3 out of 5

Director: David Cronenberg

Shivers was director Cronenberg’s first full-length film, and while it has many elements of his films in the plotting and a truly unsettling end sequence, the first film mark is apparent in the somewhat choppy presentation and dragging beginning and middle of the movie. This is David Cronenbergs twist on the alien parasites turn us into murderous zombies! genre, where the parasite is a lab creation gone wrong, some type of venereal disease that makes people crazy for crazy sex that generally leads to violence. (The violence/sex theme will be familiar to Cronenberg fans.) Check the wikipedia page or purchase the DVD for informative liner notes as to how the film is a response to the free love 60s and following awareness of AIDS… because to the lay viewer, most of this does not come across in the actual movie, which is to its detriment. Either due to very poor audio on the DVD or just uncertainty about how to present the movie, most of the plot points come across rather vaguely. Still, challenging stuff is hinted at, with sex/violence happening to and with anyone, regardless of age or sex. And when the movie gets comfortable with what it is for the last fifteen minutes or so, its super creepy and well done (ratcheting it up to three stars). A good watch for fans of the director (the juxtaposition of themes and some Cronenbergian tracking shots are here), but casual viewers will probably be curious about the odd combination of events and pacing.