Shivers  ★★★

IF YOU want to see how film trailers should be made check out the one for Crimes of the Future.

This is Canadian director David Cronenberg’s first film in eight years and, based on the minimalist and impactful trailer, I will be sitting in a theatre on the first release weekend.

While he has made excellent thrillers like Eastern Promises and A History of Violence, Cronenberg is best known for modern sci-fi and body horror classics like The Fly, Dead Ringers, The Dead Zone, Scanners and Videodrome.

Cronenberg’s first effort released in 1970 was actually a version of so it’s interesting that he will has returned to this story, although the themes are no doubt similar to those he has explored throughout his career.

I’m not sure Crimes of the Future (1970) qualifies as a feature film because it is only just over an hour long, so let’s assume it was actually Shivers from 1975.

This was certainly the film that brought Cronenberg to everyone’s attention for the first time, delivering an interesting and assured debut on what was even back then a miniscule budget of $185,000.

Also known as The Parasite Murders or They Came from Within, Shivers is set in the single location of Starliner Towers, a fictional luxury apartment complex in Montreal.

Cronenberg gets down to it from the very first scene which features a doctor trying to rape and then murdering a young woman named Annabelle. He slices open her stomach, pours acid into the wound and then commits suicide.

Meanwhile another resident, Nick Tudor, is suffering from severe stomach convulsions and mood swings that are alarming his partner.

The bodies are found by the complex’s resident doctor, Roger St. Luc. The police investigate but don’t seem that interested because they suspect Annabelle was a prostitute.

St. Luc speaks to the dead doctor’s colleague who reveals he had been working on a project to create a parasite that can take over the function of a human organ.

Nick is getting even sicker and vomits up a parasite over the balcony of their apartment. From there the rogue parasite starts moving through human bodies causing severe and horrifying reactions, in particular overwhelming sexual urges that cause them to attack and assault people and pass on the parasite.

St Luc and his assistant are eventually faced with trying to stem the tide of a growing and murderous pandemic throughout the building.

Shivers sets up many of the themes that will dominate Cronenberg’s filmography – the fragility of the human mind and body, man’s obsession with improving his looks, the dangers of medical science, the nexus between man and machine.

The single location and basic camera quality detract from the film overall but it’s mainly the below par acting that drags the film down, particularly from Paul Hampton in the lead role as St. Luc.

But this was a hit at the time due to the strong practical effects and make-up, emphasis on sex and some good tension. Cronenberg was on his way, sparking controversy and accolades and has never looked back.