Shivers

If compiling a list of favourite directors, David Cronenberg if to be honest wouldn't be on it (having only properly started seeing his work fairly recently). If compiling though a list of the most fascinating and unique directors, he would almost certainly be on it and high up the more work seen of his. A vast majority of his films disturb in his use of imagery and make one feel uncomfortable with his tackling of challenging subjects, but as said in some of my other reviews for his films there is much more to his work than just full on horror as seen with him moving away from it in later years.

Cronenberg's feature film debut 'Shivers' is nowhere near among his best work (though nowhere near among his worst either), but for a film debut with limited resources despite flaws 'Shivers' is pretty impressive. The rest of the films that are part of his filmography are far more refined visually, explore their themes/subject much deeper and are far better written and acted. But every good/great director has to start somewhere and this impresses and interests, and even with the low production values it's fairly ambitious in its subject and for low budget. In terms of content, 'Shivers' is one of Cronenberg's more disturbing films.

There are issues with 'Shivers'. If there was an award for the worst-looking Cronenberg film, 'Shivers' in my mind would be an easy win. With the exceptions of the suitably freaky special effects and eerie apartment setting, this does fare pretty badly in the visual department and reminiscent of a very low budget television film. The camera work and editing are both rather slip-shod and like the makers were still experimenting when shooting and editing without having put much thought into what to do and when to do it. The sound is also amateurishly handled.

Another weak point is the acting. There are two exceptions, Joe Silver, who really does give it his best shot without over-compensating, and particularly Barbara Steele, whose experience in Hammer films is obvious. Other than that, 'Shivers' contains some of the worst acting in a Cronenberg film even for mostly non-big names. Paul Hampton is especially awful, who looked like he wasn't interested in the film at all (even Stephen Lack in 'Scanners' wasn't this bad). The script does have some very clunky moments.

However, despite all of this it is difficult to be too hard on 'Shivers'. As said the special effects are freaky, surprising as one does expect for minimal budget for the effects to be the worst part when it comes to production values, the apartment setting has real eeriness and Silver and Steele do well with what they have. Cronenberg gave himself a lot to take on and does so admirably, even if his style had not fully formed yet. Yet his style can still be found all over 'Shivers', with the famous themes and ideas often re-visited in later films present but much deeper and with more subtlety later on. Other parts of the script are darkly humorous and intriguing, like the flesh monologue.

What is particularly good here though in 'Shivers' is the atmosphere and the horror. Even by 2019 standards, 'Shivers' is still genuinely scary and even now is one of Cronenberg's most disturbing, old and new. The starkness evokes genuine chills, something that would be seen in his later films but much more technically advanced in them. There is a real sense of dread, with a lot of tension and suspense. The parasites are not seen a lot but really chill the blood when they do appear. A lot of the imagery is stomach churning, especially the bath scene which is one of the most frightening scenes of any early Cronenberg and overall Cronenberg perhaps for that matter. The claustrophobic climax is also unforgettable.

Summarising, very flawed but did give me the shivers. 7/10

'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!

For me, the best of Cronenberg's earlier works is an exercise in claustrophobic tension building, wrapped in a concept of pure exploitation, and all further used as an excuse for a wicked Buñuelian-like satire on the woes of contemporary consumer culture and the antiseptic nature of modern living. The way that Cronenberg creates this world of gated purification turned into a beacon for the very best of late twentieth century existence, only to then pull the walls down from within as the characters are turned into dribbling, sex starved deviants is not only an effective horror-film scenario - drawing on the prevalent notions of isolation and paranoia usually found in films of this particular nature - but also as a comment on the vapid, overwhelming sense of boredom that modern life, with all its consumer fads and soulless pursuit of social fulfilment can present.

Like the very best of these retro exploitation films, Shivers (1975) works on at least two distinct levels of enjoyment and interpretation, with the obvious shocker elements suggesting an even more warped take on the territory of Night of the Living Dead (1968) - with sidelines into the same kind of atmosphere created by John Carpenter in his subsequent Assault of Precinct 13 (1976) - while the more personal and psychological aspects of the script complement the more recognisable elements of horror in a way that creates a perfect symbiosis between presentation and form. Admittedly, the look of the film and the obvious limitations of the low budget might disappoint some viewers more accustomed to glossier, 21st century thrillers; whilst the once shocking elements of the film might even seem somewhat quaint, especially in light of the veritable pornography of violence in films such as Saw III (2006), Hostel (2005) and The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Nonetheless, I think many viewers more familiar with horror/thriller/science-fiction cinema of this particular period will still be able to appreciate what Cronenberg was trying to achieve with this depiction of violence and depravity; with the scenes and scenarios - especially in the film's frenzied final act - really going for the jugular in terms of outré shock spectacle and the subversion of traditionally wholesome, all American iconography.

The idea of a small band of survivors coming together in the name of self-preservation as an inexplicable horror affects those closest to them is still a well worn concept in horror cinema, and one that works incredibly well when combined here with Cronenberg's cold, Kubrickian vision of a sterile, social environment as sex and death become distorted amidst moments of stock exploitation, sly wit and a genuinely subversive sense of satirical absurdity. Though it is admittedly rough around the edges and lacking in the obvious prestige of films like The Brood (1979) and Videodrome (1982), I'd still take this over A History of Violence (2005) or Eastern Promises (2007) any day; with Shivers standing out as not only one of Cronenberg's very best films, but one of the most unique, unconventional and completely engrossing exploitations works of this particular cinematic period.

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 third feature 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")

Cronenberg's directorial feature film debut is built around a now-familiar amalgamation of sex, technology, and medicine gone mad. The Canadian "Shivers" (original American release title "They Came From Within", aka "The Parasite Murders") opens with a slide show advertising a creepily perfect-sounding high-rise apartment building isolated on an island but just minutes away from downtown Montreal. We are told that the complex contains practically everything necessary to maintain a comfortable life- medical and dental practices, clothing stores, a gift shop, a deli, recreation, etc. Ideally, it would seem, the only reasons a resident would leave would be to work, socialize with non-residents, or take a vacation, if that wasn't too redundant. But of course, something terrible is just under the polished surface.

Cronenberg's direction is obviously not as polished as in later features, but we begin to see his signature style translated well into a full-length format.