Shivers (1975)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

David Cronenberg (written by)

Release Date:

6 July 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

T-E-R-R-O-R beyond the power of priest or science to exorcise.

Plot:

The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact.

Plot Keywords:

Parasite | Apartment | Experiment | Sex | Violence

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Paul Hampton	...	Roger St. Luc
Joe Silver	...	Rollo Linsky
Lynn Lowry	...	Nurse Forsythe
Allan Kolman	...	Nicholas Tudor (as Allan Migicovsky)
Susan Petrie	...	Janine Tudor
Barbara Steele	...	Betts
Ronald Mlodzik	...	Merrick
Barry Baldaro	...	Detective Heller (as Barry Boldero)
Camil Ducharme	...	Mr. Guilbault
Hanka Posnanska	...	Mrs. Guilbault
Wally Martin	...	Doorman
Vlasta Vrana	...	Kresimer Sviben
Silvie Debois	...	Benda Sviben
Charles Perley	...	Delivery Boy
Al Rochman	...	Parkins

Also Known As:

Frissons (Canada: French title)
Orgy of the Blood Parasites (Canada: English title) (working title)
The Parasite Complex (Canada: English title) (working title)
The Parasite Murders
They Came from Within (USA)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Italy:T (DVD re-rating) | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Île-des-Soeurs, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Trivia:

According to Lynn Lowry, the shoulder that Nurse Forsythe stabs with the fork is actually that of David Cronenberg. A pad was inserted under Cronenberg's shirt for Lowry to stab, but, unfortunately, she missed and hit Cronenberg's real shoulder instead.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the theatrical version, the viewer can see the wire that moves the parasite in the very first shot it appears in (in the garden, after it fell on the old woman's umbrella). However, the wire is so thin that it is invisible in all home video editions.

Quotes:

[Last lines]
[Radio programme tune]
Radio News Reporter: The time is 5.26 a.m. This is Gerald Keys with the Media Sculp sunrise news bulletin. There is still no confirmation by Montreal city police concerning alleged reports of a city wide plague of violent sexual assaults. The assaults, believed to have originated in the vicinity of Starliner Island...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ghostbusters II (1989)

Better than expected

I'm a big fan of the director's but had never seen this one until the other day (the VHS re-release "director's cut" or whatever). The other user comments had let me to expect an amateurish curiosity, but I found it polished and feel no need to make any excuses for it (perhaps the new release is a cleaner print).

It's pretty sly, the acting's not bad and I found the film most remarkable for its restraint and subtlety. I'm not sure I buy the idea that the parasites are a metaphor for Americanization - Cronenburg's concerns are, I think, more personal and abstract than such a reading gives him credit for.

The movie is deliberately paced and the shock/gore factor is relatively low. I found it to be a modest footnote in a career that later bore stranger, richer fruit.