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 | Thriller

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 | Apartment Building | Sex

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Paul Hampton	...	Roger St Luc
Joe Silver	...	Rollo Linsky
Lynn Lowry	...	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)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Astral Video (Canada) (VHS) (77 minute TV version)
• Avalanche Home Entertainment (video)
• CIC Video (Canada) (VHS)
• Gloria (1976) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• P.M Productions (1976) (France) (theatrical)
• Scotia International Filmverleih (1976) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• 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]
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]
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:

Canadian journalist Robert Fulford attacked the content of ‘Shivers’ in the pages of the national magazine, ‘Saturday Night’. Since Cronenberg's film was partially financed by the taxpayer-funded National Film Board of Canada (or NFB), Fulford headlined the article "You Should Know How Bad This Movie Is, You Paid For It". Not only did this high profile attack make it more difficult for Cronenberg to obtain funding for his subsequent breakthrough movies, but Cronenberg later said Fulford's attack on him also resulted in him being kicked out of his apartment in Toronto.

Goofs:

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

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

Night of the slimy sex-monsters

Cronenberg's variation on the Zombie theme was his first full length feature film and for this it is surprisingly good.

From the technical point of view, it is very amateurish. The lighting and camera work are highly reminiscent of home made Super 8, and the sound is bad beyond belief.

Although the mindless creatures attacking anything that moves immediately recall the Zombies, Cronenberg's movie has some original ideas. In fact, watching German television these days, the subject of bored middle class diving into sex orgies (at least in their fantasy) seems more up to date than ever. Unlike Romero's Zombies, Cronenberg's creatures simply embark into endless sexual excesses, including minors. Indeed, one of the most scandalous scene shows two young girls on dog leashes, climbing up a stair and barking - unexcusable image!

The special effects in "Shivers" work very well and are more slimy, organic, and visceral than say Romero's, and give better testimony of the vulnerability of the human body. They set the tone for Cronenberg's use of gore in his subsequent films.

"Shivers" earned Cronenberg immediately the title of the "reigning king of shlock horror" - very appropriate.