“So what he came up with … was a parasite that’s a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease that will hopefully turn the world into one beautiful, mindless orgy.” Wait a minute. Hopefully? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out David Cronenberg’s first “official” movie, Shivers (1975). Do you feel the frisson?
Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 198 – Shivers (1975)
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Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of the podcast and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.
The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others with the slightest sexual contact.
Writer/Director: David Cronenberg Producer: Ivan Reitman Executive Producers: John Dunning, André Link Creatures Creator / Special Makeup Artist: Joe Blasco Selected Cast: Paul Hampton as Roger St. Luc Joe Silver as Rollo Linsky Lynn Lowry as Nurse Forsythe Allan Kolman as Nicholas Tudor (as Alan Migicovsky) Susan Petrie as Janine Tudor Barbara Steele as Betts Ronald Mlodzik as Merrick Barry Baldaro as Detective Heller (as Barry Boldero) Camil Ducharme as Mr. Guilbault (as Camille Ducharme) Hanna Poznanska as Mrs. Guilbault (as Hanka Posnanska) Fred Doederlein as Emil Hobbes Cathy Graham as Annabelle David Cronenberg as Infected Crowd Member / Stabbed Shoulder (uncredited)
Whether you remember it as The Parasite Murders or They Came from Within, David Cronenberg’s early horror film from 1975, Shivers, is one of cinematic curiosity, taboo/body-horror, and skin-crawling terror. Produced by Ivan Reitman, the film features the beautiful Lynn Lowry and the stunning Barbara Steele along with character actor supreme Joe Silver with the calm, cool, and collected Paul Hampton in the lead. Oh, yeah, and dozens – if not hundreds – of sleazy, slimy, fat, worm-like mind-altering monsters. Cronenberg made a career of pushing the celluloid limits and Shivers is a perfect example of what is to come from Canada’s top master of horror.
At the time of this writing, Shivers is available to stream from Wicked Horror TV, Tubi, and multiple PPV sources. The film is also available on physical media as a Blu-ray in the Vestron Video Collector’s Series from Lionsgate.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Chad, will be Black Magic (1975). Abracadabra, Shaw Brothers please, and thank you!
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