Shivers (film)
Shivers (also known as
The Parasite Murders, or
They Came from Within) is a
1975 Canadian horror film written and directed by
David Cronenberg.
Dr Emil Hobbes (Fred Doederlin) is conducting unorthodox experimentations with parasitic organisms, ostensibly for use in
transplants. However, Hobbes believes that humanity has become over-
rational and has lost contact with its flesh and its instincts, so the organism he actually produces is a combination
aphrodisiac and
venereal disease. Once implanted, said organisms cause uncontrollable sexual desire in their hosts. Hobbes implants the parasites into his teenage mistress, who spreads them throughout the ultra-modern apartment building outside
Montreal where they live. The community's on-site physician (Paul Hampton) and his assistant, Nurse Forsythe (Lynn Lowry) attempt to stop the spread of the infection before it can overwhelm the population.
The film is chaotically structured, mirroring the breakdown of life in the apartment block. The opening scene shows a young couple being welcomed to the tower block, intercut with Hobbes murdering his mistress, pouring acid into her body to kill the parasites, and cutting his own throat. It's only some way into the film that the audience learns the reason for Hobbes' actions, and most of
Shivers consists of set pieces as the parasites spread into other residents.
Cronenberg has said that he identifies with the residents
after they're infected, and the swinging sterility of "normal" life is mercilessly caricatured through the characterisation of the young, affluent, bland professionals inhabiting the apartment block and the hard-sell
estate agent's pitch from Merrick (Ronald Mlodzik) which accompanies the opening titles.
Shivers was Cronenberg's first full-length
feature film. It was the most profitable Canadian film ever made to that date, but caused huge controversy, to the point of being debated in the
Canadian parliament, because of a magazine reviewer's noisy objection to its
sexual and
violent content.
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