Shivers

The first big screen flick for Canadian horror master David Cronenberg was this skin-crawling B horror movie.

Residents of a high rise apartment building are being attacked by parasites that are turning them into crazed zombies with nothing but sexual assault on their minds!

Shivers is an effectively disturbing movie, not unlike most of Cronenberg's later horror classics. It's had a good hand in influencing later creature flicks. The story has a good premise and builds some terrific tension as it escalates to a great claustrophobic climax. What's clever about this movie is that most of the horror is suggested, we don't see the parasites much and their elusiveness just helps to create more tension. The makeup effects are decent for a low budgeter and the cast turn in some adequate performances, horror veteran Barbara Steele is a nice addition to the cast.

Shivers is a entertaining slice of B horror that manages to live up to its title well. A must-see for Cronenberg fans.

*** out of ****

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.

An early David Cronenberg film where the residents of a lonely apartment complex get infected by a strange parasite that causes their sexual instincts to go haywire.

It sounds like schlock. And it is. But it is directed by David Cronenberg, who since then went on to direct some of the best horror films of his generation. And his talent shows here as well. It is a cheesy exploitation film premise, but the location is surprisingly interesting, the cinematography works well given the budget and the creature special effects are very well-made.

Some will complain due to the nudity on display and some of the implications caused by the parasite's sexual nature, but if you're not easily offended, this is a very nice little piece of entertainment. It's just the right amount of over the top, titillating and grotesque to keep your interest while still being professional enough to keep you from rolling your eyes.

I liked it. It's not for everyone, but I've always loved movies such as this one.

'Shivers' was David Cronenberg's first full length movie and it is a horror classic. Cronenberg's best movie for me is 'Videodrome' but as far as pure horror goes ('Videodrome' is extremely difficult to categorize and not "just" horror to me) 'Shivers' ties with 'The Brood' as Cronenberg's most original and effective movie in the genre. Made on a shoe string budget, with a largely unknown cast (apart from horror icon Barbara Steele, and many may remember Lynn Lowry from Romero's 'The Crazies'), with Cronenberg later admitting he was learning how to make movies as he went along, this is a very powerful, disturbing and blackly humorous movie that still packs a punch rarely seen in today's contemporary horror movies. Highly recommended to all horror fans or anyone who appreciates extreme movies of any kind. 'Shivers' is close to thirty years old but is still an amazing and unforgettable experience!

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.