The Fly at Watershed: 40 years of body horror

If you fancy a bit of body horror to round off October, Watershed on the harbourside is screening David Cronenberg's The Fly tonight at 8pm. It's part of their 'Scares at the Shed' season, and it happens to be the film's 40th anniversary, which is a tidy reason to catch it on the big screen rather than at home.

The film is a remake of Kurt Neumann's 1958 B movie of the same name, and it's widely seen as one of Cronenberg's best pieces of body horror. Jeff Goldblum plays Seth Brundle, a scientist who builds a teleportation device and accidentally brings a household fly into the pod with him; their DNA fuses, and Brundle's strength, sexual appetite and craving for sugar all start to climb as he slowly turns into something else. Geena Davis stars opposite him as Veronica, and the two were actually together in real life at the time. The whole thing runs to 96 minutes, and the makeup, by Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis, picked up an Oscar. The Guardian has called it '96 minutes of grotesque, vomit-soaked bedlam', and George Cromack described it as 'iconic body-horror from the master', so it's not exactly a gentle watch.

What makes this screening a bit different is the opening. Before the main feature, Watershed is showing a selection of horror micro-shorts made by the public, and there's an open call for filmmakers to get involved. The '30-Second Horror Shorts Open Call' asks for a nightmare of 30 seconds or less, inspired by cult classics like The Thing, Videodrome, Re-Animator, The Evil Dead and The Fly itself, with selected films screened to a live audience. There's also a wider open call for micro-shorts of 60 seconds or less to be projected before the film, so if you've got something short and scary sitting on your hard drive, it's worth a look. The whole thing is being presented in partnership with Noods Radio, the Bristol independent station that's been broadcasting electronic and experimental music 24/7 since 2015, and in collaboration with DIY Cinema.

A few practical notes before you go. Tickets are £12 full and £9.50 concessions after 4pm on weekdays, plus a 12% booking fee if you book online or by phone. The box office opens at 9.30am on weekdays and 10am at weekends, and closes 15 minutes after the last screening starts. The café and bar are open from 9.30am on weekdays and 10am at weekends, with food served until 9pm Tuesday to Saturday and 8pm on Sundays. Getting there is easy: the nearest bus stops are at The Centre, a couple of minutes away, and there's a ferry stop nearby with regular Bristol Ferry Boat services from Temple Meads, Hotwells and around the city centre, plus Millennium Square and Trenchard Street for parking. The building is fully accessible, with gender-neutral and gender-specific toilets and two accessible ones, and staff have had basic BSL and Deaf awareness training. If you're a regular, Club Shed membership gives 15% off cinema and Undershed tickets, advance booking for special events and discounts in the café and bar.