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Shivers

Play trailer Poster for Shivers R 1975 1h 28m Horror Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
After a scientist living in a posh apartment complex slaughters a teen girl and kills himself, investigators discover that the murderer had been carrying on experiments involving deadly parasites. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton), a doctor living in the building, and his aide, Nurse Forsythe (Lynn Lowry), then realize that the parasites are on the loose, attacking fellow tenants. And those who become hosts turn into erotically obsessed maniacs who pass the bugs on through violent sex.
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Shivers

Shivers

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Critics Consensus

Shivers uses elementally effective basic ingredients to brilliant effect - and lays the profoundly unsettling foundation for director David Cronenberg's career to follow.

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Critics Reviews

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Vincent Canby New York Times The film is so tackily written and directed, so darkly photographed and the sound so dimly recorded, that it's difficult to stay with it. Rated: 1.5/5 May 9, 2005 Full Review Almar Haflidason BBC.com Despite all the nastiness there is a compulsive nature to this film that makes it very hard to switch off even when in full gory swing. Rated: 4/5 Apr 11, 2001 Full Review Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle Shivers, written and directed by Cronenberg, is a paranoid, prurient sexual nightmare. Rated: 3/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Of course Cronenberg's feature debut is about sex slugs. And, wouldn't you know it? It's pretty great, too. Rated: 4/5 Oct 13, 2025 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Shivers is an ingeniously engineered slash of thoroughly modern horror that, like George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, charts a social breakdown by tearing through our most intrinsic taboos. Sep 8, 2023 Full Review Tom Meek Cambridge Day Kitschy, creepy and pretty much the film...that announced Cronenberg as a cutting-edge horror force... Rated: 3/4 Nov 13, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blu B Cronenberg's first true feature proper and it shows. The direction is good and he makes the best out of a low budget film. The setting is memorable and the special effects while cheap are quite good honestly. You can see his gift for body horror on display in here albeit in more toned down fashion. Everything else is overall half decent. This has a lot of commentary on the nature of sexuality and how it can turn otherwise civilized people into animals. However that being said where this lacks is in the characters. There is way way too many characters. This is very much a plot driven movie. Problem is there is literally dozens of characters and really none of them really stand out that much and if you asked me to tell you something beyond surface level stuff about any of them....I geniunely could'nt tell you. It feels like if you cut out a given storyline save for the doctor, really nothing changes overall. And it is quite jumpy at times. It's something that he'd get better at balancing in the future while keeping the strengths this has. Anyone who is a hardcore fan of Cronenberg may want to check this out. It's interesting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/08/25 Full Review thiago s Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/01/25 Full Review acsdoug D The film obviously suffers from a low budget, including what could be the crappiest "luxury" apartment building in existence. If you're nostalgic for some 70s drive in movie schlock then you could give this one a try. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/21/25 Full Review Nick O Hostile parasite slugs turn the residents of a yuppie apartment complex into braindead, drooling sex zombies in this early David Cronenberg puke-fest! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/26/25 Full Review Jason S 🌀COLLECTION RATING 86% Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/25 Full Review Aldo G Uneven acting and poor tech credits negatively affect this early Cronenberg effort. But, there is no denying you're in the hands of a future filmmaking great. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/21/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Shivers

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a scientist living in a posh apartment complex slaughters a teen girl and kills himself, investigators discover that the murderer had been carrying on experiments involving deadly parasites. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton), a doctor living in the building, and his aide, Nurse Forsythe (Lynn Lowry), then realize that the parasites are on the loose, attacking fellow tenants. And those who become hosts turn into erotically obsessed maniacs who pass the bugs on through violent sex.
Director
David Cronenberg
Producer
Ivan Reitman
Screenwriter
David Cronenberg
Distributor
Vestron Video, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), DAL Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Horror, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 8, 2016
Runtime
1h 28m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.85:1)
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