Shivers (1975)

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:

David Cronenberg cast Lynn Lowry as Nurse Forsythe because of her haunting eyes and strange screen presence.

Goofs:

Continuity: Roger St. Luc rings the old Québequois couple from the lobby after being attacked in the basement. In the previous scene, however, the viewer sees the manager cut the phone lines. Despite this, the French couple answers the phone and tell St. Luc that his girlfriend, the nurse, has left the apartment. But the reason that she left the apartment was because the phone had been cut off.

Quotes:

Bearded man: Have you met my daughter, Erica? She's a very beautiful girl. Come here, Erica. I just know you'll like my daughter, Erica.

Movie Connections:

Featured in David Cronenberg and the Cinema of the Extreme (1997) (TV)

Fascinating and Disturbing

An early piece from David Cronenberg, this is his first cinematic exploration of themes which he would continually come back to throughout his career in films such as eXistenZ, Videodrome, The Fly and Crash. to best explain these themes, i must qoute the man himself, "I was saying, I love sex, but I love it as a veneral disease. I am Syphilis. I am Enthusiastic about it, but in a very different way from you." and while that doesnt shed a whole lot of light on the film, it sure is a hell of a qoute :) the plot of Shivers, aka The Parasite Murders, revolves around a parasite which has been bred to heighten sexual desire and other primal instincts while dampening our mental awareness. this parasite has been let lose within a high-tech high rise block thanks to the experiments upon a young girl by an older scientist. the horror begins immediately, as do the social metaphors and ideas of sex and death. it is interesting to note this film was produced before the outbreak of AIDs, but is entirely applicable in our modern world. in some ways this is a tale of warning, of what can go wrong and how we can destroy ourselves. but above all, cronenberg delights in sinking us into the flesh, so the film can also be seen as fable of a world gone mad with life and freedom, which many would not consider so horrific. it defies simple catergorisation, it is not just a story about rampantly sexually active teenagers like so many of its kind. it is a story about every person's desire for safety, and the darker desires which hide behind it. wonderfully directed, intriguingly written, there is little that i can fault this film for, except perhaps its little to obvious reference to Romero's Night Of The Living Dead. while it is obviously partly inspired by that film, and brilliantly reinterprets it for a new age and a new social strata, the tiresome zombies that stagger about like slugs are a little out of place, but fortunately it does not let the film down. a must see.