Before he became a respected director, upon the release of classics such as The Fly and Videodrome, David Cronenberg was the director of cheap little films such as Rabid and this one; Shivers. Of the two movies mentioned, Shivers is certainly the weakest of the two, but then again it was also the earliest, so budget constraints are more likely to have been a bigger problem and it was also made before Cronenberg was a fully fledged professional. While the film is lacking in many elements that are needed to make a successful film, things such as coherency and interesting characters, it does feature lots of horror, and that just about pulls it through. Obviously, due to the man in the director's chair, it's not a straight horror and the film focuses primarily on the psychological terror of changes occurring in one's body, and although Cronenberg explored this idea much better in films such as the aforementioned The Fly and Videodrome, along with other films such as The Brood and Dead Ringers, he doesn't do a bad job here.
The film is halfway between a zombie flick and an alien film such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and it certainly could have been a lot better if it had been more professionally handled. The film is typical of this type of movie in the seventies as it is cheap looking and the camera work, lighting and other techniques aren't exactly high quality either. None of the cast stands out, and the acting is terrible on the whole. Still, these things are part and parcel of this sort of movie and personally, I quite like it. The movie is very much of the 'schlock' persuasion, and the way it fuses a fast paced plot with sex and violence will ensure that fans of that type of film will be happy. The creature effects in the film aren't very spectacular, but at least they look real enough not to simply look stupid. Some of the images that Cronenberg presents to his audience are shocking, and a lot of the fans of this movie no doubt will be so for that reason. Personally though, I just like it.
The film is halfway between a zombie flick and an alien film such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and it certainly could have been a lot better if it had been more professionally handled. The film is typical of this type of movie in the seventies as it is cheap looking and the camera work, lighting and other techniques aren't exactly high quality either. None of the cast stands out, and the acting is terrible on the whole. Still, these things are part and parcel of this sort of movie and personally, I quite like it. The movie is very much of the 'schlock' persuasion, and the way it fuses a fast paced plot with sex and violence will ensure that fans of that type of film will be happy. The creature effects in the film aren't very spectacular, but at least they look real enough not to simply look stupid. Some of the images that Cronenberg presents to his audience are shocking, and a lot of the fans of this movie no doubt will be so for that reason. Personally though, I just like it.