151 The Fly ( 1958 )

This  is  a  nailed  down  classic not  least  because  it's  the  only  film  my  gran  ever  admitted  being  spooked  by. Although  the  horror  effects  are  not  too  graphic , this  is  the  granddaddy  of  "body  horror"  movies. We've  already  had  people  turning  into  apes, bats  and  cats  but  when  you  descend  the  evolutionary  ladder  down  to  a  fly,  that  really  does  up  the  ante. The  scene  where  the  fly  with  a  human  head  is  about  to  be  engulfed  by  a  spider  really  does  stay  with  you.

Vincent  Price  was  the  big  name  star  but  he's  something  of  a  bystander  for  most  of  the  film  as  his  sister-in-law  unfolds  the  horrific  tale  of  why  she  killed  her  husband  ( Al  Hedison )  after  his  experiment in  matter  transference  went  horribly  wrong. It's  the  contrast  between  her  struggle  to  maintain  family  life  with  son  Philippe  ( Charles  Herbert )  upstairs  while  contending  with  the  nightmare  in  the  cellar  that  makes  this one  so  compelling.

Patricia  Owens  ( as  Helene  Delambre )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Patricia  was  a  Canadian  actress  who  came  to  London  as  a  child. She  worked  in  British  films  for  a  number  of  years  before  Hollywood  discovered  her  in  1957. This  was  by  far  her  best  role  and  she  dropped  into  B-movies  and  TV  soon  afterwards. She  retired  in  the  late  sixties  and  died  in  2000  aged  75.