Shivers (1975)
David Cronenberg is, by now, a name that carries genuine weight in the history of cinema. From the surgical dread of The Brood to the slow-burn menace of A History of Violence, his filmography spans decades and shifts in style while remaining unmistakably his own. But every career has a beginning, and for Cronenberg, that beginning was Shivers, a Canadian horror film from 1975 that arrived with very little fanfare and left a considerable amount of mess behind. Set almost entirely within a gleaming, self-contained high-rise apartment complex, the film follows the rapid collapse of that community after a scientist's experiment goes catastrophically wrong, releasing slug-like parasites that spread from resident to resident and strip away all social inhibition. The concept sits somewhere between science fiction parable and outright exploitation, and Cronenberg makes absolutely no effort to soften either side of that equation.
The production was modest to put it generously. Backed by the Canadian Film Development Corporation and the exploitation-friendly Cinépix Film Properties, the film was shot on a reported budget of around $180,000, a figure that shows in almost every department. What it lacked in resources, though, it made up for in attitude. Cronenberg, working from his own screenplay, was clearly more interested in provocation than polish, using the sterile architecture of the Starliner Towers location as a kind of ironic backdrop for the chaos he had in mind. The film is sometimes cited as a foundational text in the body horror genre, that particular strand of horror concerned with the violation and transformation of the human body, and while that label arrived in retrospect, it fits well enough. Genre labels aside, Shivers was a genuinely divisive film on release, prompting a very public row in Canada when critic Robert Fulford condemned its public funding in Saturday Night magazine. That controversy, if anything, only added to the film's notoriety.
The cast is led by Paul Hampton as a somewhat detached doctor investigating the outbreak, with Joe Silver providing a louder, more energetic counterpoint as his colleague. Lynn Lowry, who genre fans may recognise from George Romero's horror-adjacent work of the same era, appears in a role that requires considerably more from her physically than dramatically. Allan Kolman and Susan Petrie round out the principal players in what is, frankly, a functional rather than distinguished ensemble. The performances are calibrated to the material, which is to say they are serviceable in the moments that require restraint and increasingly wild as the film demands more of them. Nobody here is doing career-best work, but in a film operating at this register, that is arguably beside the point. Cronenberg was not making a character study. He was making a statement, or at least attempting one, about conformity, desire, and what happens when the veneer of suburban civilisation gets punctured from the inside.
I really didn’t enjoy David Cronenberg’s 1975 debut feature, Shivers. Going off the trailer, I was fully braced for a tight, suspenseful sci-fi thriller in the vein of The Crazies or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Instead, what we actually get is something entirely different; a wild, unhinged, and fiercely ambitious fever dream.
While it completely missed the mark for me as a traditional horror film, you really have to admire the sheer, unadulterated audacity of Cronenberg’s vision. It’s the messy, glorious birth of the "body horror" genre, and there’s something undeniably fascinating about watching a future master of cinema just throw absolute chaos at the screen to see what sticks.
When you look at the technical execution, the film’s incredibly low-budget roots are showing through every single frame. The special effects are decidedly rough around the edges, the narrative logic is, frankly, nonsensical, and the acting from the likes of Paul Hampton and Lynn Lowry can feel a bit wooden and detached. But if you look at it through a forgiving lens, there’s a certain charming, raw grit to this 70s indie aesthetic. It doesn't take itself too seriously, leaning heavily into sleazy exploitation and dark, satirical comedy. It’s a bizarre, unapologetic slice of cinematic history that prioritizes shocking the audience over making logical sense, giving it a highly unique, cult-friendly flavour that its biggest fans absolutely worship.
It’s no surprise that Shivers gets such wildly mixed reviews online, splitting audiences right down the middle into those who revere it and those who, like me, just couldn't get on its wavelength. It’s a deeply flawed, chaotic experience that I personally just didn't enjoy, and the parasitic premise wears out its welcome long before the credits roll.
But even though I'm not a fan, I have to respect it as a vital, intriguing piece of horror trivia. Shivers is a fascinating, if deeply unpleasant, cinematic curiosity that proves even the legends have to start somewhere, even if their first steps are a bit of a stumbling, slimy mess.
Shivers sits in an interesting place within Cronenberg's catalogue precisely because it is unfinished in spirit, rough at the seams, and yet recognisable as the work of someone with a very specific mind. Whether that mind is communicating anything you want to spend 88 minutes with is, as Macca makes clear, very much a matter of personal tolerance. For completists and horror historians, it remains a worthwhile, if uncomfortable, artifact. For everyone else, it is a reminder that even the most distinctive voices in cinema occasionally need a few more attempts to find their register. The legend starts here. It just starts a bit sticky.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 1975 | Watched: 2026-06-26
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Shivers (1975) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: BFI Player · BFI Player Amazon Channel · Cultpix · BFI Player Apple TV Channel
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
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Physical: Amazon US
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