Tubi Thursday: Shivers (1975)

 A Director has to start somewhere.

In this case, it is the Film debut of David Cronenberg.
It is Canadian, but is it polite or just plain gross?

An old guy with a beard keeps fighting/struggling with a woman (who looks way too young with that hair and outfit).

He ultimately kills her, strips her and cuts her open.

After he sees something, he kills himself too.

This is taking place at an exclusive Canadian Resort Community.

Our Hero comes home to find the body...and then goes to work.

Huh?

The guy is not doing well, in spite of his Wife's concerns.

It builds up to a Scene where he tries to negotiate with the weird parasites in his stomach.

What a silly thing to do, right Mr. Tapeworm? 

The Film is '70s Cronenberg (and made on a small Budget), so get ready for a slow burn Film.

It leads up to a moment that Jame Gunn sure liked (and copied 40 years later).

It all has something to do with these Doctors- including that guy in the Intro- experimenting with parasites.

They don't really explain much.
Do you care if they do?

This is how we get Rage Zombies..but they're also horny.

Can our young Doctor keep his horny Nurse friend safe?

Can he fend off the slow-moving mob of Key Party Enthusiasts?

Yeah, not so much.

They swarm him and kiss him.

They don't kill him, however, and he's just taken into the mob.

In the morning, they all drive off in pairs to spread the infection.
The End.

A Film that alternates between being slow and being gross.

The Film frontloads the gore with that Scene and then it is mostly slow buildup.
The big moments have a nice, visceral punch to them though.

Shivers was funded in part by the Canadian Government.  It's funny how many Films like this- or Brain Dead- got federal funding back in the day.

The Film's effects with the parasites are not great.  Cronenberg cops to it in Interviews since and just kind of rolls with it.
Fair play.

If you're willing to wait for the grossout Body Horror, you get it.  He's just getting ready to really gross you out for the next few Decades.

Shivers is not his best Film by far, but I did get some joy out of the Body Horror and, if we're being honest, the gawdy Interior Design.  It burns your eyes worse than the parasites burrowing into them.

As a fan of Horror Films, I owe it to myself to check out these Horror Director's first works and deep cuts.  I'm going to put my money where my mouth is...

A very slow Film that gets gross when it needs to.  The Film is very '70s and enjoyably dated at least.