Cronenberg's first movie of note, Shivers (AKA They Came from Within), is the director's first attempt at tackling a theme that would eventually become his trademark: the progression of man's evolution through technology. The result isn't as polished as his later films, with less considered direction and weak performances from some members of the cast, but the film still manages to impress thanks to Cronenberg's innovative story, some impressive make-up FX (by Joe Blasco) and a few very memorable scenes.
Set in Starliner Towers, an exclusive self-sufficient apartment block isolated on an island, Shivers stars Paul Hampton as resident doctor, Roger St. Luc, who discovers that some of the building's occupants have become host to man-made parasites that heighten sexual desire to dangerous levels. As more and more of the residents become infected, Roger attempts to at first destroy the creatures, then contain the situation, and eventually, when the block is finally completely over-run by sex-mad 'zombies', escape from the island.
Although Shivers might not 'wow' today's audiences with dazzling special effects and technical brilliance, there are still plenty of unsettling scenes that make this movie worth a look, especially if you're a fan of the director's later work: an early death scene sees a man strangling a young woman, before cutting her open and pouring acid into her body cavity; Betts (Barbara Steele) gets a bath-time shock as one naughty, phallic parasite pops out of the plughole and finds another place to hide; Nicholas Tudor (Allan Kolman) wishes he hadn't been getting some on the sly when his stomach begins undulating in a rather uneasy fashion; and a brilliant, downbeat ending sees the horny islanders getting into their cars for a trip to the mainland.
Set in Starliner Towers, an exclusive self-sufficient apartment block isolated on an island, Shivers stars Paul Hampton as resident doctor, Roger St. Luc, who discovers that some of the building's occupants have become host to man-made parasites that heighten sexual desire to dangerous levels. As more and more of the residents become infected, Roger attempts to at first destroy the creatures, then contain the situation, and eventually, when the block is finally completely over-run by sex-mad 'zombies', escape from the island.
Although Shivers might not 'wow' today's audiences with dazzling special effects and technical brilliance, there are still plenty of unsettling scenes that make this movie worth a look, especially if you're a fan of the director's later work: an early death scene sees a man strangling a young woman, before cutting her open and pouring acid into her body cavity; Betts (Barbara Steele) gets a bath-time shock as one naughty, phallic parasite pops out of the plughole and finds another place to hide; Nicholas Tudor (Allan Kolman) wishes he hadn't been getting some on the sly when his stomach begins undulating in a rather uneasy fashion; and a brilliant, downbeat ending sees the horny islanders getting into their cars for a trip to the mainland.