Shivers

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Shivers

R

1975

1h 28m

Horror

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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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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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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

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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

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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

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Jason S

🌀COLLECTION RATING 86%

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/25

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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

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David Cronenberg

Director

Paul Hampton

Roger St Luc

Joe Silver

Rollo Linsky

Lynn Lowry

Nurse Forsythe

Allan Kolman

Nicholas Tudor

Susan Petrie

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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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