbana's annual month-long celebration of horror films — one of cinema's most inventive, subversive, and enduring forms. This October, explore a carefully curated selection of the genre's greatest achievements on the big screen. Full festival schedule: shocktober-fright.com
The Fly
USA / Canada 1986 • 96 min (1.85:1) • Rated R
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
RSVP on Facebook • Download poster
Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 8:00pm
Venue: Analog Wine Library (129 N Race St, Urbana)
Advance tickets: $10 (available online until 5pm on October 7)
Regular admission: $12 (at the door)
Special offer: Join Film-Fanatic.Club today and get one FREE admission plus one drink ticket (more info)
Note: Upon purchase, your name will be added to our door list (no tickets will be issued). Simply check in at the door at least 10 minutes before the screening starts on the night of the event. Your email receipt is your proof of purchase.
Analog Wine Library is an ADA accessible venue with designated spaces that can accommodate anyone, including guests who use wheelchairs. Please email ada@film-fanatic.club for more information.
About the film
A landmark of modern horror and one of the defining achievements of David Cronenberg's career, this astonishing fusion of science fiction, romance, and body horror turns a classic monster premise into something profoundly human. Cronenberg, one of cinema's great chroniclers of physical transformation and psychological obsession, uses grotesque imagery not simply to shock but to explore aging, illness, sexuality, mortality, and the terror of losing control of one's own body. At the center is a career-defining performance from Jeff Goldblum, who transforms from eccentric scientist to increasingly horrifying creature with extraordinary physical and emotional commitment. Geena Davis gives the film its emotional center, making the increasingly gruesome transformation genuinely heartbreaking. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Makeup, the film remains a triumph of practical effects — and an experience that demands to be seen on the big screen. Visceral, tragic, strangely beautiful, and deeply disturbing, it is Cronenberg's science-fiction nightmare at its most powerful.
Content Warnings: Graphic body horror, gore, vomiting, bodily transformation, violence, sexual content, disturbing imagery, death, and psychological distress.
#Cronenberg #JeffGoldblum #GeenaDavis #BodyHorror #HorrorCinema #ScienceFiction #CultCinema #PracticalEffects #1980sCinema #RepertoryCinema #ClassicHorror #BigScreenExperience
Presented by Chuck Koplinski
Chuck Koplinski is a Rotten Tomatoes certified film critic and member of the Critics Choice Association. He's been writing for the News-Gazette since 2007 and reviews movies for CBS 58 in Milwaukee every Thursday morning. His reviews and interviews can be found at www.reeltalkwithchuckandpam.com.
"Body horror has been part and parcel of the horror genre since its birth. But it wasn’t until John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and the work of Rob Bottin that its impact was truly felt. Using elaborate practical effects that employed skin-like latex, rubber standing in for snapping tendons and even mini-hydraulics to simulate body parts being separated from one another, the special effects artist set a new standard that many have tried to emulate but few have equaled.
"Subsequent features, such as Videodrome (1983), Slither (2008), Titane (2021) and The Substance (2024) would lean into the horrific nature of the genre, emphasizing the grotesque in an effort to push the limits of the viewer, the occasional film cutting the tension by taking a darkly humorous approach (1985’s Re-Animator). And while David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986) pulls no punches in delivering its share of watch-through-your-fingers-gross-out moments, it’s the poignancy generated by Jeff Goldblum’s performance that elevates this above other genre entries.
"To be sure, Seth Brundle’s physical degeneration is horrific, but his takes on the nature of a relentless, fatal disease that gradually wears down its victim, death in its most heinous form the only outcome. Some have claimed, which Cronenberg denies, Brundle’s condition was a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic that was raging at the time of the movie’s release. Whether true or not, it’s hard not to draw correlations between what’s seen on screen with any merciless illness that changes not only the physical nature of its victim, but their mental and emotional states as well.
"The best horror films are the ones that take on subjects mainstream movies shy away from, allowing us to grapple vicariously with those issues viewers are reticent to deal with. Yet, films like The Fly do us a great service by opening the door to discussion regarding pressing issues that would otherwise be brushed aside. That the viewers’ ultimate response is sympathy rather than revulsion towards Brundle is a testament to Cronenberg’s unique sensibility and Goldblum’s ability to convey the humanity of the character. As a result, the film never ceases to move me, its impact only growing as the years go by."
— Chuck Koplinski
Film-Fanatic.Club • Analog Wine Library • 129 N Race St, Urbana
