Shivers

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Shivers

R,

1975,

1h 28m,

Horror/

Sci-Fi

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Watchlist

85%

27 Reviews

Tomatometer

58%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

After a scientist living in a posh apartment complex slaughters a teen girl and kills himself, investigators discover that the murderer had been carrying on experiments involving deadly parasites. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton), a doctor living in the building, and his aide, Nurse Forsythe (Lynn Lowry), then realize that the parasites are on the loose, attacking fellow tenants. And those who become hosts turn into erotically obsessed maniacs who pass the bugs on through violent sex.

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Critics Consensus

Shivers uses elementally effective basic ingredients to brilliant effect - and lays the profoundly unsettling foundation for director David Cronenberg's career to follow.

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

May 9, 2005

1.5/5

The film is so tackily written and directed, so darkly photographed and the sound so dimly recorded, that it's difficult to stay with it.

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Almar Haflidason

BBC.com

Apr 11, 2001

4/5

Despite all the nastiness there is a compulsive nature to this film that makes it very hard to switch off even when in full gory swing.

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Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Jan 1, 2000

3/5

Shivers, written and directed by Cronenberg, is a paranoid, prurient sexual nightmare.

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Oct 13, 2025

4/5

Of course Cronenberg's feature debut is about sex slugs. And, wouldn't you know it? It's pretty great, too.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Sep 8, 2023

Shivers is an ingeniously engineered slash of thoroughly modern horror that, like George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, charts a social breakdown by tearing through our most intrinsic taboos.

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Tom Meek

Cambridge Day

Nov 13, 2020

3/4

Kitschy, creepy and pretty much the film...that announced Cronenberg as a cutting-edge horror force...

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Hermione R

Mar 16, 2019

okay... first of all, the minute that slug popped out that tub drain, that water would've started swirling & she should've been like "that's weird. i'm the only one in this bathtub. what's going on." & then would've seen it & jumped out. secondly -- if you've got a slug slithering up your vag you'd probably try to grab it/stop it instead of just throwing your hands in the air & barely scream. LOL. i love old movies. absolute nonsense. this probably was an ok film back in the day but it's pretty awful now, lol.

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Harry R

Nov 30, 2018

Awesome cult classic, graphic and gruesome.

Anakin G

Nov 15, 2018

This was a very trippy horror. Body horror isn't usually my thing so I wasn't as excited as normal, but still it came across as a good movie worthy of 3*. The blood effects, as usual, were crappy for the 70s movie. But the special effects team did a marvellous job as the effects nearly blew me away for that time period. Way ahead of its time. Another reason it was so different was its use of sexual interaction to spread the virus. Once infected, you have an irresistible urge to have sex with someone else.

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Han S

Sep 17, 2017

another cronenburg classic!

Han R

Aug 31, 2017

Cronenberg's first real movie, and it's still a rather effective one. The body-horror he became famous for, is used to good effect here. As is the claustrophobic setting. And Sex Zombies? how can you not be interested by that?

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Abraham P

Jun 28, 2017

This debut film by David Cronenberg shows early promise that would later be fully realised however this film has plenty of flaws which are hard to dismiss despite having some positives. The sound production when it comes to hearing the characters is weak, the acting is poor, the production isn't all that great in general (though I do like some of the practical effects and the setting) and it doesn't have all that much of a satisfying ending. It does however have an engrossing plot, I like the gradual build up in violence and paranoia and it is generally entertaining despite taking a somewhat ludicrous premise a bit too seriously.

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David Cronenberg

Director

Paul Hampton

Roger St Luc

Joe Silver

Rollo Linsky

Lynn Lowry

Nurse Forsythe

Allan Kolman

Nicholas Tudor

Susan Petrie

Janine Tudor

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Synopsis

After a scientist living in a posh apartment complex slaughters a teen girl and kills himself, investigators discover that the murderer had been carrying on experiments involving deadly parasites. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton), a doctor living in the building, and his aide, Nurse Forsythe (Lynn Lowry), then realize that the parasites are on the loose, attacking fellow tenants. And those who become hosts turn into erotically obsessed maniacs who pass the bugs on through violent sex.

Director: David Cronenberg
Producer: Ivan Reitman
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg
Distributor: Vestron Video, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), DAL Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 8, 2016
Runtime: 1h 28m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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