Paul Hampton

Joe Silver

Lynn Lowry

Allan Kolman

Susan Petrie

Barbara Steele

Ronald Mlodzik

Barry Baldaro

Camil Ducharme

Hanna Poznanska

Wally Martin

Vlasta Vrana

Silvie Debois

Charles Perley

Al Rochman

Julie Wildman

Arthur Grosser

Edith Johnson

Dorothy Davis

Joy Coghill

Joan Blackman

Kirsten Bishop

Fred Döderlein

Sonny Forbes

Nora Johnson

Cathy Graham

Robert Brennen

Felicia Shulman

Roy Wittan

Denis Payne

Kevin Fenlow

David Cronenberg

Don Carmody

John Dunning

Suzanne Garand

Erla Gliserman

Robert Saad

Joe Blasco

Patrick Dodd

André Link

Alfred Pariser

Ivan Reitman

Rick Maguire

Attila Dory

Paul Gravel

John Daoust

Jim Lawler

Dexter Pattie

Louisette Champagne

Jean-Claude Matte

Fournier Fréres

John Sawyer

Len Blum

Rose Marie McSherry

Cliff Rothman

Jim Thompson

Tom Sawyer

Josette Perrotta

Diane Boucher

Irene Litinsky

Stewart Harding

Yves Drapeau

Michael Higgs

Nolan Roberts

Fred Mollin

Horror

Science Fiction

Shivers

DAL Productions

Canadian Film Development Corporation

Cinépix Film Properties (CFP)

Canada

Disease is the love of two creatures for one and other.

Shivers is written and directed by David Cronenberg. It stars Fred Doederlin, Paul Hampton, Lynn Lowry and Barbara Steele. Music is by Ivan Reitman and cinematography by Robert Saad.

Montreal's Starliner Island Complex suddenly becomes home to parasitic organisms that upon entering a human host, turns them into flesh-eating sexual predators.

Cronenberg's first commercial feature film has become a little too over analysed over the years due to the Canadian auteur's subsequent career. Meanings and motives within Shivers have been searched and scrutinised so as to give it more resonance. It really isn't worthy of that sort of cranial thinking, but what Shivers is is a fun low-budget horror film, a movie that has dashes of Cronenberg magic that shows he started as he meant to go on.

With its chaotic observation of mundane everyday people suddenly turned into sexually charged beings now devoid of inhibitions, it's not hard to see why it caused some controversy upon release. Yet that sort of controversy is gold publicity really, and ultimately when you look at it now, it's played out as being more tongue in cheek than any design to shock the audience out of their seats. That's not to say there isn't horror here of course, one only has to see the brilliant opening to know this, but there is an intentional airiness about the piece, and yes! This is even as the director pushes buttons by pushing taboo subjects into our visual event.

The acting is generally poor, the sound mix is off and some of the dialogue is awfully cheesy, but Shivers still comes out in considerable credit. It's an important movie in the pantheon of horror because of its director, while it's enjoyable to tick off some of the traits that would dominate his work from this point on. It also makes you evaluate the state of horror as a genre today, with the ream of sequels, remakes and unsurprising slashers dominating the box offices, now more than ever we could do with a young up and coming Cronenberg type to announce himself to our cinematic world. We can but hope. 7.5/10

Fun horror movie that reminded me a bit of Dawn of the Dead (one location, people being "infected" and going after one another (hungry for flesh so to speak) and the few survivors fighting for their lives. Not great per se but still entertaining and a solid debut for David Cronenberg (well, feature length anyway). **3.75/5**

English

Shivers ≣ 1975 ≣ Trailer

Shivers ≣ 1975 ≣ Teaser

David Cronenberg SHIVERS on CBC | David Cronenberg Virtual Exhibition