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

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:

This film was shot in fifteen days.

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: Roger, I had a very disturbing dream last night. In this dream I found myself making love to a strange man. Only I'm having trouble you see, because he's old... and dying... and he smells bad, and I find him repulsive. But then he tells me that everything is erotic...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cronenberg Interview: Shivers (1998) (V)

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.