Shivers

Rating:
Summary: A horror movie with a brain
Review: While I don't love EVERYTHING David Cronenberg has created, his first feature for me really has left an impression on me--it's one of my favorite horror movies. I like his movies because he deals with horror on a very personal and intimate level--the ghoulies that come to get you don't rise from the dead, they're not cartoon-type monsters or mad slashers, they're your neighbors, your family (unfortunately, that parallels real life sometimes!)...and Cronenberg's interest in the exaggeration of bodily afflictions, diseases and invasions makes for very unsettling, effective viewing (nearly every horror movie he's made, but especially stuff like Rabid, Videodrome, Dead Ringers, eXistenz [however you spell it])...As you know, this is the movie where an evil professor implants a young coed with a parasite that is "part aphrodisiac, part venereal disease" in the name of freeing man from his rational mind; he should act more on impulse, especially the sexual kind. Of course, the coed sleeps around and passes the slug-like parasite around this island community near Montreal. After the parasite invades the body (by either entering orifices or burning its way in), victims feel a mixture of gut-wrenching sickness and unabated sexual desire. So, soon the entire apartment complex is infected, and as the movie ends (I don't think I'm giving anything away here to those who are familiar with this genre), the diseased pack leaves their protective, insulated world to continue to spread the stuff ever onward. I find it fascinating that in the heyday of "do what feels good" someone would be as prescient as this young director to rail (in the movie, at least) against this concept. Sex, in this movie is treated as not desirable, but repulsive and horrifying, and the odd thing is, take away the parasite creatures, and you're not really that far removed from the desires and fantasies of some people; you see the spectrum of perversion (allusions to pedophilia, incest, orgies) underneath the surface of the respectable world. I suppose this was the point; it's very convincing and realistic, despite the sometimes wooden acting and occasional unintentional hilarious line. Low production values add to the effect, though in general, this is not a badly directed film (Cronenberg says in an after-movie interview that he started out knowing nothing, but learned fast on the job)--in fact, all things considered, it's quite good. It's another one of those 70s movies that are thoroughly immersed in the culture and make for a good document of the times, though it of course can just be enjoyed as a good scare, too. Definitely a must-see for those with strong stomachs and open minds.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific re-release by Anchor Bay
Review: Yes, this is David Cronenberg's first film and it is great considering he's still in training while making it. He wrote it as well and it's a great, pulpy, horror film for late nights. Truly distrubing at times, but funny at others. Gruesome though. THE REASON TO GET THIS IS THE CRONENBERG INTERVIEW AFTER THE CREDITS. He talks about all of the pertinent stuff concerning the film that anyone would want to know and it also gives a face to the man in case you thought he might look and sound like a serial killer. He's a pretty normal looking, and sounding guy. Very educated as well.