One of my favorite Vincent Price horror movies is the 1958 chiller "The Fly." When I was a kid this picture scared me silly. And in my opinion it holds up quite well today.

At the time, "The Fly" was such a box-office smash that it spawned a pretty good sequel the next year, and another not-so-good sequel followed some six years later.

Then, of course, came David Cronenberg's remake in 1986, which was followed by a sequel of its own. The '86 "Fly" is pretty scary, too, taking the story in a different direction, with fine performances from Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. But director Cronenberg, who will never be accused of being subtle, makes his movie far too gory and gooey for my taste. In the ensuing decades, I've never been tempted to return to it.

But the 1958 "Fly" is one I've seen many times, and watching it again in the new DVD set "The Fly Collection" (Fox, 1958-65, color and b/w, four discs, $39.98) has given me new respect for the film.

The plot has a scientist (David Hedison) fooling around with disintegrating molecules. He's trying to do that "Star Trek" thing of transporting objects — and people — from one place to another in an instant. But when a fly gets in the chamber as he experiments on himself, look out! (Price is actually a supporting character here — and he plays a good guy.)

The story unfolds in flashbacks, to explain the gruesome opening as a woman has apparently murdered her husband by squishing him in a giant press — twice! And at the end of the film is a very famous scene, which provides great irony when the woman's homicidal actions mix with those of a police investigator in a way that is both horrifying and thought-provoking.

This is great stuff, filmed to take advantage of the CinemaScope process and in brilliant color. The other two films in the box are black and white, "Return of the Fly" (with Price elevated to a larger role) and "Curse of the Fly" are not nearly as good but still of interest to fans. And the "Disc of Horrors" bonus features offer an A&E "Biography" of Price, featurettes and other goodies. (There is also an audio commentary on "The Fly" by Hedison, and a 12-page booklet.)

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Also new on DVD shelves — but only at Best Buy for the moment — is "The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection, Volume 2" Universal, 1940-59, color and b/w, three discs, $19.99). Unlike last year's "Volume 1," which had "The Incredible Shrinking Man" in the mix, there is no genuine classic here.

But there is the 1940 color film "Dr. Cyclops," about a mad scientist (Albert Dekker) shrinking people to the size of Pez dispensers. The script could have used some work but the special effects are quite notable for the period.

The others are fun low-budget monster movies: "Cult of the Cobra" (1955, "The Land Unknown" (1957), "The Deadly Mantis" (1957) and "The Leech Woman" (1959).

Halloween is right around the corner. Can you tell?

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E-mail: hicks@desnews.com