Shivers, 1975.
Directed by David Cronenberg.
Starring Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Alan Migicowsky, Susan Petrie and Barbara Steele.
SYNOPSIS:
After a botched science experiment, an apartment complex becomes infested with a dangerous parasite that turns all those it infects into depraved sex obsessed maniacs.
Crafting a varied filmography of terrifying films in which the human body is mutated and distorted into nightmarish new forms, David Cronenberg has cemented himself as the master of that most stomach-churning of sub-genres; body horror.
As we celebrate his long-overdue return to the genre he arguably created with Crimes of the Future, I felt now would be an ideal time to return to Cronenberg’s beginnings – it’s a film that, while not his debut, was the one that marked him as among the most creative and disturbing filmmakers alive; the cult sci-fi horror Shivers.
When you describe the story of Shivers to someone who has never heard of it, it sounds absurd. A bunch of brown shit-coloured worms slither around an apartment building, turning its residents into what are essentially perpetually horny sex zombies. However, when you watch this story play out, it still might be absurd, but it’s also downright horrifying.
The depiction of these sex zombies in Shivers is far more frightening than the hordes of the traditional flesh-eaters you’d find in other zombie films, with their unrelenting drive to assault and rape everyone they come into contact with leading to numerous scenes of disturbing sexual violence.
Sensitive viewers should be wary that the scenes of sexual violence are sometimes vicious in their presentation, with one-on-one encounters being deeply uncomfortable to watch. Thankfully, Cronenberg knows when to show restraint, with the worst violence being kept off-screen. Although, in a dark and possibly deliberate irony, by cutting away, several sequences, such as an upsetting encounter in an elevator, become even more horrifying, especially when we see that children have joined the hordes.
While he might not have the larger effects budget of his later works, Cronenberg still gives us sickening scenes of the human body being twisted into something inhuman. Such as a man who, after becoming ill, turns into a parasite incubator, talking to his slithering guts and plotting to find “new friends” before vomiting up more brown slugs to spread his sickness.
The special effects rendering this might be simple, but the slithering, bulging shapes that pulsate from the man’s body might make you regret eating before watching. Although I did laugh at the sight of human incubator Nicholas (Alan Migicovsky) vomiting up a bloody parasite over his apartment balcony. The ghastly guttural blob splattering onto a befuddled old lady’s umbrella with a loud wet mushy smack.
Taking place almost entirely within an apartment complex, Shivers sets itself up with a claustrophobic setting from which it feels like there is no escape. The vast halls of the complex feeling like possible traps, with the elevators just waiting to spring some dribbling, shirtless pervert upon an unsuspecting victim. Even one’s own home is not safe from attack, as you’ll likely find the horny hordes trying to break down your door to have you join their twisted orgy of depravity.
The scenes of the residents storming after our protagonists and bursting from all corners are intense and genuinely frightening, with them seemingly appearing out of nowhere like a kind of orgiastic monster that simply will not and cannot be stopped.
As he would do, albeit more heavily in his later films, Cronenberg uses the film to examine themes about disease, the human body and sexuality, among others. The speech given by Forsyth (Lynn Lowry) about how “everything is erotic” is perhaps the most blatant combination of some of these themes. Especially the description of the disease as “the love of two alien kinds of creatures for each other”, among other strange ruminations. Also, Cronenberg offers an early display of his knack for catchy phrases, with “old flesh is erotic flesh” seeming like a warm-up for the more recent “surgery is the new sex”.
Perhaps the thing about Shivers that struck me the most is how much the film reminded me of J.G. Ballard’s dystopian novel High Rise. Both works were released in 1975. Both take place in luxurious, sophisticated apartment complexes and both deal with the breakdown of society within that apartment, albeit with different causes, outcomes and themes. Given that Cronenberg would later adapt Ballard’s novel Crash into the 1996 film of the same name, these early similarities between the two controversial creator’s works are a funny little coincidence.
While the story, themes and atmosphere are exemplary and suitably upsetting, the film lacks memorable, interesting characters. While the actors give fine performances throughout, the characters they portray are thinly written and often serve as little more than parasite fodder. Although I will give credit to Susan Petrie in particular for her sympathetic performance as Janine Tudor, an emotionally neglected wife who just wants some kind of affection from a cold and distant husband who would rather talk to the slithering parasites in his stomach. And you think your relationship is complicated.
Boasting a horrifying story of sexual violence and disturbing commentaries about sexuality and the body, Shivers stands as a frightening and disgusting early taste of the body horror nightmares that David Cronenberg would unleash throughout his acclaimed career.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
