Frissons

Looking like a cross between a turd and a worm, it attacks people in a block of flats and makes them hosts for its offspring by transferring the infection. The infected people then become aggressive spreaders and attack the other inhabitants of the building. There are some really disgusting scenes, a well built-up story, and a thick horror atmosphere. The result is a film that already bears the hallmarks of the hopelessness and creepiness typical of Cronenberg, traits that make it impossible to confuse with any other a similar genre. That’s more than enough for four stars. (19/09/2004)

Pretty good horror. The parasite looks very nasty, though it didn’t generate any feelings of disgust, and the atmosphere of the time wasn’t very intense. However, somewhere around the middle, when I was feeling quite bored, the film turned into something like zombie horror, slowly building up a thick atmosphere, and the bloody obscenities gained strength. The overall impression from Cronenberg’s first major film was more than positive in the end. (16/03/2008)

Pleasantly ironic and sympathetically unscrupulous, but I never really understood the old era of Cronenberg. When something is intellectually deep, I will still see the depth and the intellect is lost to me with every repellent scene. Moreover, when the characters speak the simplest sentences with utterly unconvincing acting and a sincere gaze into the eyes, I just had to wonder again how many followers this creator has gained. (19/01/2008)

David Cronenberg's take on Night of the Living Dead. Though the broader context is mostly unaddressed, this is a smartly narrated atmospheric downer that, of all his films, perhaps best reflects Cronenberg's talent for a slowly but overwhelmingly intense tensing of the horror string. The quick dive into the plot and its environment, the early violent murder and the subsequent unravelling of the extremely engaging plot, which thanks to the flawless escalation (in the last minutes the rush of tense scenes is downright diabolical), the forms permeated with sexuality and nudity, and the presence of an undoubtedly likeable hero firmly straps us into our seats, regardless of the age and logical visual dullness. For me, despite the restraint in terms of visual detail, this is the master's most intense horror film with lots of inventive techniques and a rich layering of bleakness and nervousness; probably one of the most forward-looking genre gems of its time. (13/08/2016)

In "Shivers", it is still evident that it is a film from Cronenberg's beginnings. The story is not as strong, mature, and the psychology is not as excellently constructed as in his other films. On the other hand, it is a great B-movie that does not shy away from gore and moments that are not pleasant for the viewer. It is as if it slightly borrowed sequences from the zombie genre and created a specific work that combines seemingly difficult-to-combine elements. A zombie horror without zombies with elements from the 50s and gore from the 70s is definitely worth seeing. (22/11/2013)

The whole thing struck me as a cruel naturalistic experiment, but an excellent and masterful one in terms of filmmaking. Excellent cinematography, oppressive atmosphere (practically the entire film takes place in an apartment complex), and man presented as a victim of his own desires and confined strictly to his biological nature. While it's pretty disgusting in places, it's still a brilliant affair. In the "pool" finale, all I could think of was the cynical remark: "so she finally got hers!!!" :)) (02/01/2011)