Shivers (1975)

Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

That was an excellent one.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

David Cronenberg's 1975 sci-fi/horror film stars Paul Hampton, Joe Silver and Lynn Lowry. This begins in an apartment building where a scientist kills a young woman and then himself. Hampton plays doctor, Roger St. Luc who discovers that he was working on an experiment with parasites and the girl was infected. The parasites turn their hosts into mindless, sex fiends and soon, they spread in the apartment building, infecting the residents. The late, Silver (Rabid) plays Roger's friend, Rollo Linsky who is a scientist and Lowry plays nurse, Forsythe. This is pretty good, the cast is decent and there's great make-up effects. If you're into body horror flicks, give this a view.

This early David Cronenberg body horror effort is rough around the edges (low budget, some not-so-great acting) but it's an interesting take on "infection" horror. The setting, as detailed in a somewhat unsettling advertisement that kicks off the film, is a new high-rise apartment building full of amenities on an isolated Canadian island. A perfect setting for mass parasitic infection to let loose utter chaos, and the whole film takes place here. Things are kicked off by a scientist (yep, he's a bit mad) who believes that genetically engineered parasites can be placed into bodies for organ transplants, and also to return humanity back to matters of the flesh (i.e., our base sexual instincts). Of course, his experiment all goes wrong and a parasite is set loose in the apartment building, causing residents one-by-one to become infected and spread it through sexual promiscuity.The recent Ben Wheatley film High-Rise (2015) reminded me a bit of this one, as it also uses an upscale, socially isolated high-rise apartment building as a setting for gradual, social devolution leading to moral decay and outright chaos. Interestingly enough, the JG Ballard novel that High-Rise adapts came out in 1975 just like Shivers, and Cronenberg of course has a Ballard connection since he adapted Crash in 1996. Of course, there is some good ol' Cronenberg body horror, with icky crawly parasites being spewed out of people's mouths. It's a solid early effort in what would become a great career. I wouldn't call this a conventionally "scary" horror film, but the sheer psychosexual anxiety is certainly palpable. Greatness lay ahead for this Canadian visionary.

Okay, there are no zombies in this film. My review's title is a little misleading. But it's not far away from a 'zombie movie.' A suburban tower block gets infected by parasitic organisms who turn their hosts into rampant sex-obsessed zombies. Only they're not zombies, just don't let them catch you or you'll become like them. So, in that way, it does conform to the 'zombie principal.' So, what's it like? It's certainly regarded as a 'classic.' And I can see why. It was pretty shocking (for its time). However, times have changed and there's probably more 'shocking' images in a Miley Cyrus pop video. But, if you don't judge it by today's standards, you'll see why it's become a cult classic over the years.The action... well, it's not so hot. The women are only there for eye candy and do little more than scream helplessly or get mercilessly victimised. By today's standards this film would not win any awards for a positive portrayal of women. The men are all pretty weird-looking. Apart from the hero, who is weird-looking in a 'seventies attractive' kind of way only. The special effects aren't that special and the blood is that bright red colour that only seemed to exist in the seventies.However, these 'flaws' can be pretty much overlooked if you're in the mood for something that wasn't made now and was a product of its time, rather than judging it by today's standards.It's different. Even with its zombie-like connotations it's still more of a different beast than most of today's horror offerings. If you're okay with 'period' horror (yes, I know it's only a few decades ago, but horror seems to have come a long way since then – and not always in 'the right' direction) and can put up with the 'odd squad' and their bad haircuts, give it a go before it gets remade with beautiful people and CGI special effects.

"Starliner Tower" is a high-rise apartment complex which is situated on an island off the coast of Canada and has been marketed like a cruise ship. It has just about everything—swimming pools, tennis courts, a medical clinic, a dentist office, and a grocery store—along with a beautiful view of the ocean all around. And people come here to live and get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. At least that is their intention. What they don't know is that one of the residents by the name of "Dr. Emil Hobbs" (Fred Doederlein) has been experimenting with a parasite that can replace a dying organ in the body. It feeds off of the host but contributes the benefit of a healthy organ. Unfortunately, things don't turn out as planned because the organism develops something much like a venereal disease and an aphrodisiac combined. But with deadly consequences for those who come into contact with an infected person. In essence, the parasite turns its host into sex-starved zombies! Well, maybe not "zombies" in the purist sense of the word but whatever the name they're certainly sex-starved. At any rate, rather than reveal any further details and possibly spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it let me just say that this was an interesting movie with a bit of lewdness thrown in for good measure. As far as the acting was concerned, I especially liked the chemistry portrayed between "Dr. Roger St. Luc" (Paul Hampton) and "Nurse Forsythe" (Lynn Lowry). Also worth mentioning is the presence of Barbara Steele (as "Betts") who was an established actress in horror films a decade earlier. Be that as it may, viewers of films similar in concept to the zombie genre might find something of interest here to enjoy. I rate it as average.