![\"Mel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Mel-Brooks-Actor-Filmmaker-2016-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n
Wed 22 April 2026 22:30, UK <\/p>\n
Mel Brooks<\/a> is going to go down in history for quite a few reasons; most probably for perfectly lampooning the world of Star Wars thanks to 1987\u2019s Spaceballs, definitely for a group of flatulent cowboys sitting eating baked beans in Blazing Saddles, but perhaps less so for coming up with one of the more memorable marketing lines in movie history.<\/p>\n But the soon-to-be centenarian was in fact involved in one of those taglines that have gone down in folklore, a fact that\u2019s made all the more surprising given it was for a film in a genre that couldn\u2019t be much further removed from Brooks\u2019 world of puerile sight gags and giant Darth Vader helmets<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The movie in question was, in fact, David Cronenberg\u2019s 1986 buzzy gorefest\u00a0The Fly, featuring a young Jeff Goldblum, long before the days of his morphing into some kind of bizarre jazz-obsessed human cat.<\/p>\n The horror sci-fi tells the tale of an eccentric scientist who has rigged up a load of equipment at his house in order to try to teleport from one place to another (standard). Unfortunately, a fly nips into one of his pods before he closes the door, leading to his getting spliced with the irritating little picnic-botherer, and chaos ensues.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was Goldblum\u2019s real breakthrough role and a big hit at the box office, with fans going crazy for Cronenberg\u2019s no-holds-barred approach to squelchy special effects, and in fact, the movie won the Oscar for \u2018Best Make Up\u2019 at the following year\u2019s ceremony. But the film arguably wouldn\u2019t have done quite as well, or be so well remembered, without that famous strapline that has passed into modern culture: \u2018Be afraid. Be very afraid\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n And Brooks, whose company was producing the movie, leading to his spending some time on the set, is the man responsible for it.<\/a> Cronenberg explained to Movie Crypt: \u201cAt one point, Mel was saying, about that particular moment, he said, \u2018When he says, Don\u2019t be afraid, the answer should be, Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.\u2019 He wasn\u2019t really giving me dialogue, he was just reacting. And I said, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m going to put that in the script.\u2019 So let\u2019s say it was a collaboration. But yes, it was Mel who came up with that.\u201d<\/p>\n It is Goldblum\u2019s co-star Geena Davis who utters that immortal line in the movie, and it has gone on to be featured in several other TV shows and films over the years, including in 1993\u2019s Addams Family Values and even an advert for the video game Metroid 2. But there is some debate as to whether or not Brooks was inspired by other places when he came up with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n For instance, there was a little-watched spoof horror show on US TV in the 1980s called\u00a0Beware of the Owners,\u00a0which pre-dates\u00a0The Fly<\/a>\u00a0and featured another eccentric scientist who had a neighbour who would often shout \u2018Be afraid, be very afraid\u2019. It was quickly cancelled, however, due to low ratings and terrible reviews.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brooks, meanwhile, is going to be back on the big screen next year thanks to the release of the long-awaited sequel to his 1980s space classic, titled\u00a0Spaceballs: The New One \u2013 reuniting many of the original cast, including Rick Moranis, who has barely been seen since stepping away from movie-making almost 30 years ago, it is scheduled to arrive in cinemas in almost exactly 12 months\u2019 time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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