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 | Doctor | 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
Julie Wildman	...	Miss Lewis
Arthur Grosser	...	Mr. Wolfe
Edith Johnson	...	Olive
Dorothy Davis	...	Vi
Joy Coghill	...	Mona Wheatley
Joan Blackman	...	Elevator Mother
Kirsten Bishop	...	Elevator Daughter (as Kirsten Bishopric)
Fred Doederlein	...	Emil Hobbes
Sonny Forbes	...	Garbage Room Man
Nora Johnson	...	Laundry Woman
Cathy Graham	...	Annabelle
Robert Brennen	...	Boy
Felicia Shulman	...	Girl
Roy Wittan	...	Bearded Man (as Roy Whittan)
Denis Payne	...	First Elevator Man
Kevin Fenlow	...	Second Elevator Man

Directed by
David Cronenberg

Writing credits
David Cronenberg		(written by)

Produced by
Don Carmody	....	co-producer
John Dunning	....	executive producer
André Link	....	executive producer
Alfred Pariser	....	executive producer
Ivan Reitman	....	producer
Peter James	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert Saad

Film Editing by
Patrick Dodd

Art Direction by
Erla Gliserman

Makeup Department
Joe Blasco	....	creatures creator
Joe Blasco	....	special makeup artist
Louiselle Champagne	....	makeup assistant (as Louisette Champagne)
David Dittmar	....	assistant special makeup
Suzanne Garand	....	makeup artist (as Suzanne Riou-Garand)

Production Management
Don Carmody	....	production manager

Art Department
Rose Marie McSherry	....	art assistant

Sound Department
Len Blum	....	sound assistant
Danny Goldberg	....	sound supervisor (as Dan Goldberg)
Michael Higgs	....	sound recordist
Jean-Claude Matte	....	boom operator
Nolan Roberts	....	re-recording
Jim Thompson	....	boom operator

Stunts
Fournier Frères	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
John Daoust	....	key grip
Attila Dory	....	still photographer
Yves Drapeau	....	first assistant camera
Paul Gravel	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Paul Houle	....	best boy
Jim Lawler	....	assistant grip
Rick Maguire	....	first assistant camera
Dexter Pattie	....	assistant electrician
John Sawyer	....	gaffer
Tom Sawyer	....	electrician

Music Department
Ivan Reitman	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Diane Boucher	....	continuity
Stewart Harding	....	production assistant
Irene Litinsky	....	production secretary
Josette Perrotta	....	production secretary
Cliff Rothman	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC) (this motion picture was made with the assistance of) (as Canadian Film Development Corp.)
• Cinépix
• DAL Productions

Distributors

• Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) (1975) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Trans American Films (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Gloria (1976) (Austria) (theatrical)
• P.M Productions (1976) (France) (theatrical)
• Scotia International Filmverleih (1976) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Astral Video (Canada) (VHS) (77 minute TV version)
• Avalanche Home Entertainment (video)
• CIC Video (Canada) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (video; as "They Came From Within")

Other Companies

• Aquascutum of London  furnished by (Mr. Hampton's wardrobe)
• Carlsberg Beer  acknowledgement
• Casgrain & Charbonneau Ltée.  acknowledgement
• Cassidy's  acknowledgement
• Coca Cola  acknowledgement (as Coca-Cola)
• Danish House Furniture  acknowledgement
• Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Royal Victoria Hospital  acknowledgement
• Developers of Nuns' Island, Montreal  the producers wish to thank (for the use of their buildings and facilities in the making of this motion picture)
• Freedman of Montreal  tailored by (Mr. Silver's wardrobe)
• Metropolitan Structures of Canada  acknowledgement
• Mirrophonic Sound  sound studio
• Montreal Municipal Aquarium  acknowledgement
• Phillips Security  acknowledgement

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)
Parasiten-Mörder (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Anatrihiles (Greece) [el]
Dreszcze (Poland) [pl]
Frissons (France) [fr]
Frossa (Sweden) [sv]
Il demone sotto la pelle (Italy) [it]
Kylmät väreet (Finland) [fi]
Os Parasitas da Morte (Portugal) [pt]
SF Hitokui seibutsu no shima: Nazo no seimeitai daishûrai (Japan) (TV title) [ja]
Shîbâsu: Hitokui seibutsu no shima (Japan) (video title) [ja]
Vénen de dintre de... (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Vinieron de dentro de... (Spain) [es]

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:

Susan Petrie was unable to cry, so David Cronenberg used onions to help her produce tears. This worked, but the camera was out of focus when the scene was shot, and because Cronenberg was out of onions, Petrie gave her consent to let him to slap her on the face. He did so until her face was numb from all the takes. He finally settled for a series of takes he found to be less than satisfactory.

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:

Forsythe: He tells me that even old flesh is erotic flesh, that disease is the love of two alien kinds of creatures for each other, that even dying is an act of eroticism.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film (2004) (TV)

Zombies of Sex

In the fancy Starliner compound in an island near Montreal, a mad scientist tests a parasite in the body of his mistress. He believes that man is an animal that thinks too much, and he develops a parasite to increase the violence and sexual desire of mankind. There is an outbreak in the condominium, with the fierce dwellers becoming zombies of sex.

"Shivers" is the first movie of this great Canadian cult director David Cronenberg, indeed a very low budget trash movie, with a final cost of US$ 179.000,00. The story mixes humor and horror and the effects are very nasty and disgusting, a trademark of Cronenberg. The story is a kind of sexual version of "The Night of the Living Dead", with people turning out zombies of sex. The screenplay of 1979 "Alien" used many concepts of this movie. The interview of David Cronenberg in the DVD is excellent, and it is very funny to know that the actress Sue Patrick asked him to slap her face in the scenes that she needed to cry, and Barbara Steele reaction to this physical assault. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Calafrios" ("Shivers")