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Shivers (1975)

 Shivers (1975)
type
TVTItem
 Shivers (1975)
label
Shivers (1975)
 Shivers (1975)
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Shivers1975
 Shivers (1975)
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Shivers (also known as The Parasite Murders, They Came from Within, and Frissons) is a 1975 Canadian horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. His feature film debut, it embodies many of the Body Horror concepts he would continue to explore in future films with a wide spectrum of subtlety. It stars Fred Doederlin, Paul Hampton, and Lynn Lowry.In Montreal, Dr. Emil Hobbes has spent his career developing parasites for use in organ transplants. Believing that humanity has become over-rational and has lost contact with its more primal urges, he creates an organism that acts as a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease. As a result, everyone with the parasite is consumed by uncontrollable sexual urges, causing the parasite to spread via the slightest sexual contact. When the parasite inevitably gets free, it soon infects a luxury apartment building.This being a Cronenberg film, you know things are going to get gross in a hurry.Not to be confused with the video game of the same name, or the children's horror series of the same name.
 Shivers (1975)
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2023-09-23T13:28:48Z
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2023-09-23T13:28:48Z
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Dropped link to ThePlague: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Shivers (1975)
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DBTropes
 Shivers (1975) / int_1073963d
type
Psychosexual Horror
 Shivers (1975) / int_1073963d
comment
Psychosexual Horror: The movie is about a colony of Puppeteer Parasites being spread through sexual contact. They were inverted by a perverted old Mad Scientist who wanted to turn the entire world into "one beautiful, writhing, orgy". The infected rapidly lose any and all inhibitions, and we do mean any and all, including rape, incest, and pedophilia.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_115d318
type
And Then John Was a Zombie
 Shivers (1975) / int_115d318
comment
And Then John Was a Zombie: Dr. St. Luc is infected by the end, though Cronenberg himself considers this to be a happy ending.
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Creator Cameo
 Shivers (1975) / int_127fc252
comment
Creator Cameo: Cronenberg appears briefly as an infectee.
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Madness Mantra
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Madness Mantra:
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Does This Remind You of Anything?
 Shivers (1975) / int_14ed6ab7
comment
Does This Remind You of Anything?: The film takes place in 1975, and refers to The '70s sex craze in North America. What makes it Harsher in Hindsight is that the AIDS epidemic followed in the The '80s, so the film is actually prescient. invoked The climax is intended to resemble a baptism.
 Shivers (1975) / int_14ed6ab7
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 Shivers (1975) / int_1994ba0b
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Gone Horribly Right
 Shivers (1975) / int_1994ba0b
comment
Gone Horribly Right: Hobbes' aphrodisiac parasites work a little too well. By the end the entire building is infected, and the plague is spreading to the city and beyond to turn the entire world into a mindless orgy.
 Shivers (1975) / int_1994ba0b
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 Shivers (1975) / int_1d8f9329
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Deadly Bath
 Shivers (1975) / int_1d8f9329
comment
Deadly Bath: A woman is quietly bathing when one of the parasites crawls in through the plughole. It then forces itself into her body through a very uncomfortable opening.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_1dacdb4f
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Senseless Sacrifice
 Shivers (1975) / int_1dacdb4f
comment
Senseless Sacrifice: Dr. Hobbes, after he apparently realized the madness of his work, kills Patient Zero, burns her body with acid, and then slits his own throat in an attempt to stop the parasites from spreading. He was already too late since there were other infected residents at that point, and his suicide accomplishes nothing.
 Shivers (1975) / int_1dacdb4f
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 Shivers (1975) / int_267ce120
type
Dirty Old Man
 Shivers (1975) / int_267ce120
comment
Dirty Old Man: Dr. Hobbes was basically just an old pervert who decided that the world needed to be turned into a mindless orgy. Thus the lust-spreading parasites were born.
 Shivers (1975) / int_267ce120
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 Shivers (1975) / int_340575a7
type
Girl on Girl Is Hot
 Shivers (1975) / int_340575a7
comment
Girl on Girl Is Hot: Subverted for Fan Disservice. Betts seducing her ladyfriend Janine should be enticing, since they're both young and attractive, but then an Orifice Invasion happens in the middle of it.
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Shivers (1975) / int_340575a7
 Shivers (1975) / int_441bd048
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Patient Zero
 Shivers (1975) / int_441bd048
comment
Patient Zero: Hobbes first infects his mistress with the lust parasites. She then spreads them to everyone else in the building.
 Shivers (1975) / int_441bd048
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 Shivers (1975) / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Shivers (1975) / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: The film ends with the parasites spreading beyond the apartment building and possibly going global.
 Shivers (1975) / int_4e3d253b
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 Shivers (1975) / int_504a1991
type
Body Horror
 Shivers (1975) / int_504a1991
comment
Body Horror: The parasites themselves.
 Shivers (1975) / int_504a1991
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 Shivers (1975) / int_525df529
type
Not Using the "Z" Word
 Shivers (1975) / int_525df529
comment
Not Using the "Z" Word: The infectees are essentially sex zombies, though not undead, since they can be killed normally. They're also clearly capable of speech and complex activities like changing clothes and driving cars.
 Shivers (1975) / int_525df529
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 Shivers (1975) / int_52d1f46e
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Not What It Looks Like
 Shivers (1975) / int_52d1f46e
comment
Not What It Looks Like: A meta-example intended for the audience: in the opening of the film, an old man is violently attacking a young college age woman in a schoolgirl outfit, and after he knocks her out, he duct tapes her mouth and puts her on a table. He then rips off her shirt, exposing her breasts. He strips down to his boxers, then cuts her open, and puts acid inside her before slitting his own throat. It's Dr. Hobbes desperately trying to kill the parasite inside her, and preventing it from getting him as a new host. They're both nearly naked so the parasite will be visible on either body.
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Esoteric Happy Ending
 Shivers (1975) / int_5a4f75a8
comment
Esoteric Happy Ending: Inverted. Considering everyone in Montreal are already dead-eyed zombies, some think the ending is a happy one. invoked
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 Shivers (1975) / int_606244c2
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Parental Incest
 Shivers (1975) / int_606244c2
comment
Parental Incest: Dr. St. Luc encounters a bearded man and a young blonde woman in his apartment. He introduces her as his daughter, and starts making out with her.
 Shivers (1975) / int_606244c2
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 Shivers (1975) / int_6cc39b20
type
Puppeteer Parasite
 Shivers (1975) / int_6cc39b20
comment
Puppeteer Parasite: Guess.
 Shivers (1975) / int_6cc39b20
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 Shivers (1975) / int_6d892421
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Teacher/Student Romance
 Shivers (1975) / int_6d892421
comment
Teacher/Student Romance: Professor Hobbes continued a relationship with Annabelle Brown after he got caught fondling her breasts at a girl's school when she was twelve. After she turned eighteen, he used her as a guinea pig for the parasites.
 Shivers (1975) / int_6d892421
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 Shivers (1975) / int_84f0346f
type
Apartment Complex of Horrors
 Shivers (1975) / int_84f0346f
comment
Apartment Complex of Horrors: The entire apartment complex succumb to a sexually transmitted parasite that causes the infected to become permanently aroused fiends who will attack anyone sexually, regardless of age or orientation.
 Shivers (1975) / int_84f0346f
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 Shivers (1975) / int_87a38662
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Murder-Suicide
 Shivers (1975) / int_87a38662
comment
Murder-Suicide: When Hobbes sees the results of his lust parasites, he kills his mistress (Patient Zero) and then himself.
 Shivers (1975) / int_87a38662
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 Shivers (1975) / int_8ed5c6e4
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Asshole Victim
 Shivers (1975) / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Nicholas Tudor was already an adulterous jerk before he got possessed with the parasites, then continues to treat his wife Janine awfully afterwards. Nobody sheds a tear when Dr. St. Luc shoots him for murdering Dr. Linsky.
 Shivers (1975) / int_8ed5c6e4
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 Shivers (1975) / int_916c72b3
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Rule of Symbolism
 Shivers (1975) / int_916c72b3
comment
Rule of Symbolism: Dr. St. Luc's infection in the pool is treated like a perverse Baptism.
 Shivers (1975) / int_916c72b3
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 Shivers (1975) / int_a5a3ae2b
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Orifice Invasion
 Shivers (1975) / int_a5a3ae2b
comment
Orifice Invasion: The lust-spreading parasites enter through a person's throat, with someone who's already been infected kissing another person to spread the parasite. Or in one case, through a woman's vagina while she's taking a bath.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_a7ea5c1c
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LesYay
 Shivers (1975) / int_a7ea5c1c
comment
Les Yay: invoked "Let's kiss, let's kiss... Make love to me..."
 Shivers (1975) / int_a7ea5c1c
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 Shivers (1975) / int_b23fd448
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Gory Deadly Overkill Title of Fatal Death
 Shivers (1975) / int_b23fd448
comment
Gory Deadly Overkill Title of Fatal Death: Several of the alternate titles come off like this.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_ba75d291
type
StepThreeProfit
 Shivers (1975) / int_ba75d291
comment
Step Three: Profit: The parasites are ostensibly to be a part of surgery-free medical treatment, but according to the Mad Scientist's notes, they are "a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease that will hopefully turn the world into one beautiful, mindless orgy". Somehow this will save the human race. Obviously, it wouldn't, for a plethora of reasons.note First, while sex may be great, it's still a strenuous activity, and you can only do that for so long before wearing yourself out. Humans themselves have actually used bioweapons against certain pest species that caused the males to attempt mating until they simply died of exhaustion. Second, if people are just having orgies non-stop then they aren't gathering or maintaining the resources they need to survive, such as food and shelter. Furthermore, indiscriminate sex with relatives, older women, or children would inevitably lead to a decline in genetic fitness or even injury or Death by Childbirth for the last. Hobbes was just a loon.
 Shivers (1975) / int_ba75d291
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 Shivers (1975) / int_c3c18143
type
Hope Spot
 Shivers (1975) / int_c3c18143
comment
Hope Spot: At the end, after many close calls it seems like Dr. Saint Luc could still escape and warn the world about the parasites, but then he's cornered and mobbed by the sex zombies in the building's swimming pool.
 Shivers (1975) / int_c3c18143
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 Shivers (1975) / int_c660bc15
type
Fan Disservice
 Shivers (1975) / int_c660bc15
comment
Fan Disservice: Only Cronenberg can make a lust plague completely unsexy. A memorable moment is the laundry woman, after being infected, reappears peering through her door, and moans at a delivery man, "I'm hungry.... I'm hungry.... I'm hungry... for love!"
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One-Word Title
 Shivers (1975) / int_d0f0a80d
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One-Word Title
 Shivers (1975) / int_d0f0a80d
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Shivers (1975) / int_d0f0a80d
 Shivers (1975) / int_d3aad64a
type
Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
 Shivers (1975) / int_d3aad64a
comment
Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Hobbes establishes the template for doctor-types in Cronenberg movies. Creating a bunch of lust parasites to turn all of humanity into mindless sex zombies? Averted by Dr. St. Luc in the same film however, since he's a regular general practitioner without any of the mad science who's simply drawn into this whole mess, as well as Hobbes' ex-colleague who had no knowledge of the bizarre stuff he was doing under his nose.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_d3cd9952
type
Parasite Zombie
 Shivers (1975) / int_d3cd9952
comment
Parasite Zombie: The Lust Parasites drive their victims to mindless sexual behavior in order to spread itself further.
 Shivers (1975) / int_d3cd9952
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 Shivers (1975) / int_d45c0b86
type
Refuge in Audacity
 Shivers (1975) / int_d45c0b86
comment
Refuge in Audacity: Dr. Linsky admits to Dr. St. Luc that his late colleague Dr. Hobbes, despite being a lousy scientist, had a knack for getting grants to fund his projects. In particular, he managed to convince the Organization of American Donor Surgeons to help him finance the development of a new symbiotic organism that would put them out of business.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_dea5fe1
type
Kubrick Stare
 Shivers (1975) / int_dea5fe1
comment
Kubrick Stare: Nicholas gives a fairly good one, which prompts Mike to shoot him immediately. (The fact Nick's bathed in his friend's blood doesn't help.)
 Shivers (1975) / int_dea5fe1
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 Shivers (1975) / int_df1baa1f
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Love Is in the Air
 Shivers (1975) / int_df1baa1f
comment
Love Is in the Air: A variation with the love plague being the result of a parasite that makes people lose all inhibitions. With very few exceptions (such as the lesbian couple), this is not sexy at all. Imagine people suddenly making out with everyone else, whether the other person wants to or not, and regardless of things like attractiveness, age, or relatedness. Cronenberg manages to hint at pedophilia (a young brother and sister being "walked" like dogs on leashes as they bark) without actually depicting it.
 Shivers (1975) / int_df1baa1f
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 Shivers (1975) / int_eaf5a1ac
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Groin Attack
 Shivers (1975) / int_eaf5a1ac
comment
Groin Attack: An extremely rare female variant, though it occurs off-screen; Betts is laying in the bathtub when a parasite enters through the drain and although nothing explicit is shown, the parasite is seen crawling between her legs. Later it cuts back to this same shot, now with Betts thrashing in the tub, her legs flailing about as the water turns red.
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 Shivers (1975) / int_f0f03464
type
TheSeventies
 Shivers (1975) / int_f0f03464
comment
The '70s: Very much a period piece now due to the fashions, the look of the furniture, the hairstyle, everything about this movie screams '70s.
 Shivers (1975) / int_f0f03464
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 Shivers (1975) / int_f2877d9e
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IncrediblyLamePun
 Shivers (1975) / int_f2877d9e
comment
The climax is intended to resemble a baptism.
 Shivers (1975) / int_f2877d9e
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Shivers (1975) / int_f2877d9e
 Shivers (1975) / int_f42f96fa
type
Would Hit a Girl
 Shivers (1975) / int_f42f96fa
comment
Would Hit a Girl: Mike gives a short but brutal punch to Nurse Forsythe when she attacks him with a parasite.
 Shivers (1975) / int_f42f96fa
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 Shivers (1975) / int_f97df10b
type
The World's Expert (on Getting Killed)
 Shivers (1975) / int_f97df10b
comment
The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Dr. Linsky knows how volatile the parasites can be from being Hobbes' former partner and having access to his research papers. However, even he underestimates them, getting attacked by the parasites when they latch onto his face. He is then graphically beaten to death by the man they were controlling before Linsky can remove them.
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Shivers (1975)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Shivers (1975)
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Apartment Complex of Horrors / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Bio Punk / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Canadian Movies / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Dirty Old Man / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Love Is in the Air / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Missing Steps Plan / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Monster Media / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Morally Ambiguous Doctorate / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Orifice Invasion / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Parasite Zombie / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Psychosexual Horror / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Puppeteer Parasite / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Sci-Fi Horror / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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Senseless Sacrifice / int_f9f11530
 Shivers (1975)
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The Swarm / int_f9f11530