Shivers (AKA They Came from Within AKA The Parasite Murders) (1975)

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HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2021

Writer/Director: David Cronenberg

Stars: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Allan Kolman, Susan Petrie, Barbara Steele, Ronald Mlodzik



An artificial parasite designed to replace any organ in the body becomes the STD from hell by triggering overpowering lust in its hosts in order to implant copies of itself in their sexual partners. 



It spreads through an isolated luxury community, causing complete social breakdown before spreading to the larger population.

 


It’s not hard to find a rather Puritanical allegory here for the public health consequences of lax sexual mores, even as writer/director David Cronenberg exploits the prurient aspects of his story. 



It’s pretty effective much of the time, and Cronenberg’s interest in the grotesque physical toll our scientific advances can take on us is evident. 



However, he was a new filmmaker, and his limitations, as well as those of his cast and crew, prevented the film from being more successful. But he was a quick study: just two years later he would release Rabid, a B-movie masterpiece that would cover much the same thematic ground.



































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