Shake, Rattle and Roll [Review: Shivers]

Along with Nakatomi Plaza, Peach Trees, Wyndham Tower and the unnamed High-Rise, I have unfortunately had to add Starliner Towers to the list of high-rise buildings to avoid. It's a shame - the period architecture, the peaceful island location and the easy accessibility of the on-site swimming pool, supermarket, medical and dentist's surgeries and parasitology research lab all make it so tempting...

Shivers (also released as The Parasite Murders and They Came From Within) is a horror movie from 1975 directed by the emerging David Cronenberg and set in a tower block in Montreal. Dr. St-Luc is the resident MD tending to the inhabitants who have started to develop odd stomach complaints that are definitely not related in any way to his colleague's work on a parasitic organism designed to replace organ transplants. He is asked to investigate a suicide-homicide that took place in one of the apartments, and discovers a link to the parasites - and the possibility they have already been spread to several other residents through their fun and games.

Taking Shivers out of the context of other films, it's an uneven quality experience and mainly of interest as it shows an early Cronenberg still coming into his powers. Acting is hit and miss, sometimes sincere and convincing, sometimes melodramatic or wooden. Scenes of violence, sex or sexual violence are also variable. A few of these scenes are horribly effective, including the homicide-suicide where an older and sinister man appears to be attacking a schoolgirl, and clips of their fight are juxtaposed with a new couple being shown around the luxury tower-block. 

Other effective horror scenes betray the director's influence by his contemporary George A. Romero as the residents, turned into sex-crazed demi-zombies by the parasite, try to corner St-Luc and nurse Forsythe.  The parasite creature is fun but doesn't ever appear convincing or threatening itself - the most effective creepy scenes are the ones that don't show the creature at all but just its' trails of blood. However the legacy of this film is the continued popularity of parasite-horror, including such classics as Alien (1979), The Thing (1984), Species (1995), The Faculty (1998), the Cronenberg-inspired Slither (2008) and so on. Meanwhile Cronenberg grows in filmmaking ability and his own later films such as Videodrome and eXistenz develop the bio-horror theme further, and the high-rise genre also continues to develop - High-Rise (2015) is essentially a re-make of Shivers without the parasites.

Score: 3 out of 5 stars

All movies reviewed on the Sci-Fi Gene blog are given a score of 3 out of 5 stars.

We Didn't Start The Fire! [Reviews: Firestarter and Scanners]

If you have supernatural powers then watch your back: there’s a good chance that a shady government agency is on your tail. This agency will be headed by an MD or research doctor, probably the one who created you and your fellow superhumans during a trial of some experimental drug or other. Give them the chance and they will take you back to an Institute built from 1960s concrete blocks, where they will watch you demonstrate your powers from behind a large glass screen.

Back in the 80s they knew how to make supernatural powers films: Firestarter (1984) and Scanners (1981). Firestarter is an adaptation of a Stephen King novel featuring the Shop agency. Pyrokinetic heroine Charlie, played by Drew Barrymore shortly after E.T., is the offspring of two experimental subjects. Charlie spends most of her time on the run but as she gains control of her powers – she is insanely powerful – she stands her ground and takes on the Shop.

Scanners is David Cronenberg’s film about the most hard-core telepaths ever. Telepathy in Scanners does not involve asking you to think of a number. It’s a hostile takeover of your nervous system – as well as controlling the actions of their target, a Scanner can stop their heartbeat or breathing, trigger epileptic seizures, or in a classic scene ramp up their blood pressure until their head explodes. Experimental drug? Check. 60s architecture Institute with glass screen? Check. Sinister MD? Check – Dr. Ruth played by Patrick McGoohan.

Few recent films in this genre have been quite as intense as either Firestarter or Scanners, although there are echoes of them in Unbreakable and Jumper. Although they might share the same subject matter they don’t feel like superhero films.