Shivers

1975
R
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

24K

YOUR RATING

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Body Horror Horror Sci-Fi

The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are infected by parasites that turn them into mindless nymphomaniac fiends.The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are infected by parasites that turn them into mindless nymphomaniac fiends.The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are infected by parasites that turn them into mindless nymphomaniac fiends.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

24K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Nicholas Tudor
(as Alan Migicovsky)

Susan Petrie

Janine Tudor

Barbara Steele

Betts

Ronald Mlodzik

Merrick

Barry Baldaro

Detective Heller
(as Barry Boldero)

Camil Ducharme

Mr. Guilbault
(as Camille Ducharme)

Hanna Poznanska

Mrs. Guilbault
(as Hanka Posnanska)

Wally Martin

Doorman

Vlasta Vrana

Kresimer Sviben

Silvie Debois

Benda Sviben

Charles Perley

Delivery Boy

Al Rochman

Parkins

Julie Wildman

Miss Lewis

Arthur Grosser

Mr. Wolfe

Edith Johnson

Olive

Director
- David Cronenberg
Writer
- David Cronenberg
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
David Cronenberg laments not having the benefit of CG to make the slug look better or at least erase the wires, but he's okay with it as a product of its time. "Unlike George Lucas I had no desire to go back and correct it with modern technology. Let it live in the time that it existed with all the flaws. That's where it belongs."

Goofs
The manager cuts a building's phone lines. Later, Roger St. Luc rings the old francophone couple from the lobby after being attacked in the basement. The couple answer the phone and tell St. Luc that his girlfriend, the nurse, has left the apartment because the phone had been cut off. Roger used the intercom, not the phone lines.

Quotes
Forsythe: Roger, I had a very disturbing dream last night. In this dream I found myself making love to a strange man. Only I'm having trouble you see, because he's old... and dying... and he smells bad, and I find him repulsive. But then he tells me that everything is erotic, that everything is sexual. You know what I mean? He tells me that even old flesh is erotic flesh. That disease is the love of two alien kinds of creatures for each other. That even dying is an act of eroticism. That talking is sexual. That breathing is sexual. That even to physically exist is sexual. And I believe him, and we make love beautifully.

Alternate versions
The 1983 Astral Video VHS features an edited TV print of the film.

Connections
Featured in Elvira's Movie Macabre: They Came From Within (1983)

Soundtracks
Rooms in a Museum
(uncredited)
Music by Eugene Cines
Published by Boosey & Hawkes

User reviews153

Review

Featured review

7/10

Influential debut for the great Cronenberg.

The first big screen flick for Canadian horror master David Cronenberg was this skin-crawling B horror movie.

Residents of a high rise apartment building are being attacked by parasites that are turning them into crazed zombies with nothing but sexual assault on their minds!

Shivers is an effectively disturbing movie, not unlike most of Cronenberg's later horror classics. It's had a good hand in influencing later creature flicks. The story has a good premise and builds some terrific tension as it escalates to a great claustrophobic climax. What's clever about this movie is that most of the horror is suggested, we don't see the parasites much and their elusiveness just helps to create more tension. The makeup effects are decent for a low budgeter and the cast turn in some adequate performances, horror veteran Barbara Steele is a nice addition to the cast.

Shivers is a entertaining slice of B horror that manages to live up to its title well. A must-see for Cronenberg fans.

*** out of ****