Shivers: The Horny Disease

I've been dreaming of what watching Shivers would be like for a very, very long time. After reading in length about some behind the scenes "drama" and the backlash it caused Cronenberg as a filmmaker, I was positive that I needed to see it immediately. My dreams were put on hold however for 6 months or so until I was able to dig up a copy and now that my dream is over all I can say is.....wow. I would never have imagined that the range of the phallic symbol could go so far, nor would I have ever imagined that J.K. Rowling would ever have based Ron Weasley's horrible slug vomiting mishap on horny parasites.

I suppose I have to believe it now. Shivers is pretty amazing and pretty impressive considering it was Cronenberg's first big time film. Sure it's dated and some parts a bit dodgy, but overall the film ends up being one of his most subversive. Some view it as a zombie film, some view it as a vampiric disease where blood is switched for sex. Some view it as a social commentary on the restraints and taboo-like nature of sex AND some believe that Shivers is proof that Cronenberg inadvertently foresaw the development of AIDS. What do you believe?

Taking place in an idyllic apartment building, we find that Dr. Hobbes has developed a parasite to aid in organ transplant. However, due to his own observations, Hobbes concludes that we have lost touch with our bodies and instincts, and so he creates the parasite to act as both an aphrodisiac and venereal disease. The parasite has been tested by Hobbes' young mistress, but after realizing quickly that the parasite has gotten out of hand, he kills the woman and the parasites inside her, before killing himself. What he didn't know however was that his mistress was getting freaky with some other people in the apartment, causing the parasite to spread....

To put it lightly, the parasite turns people into sex crazed maniacs. They act like zombies except they want to rape you instead of eat your flesh. To be honest, I don't think I knew going into it that this was what Shivers was about. I believe I was fixated on the image of the squirmy, slug like thing in the bathtub with Barbara Steele more than I was the actual plot.

When all was said and done however, I must say---Shivers goes places. Yes, one's first reaction to zombies that just want to have sex might be laughter---but think about the kind of people that a typical apartment building houses. We're talking, old women, little children, teenagers and their parents.......all wanting to have sex. It's really quite frightening when you take a step back.

For some reason I didn't anticipate the possibility that children would be in involved in all this and then....this happened.

Later on, Roger is running through the building and comes across 2 young girls leashed like dogs being led by someone. Still later, we come across a young girl and her father just about to do the deed. It really was one of the more disturbing moments that I have ever come across--and it really made me think.

Aside from all this disturbia, Shivers also has phallic symbols up the wazoo. Or perhaps it's one phallic symbol whatever---the point is, these parasitic creatures are disgusting. Not only do they look like penises but they also suffer the grave misfortune of looking like a piece of poop.

Few things are more terrifying than seeing someone open their mouth and having this come out.

It's also terrifying for me, as someone suffering from a fear of vomit--to hear someone violently puke blood and parasites up in a bathtub. Which reminds me.... why do people find it necessary to throw up in things that ought not to be thrown up into? Why would you throw up in something that doesn't offer the quick and easy clean up method that a toilet does? This really bothers me...but anyways. This dude pukes in the tub of all places, and it's a cringe worthy scene. Later he goes out to the balcony where he throws up a parasite on top of an old lady's umbrella--which she erroneously thinks is a bird. Sigh....the brilliance of that particular scene is stifling.

Shivers also boasts the good fortune of Barbara Steele!

She sits in a bathtub and a parasite plops out of the drain and goes inside her......vagina. Then there's all this blood and nastiness and boom-- Barbara Steele is a sex maniac. She makes out with Janine and then pukes a parasite into her mouth.

Yes, Shivers is full of awesome.

Aside from all the social commentary and the you know, important things--Shivers is surprisingly entertaining. There's laughter, there's fear, there's sex, there's sadness. Shivers really has it all. One thing in particular that I noticed is how great the end is, where Roger is running all over the apartment building slowly realizing that everyone has been infected. It kind of reminded me of that scene in The Shining when Wendy stumbles upon that man getting a blow J from that guy wearing a mask. Take that moment and multiply it by about 20, and you have this ending scene. It's like behind every door was a highly uncomfortable and embarrassing situation, and they seemed to get worse with every door he went or looked into.

Sure its bizarre seeing someone just jump somebody and want to do them--but it comes off as being a lot more invasive than I would have guessed.

I mean really, it's all just a bunch of raping isn't it? And the best part is it isn't just women getting raped by men. It's really just a big game of equality. Men raping men, women raping men, women raping women, children raping men, men and women raping children.

I can see why Cronenberg's reputation with the Canadian film board was slightly tarnished after this. There is a lot of boobage, a lot of gore, and a lot of freaky deaky shit in this. With a director as smart and subversive as Cronenberg however, these things are all just stops on the train to mind explosion. Much like I did after watching Rabid, I wandered over to an interview where Cronenberg talks about Shivers. Some of the stuff he says is pretty inspiring, especially all the stuff about how being a true artist requires that you be subversive to some extent. If people get disturbed and upset--then you know you're doing something right.

Overall, Shivers is one of the better Cronenberg films--unpolished yes but I maintain that the ideas and the themes tackled are pretty insanely brilliant. For a director's first film to be this wild it takes some serious guts. I'll need to see it again to fully wrap my head around everything but I am confident nonetheless that I love this film.

Oh and finding a copy of Shivers can be tricky if you aren't planning on dropping a few bucks (or 40)--so I think we should all just pester people until they re-release this on DVD. Thank you.

Rabid: Is That a Penis in Your Arm Pit Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

I realized the other day that I hadn't spent time with my friend David Cronenberg in a while. I didn't have many other horror-ish films from one of my favorite directors to see, but there was Rabid sitting patiently and blending in with all those other "sick" titles. Luckily, Rabid was just the thing I needed for my brain that was craving another suggestive phallic symbol, protruding out of someone's body.

Rabid is Cronenberg's 2nd major film after Shivers--a film I've been desiring to see for quite some time now but it's one of those rare DVD's that cost about 40 bucks on Ebay. Oh well someday Shivers, you and me. Anywho, Rabid is about a woman who after a horrific motorcycle accident, gets some experimental surgery done and wakes up craving a strange need for blood. The plot thickens as every person that she bites with her arm pit penis turns into a rabid zombie-like person who wants to bite people, therefore spreading the disease further.

Like most of Cronenberg's movies, Rabid deals with the terror of an inner threat as opposed to an outer one. Diseases especially run rampant in this category, and what makes Rabid nice is that it takes that inner fear and flips it nicely to the outside by having the rest of the population be in fear of the rabid people. It's a curious kind of movie that on the one hand is much easier to understand then Cronenberg's later work, but on the other hand...I feel like it's a lot more intelligent than you think.

What I think is the most interesting is that the experimental procedure used to cure Rose, is basically the work of stem cells. In his interview David Cronenberg claims he "saw" the future and attributes his prediction to his previous dabbling in bio-chemistry. Man, the guy really is a genius! Wouldn't this be an interesting story to update to now time? Although second thought maybe not...as it may prevent people from fully embracing the idea of stem cell research...hmmmm never mind.

Anyways, there is of course the typical confusion, although in Rabid's case I think most of it stems from the low budget. For one, Rose is supposed to be in a terrible accident that leaves her "disfigured" according to a plot synopsis. In the crash footage, the motorcycle exploded, trapping her underneath, yet when we see her on the operating table she has flawless skin.

Where's the disfigurement you say? My thoughts exactly. Apparently, the fatal wounds were on her insides, but still you must wonder that if one is trapped underneath a burning motorcycle, burn wounds must be somewhere..am I right? Secondly, a lot of people get confused about the whole penis in the arm pit gag. Which I should point out, at first I thought it was a butthole....

or a vagina...

and then finally I saw the penis.

What makes this even more confusing is that we don't really see the penis until quite awhile. Before that Rose just hugs people

and suddenly they are bleeding and end up like this.

Although I should mention, the butthole/vagina hole in her armpit is terribly disgusting in true Cronenberg form. It's such an invasive little gaping hole...bleck.

People explain the confusion away by using science--apparently the stem cells grafted from Rose's legs were used to rebuild her internal organs. Somehow those cells mutated and caused Rose to get her nourishment from a different source---blood. Which I guess makes sense if someone is just randomly explaining things to you.. Regardless, I find that accurate explanation of a phallic symbol's presence is less important than being like hey--there is a crazy red penis coming out of her arm pit that she is biting people with!! You know? Just go with it.

Rabid had its fair share of problems of course typically involving the editing--but for the most part the movie stays true to Cronenberg's eventual trademark of the sublimely weird and disgusting. I also loved how gross the rabid people were. It was just shot after shot of yellow oozing pus eyes, and green foam at the mouth. I'm hesitant of course to call them zombies, but that is kind of how they act. In any case they made me second guess that bowl of macaroni and cheese and that's always fun.

My other favorite part about Rabid is how it does such a great job of showing us how creepy the 70s were. Apparently wherever a semi attractive woman went she was immediately molested. All Rose had to do was walk someplace, then a man would sit down next to her and be like "hey, want to touch my penis?"

I mean wow, I heard stories but to see it there as plain as day, jeesh! Of course maybe this is due to the fact that Marilyn Chambers starred as Rose. Originally Cronenberg wanted Sissy Spacek but they opted for Chambers due to Spacek's strong accent. Marilyn Chambers actually doesn't do such a bad job. Compared to Traci Lord's acting job in Not of This Earth--Marilyn Chamber's is Oscar worthy. Those porn stars...always surprising us.

So what did I think of Rabid? Slow at times but overall a solid second entry into Cronenberg's body of work. I especially enjoyed that repetitive piano score, so simple and annoyingly consistent. Something about it really just gave the film a creepy vibe that would have otherwise not been as present. Overall I think I can safely say that I like Rabid. It was original for its time, and challenged more than a few conventions. I mean really how can you go wrong with a penis hidden in someone's arm pit? By the way if you get the chance, watch an interview with Cronenberg about any of his films, if you're anything like me you'll be smiling gleefully at the screen for hours. I think my bedroom needs a poster of David Cronenberg as well...

Oh looks here's one!

I love how one day he just realized that it made no sense--oooh David.

Flies Are Gross

My apartment has a fruit fly problem and it makes me angry. Where do these evil beasties come from? I'm sure they have created a wonderful home down deep in my sink drain or perhaps at the bottom of the trash can where that mealy apple I threw away went to die. In my high school the AP Biology class had a project where they bred fruit flies. Vials and vials full of fruit flies with disgusting little red eyes starring back at me while I tried to concentrate on the less disturbing aspects of Chemistry....ugh. I'm surprised there hasn't been a horror movie about fruit flies. I'm guessing it's because they are so small and pretty much impossible to catch on film--not that I want someone to make a film like that because then I would just puke in my mouth during the previews.

Since I'm used to not getting what I want (we're coming up on my 24th Christmas without a pony), I'll just have to make a list about the next awful thing---real flies. Flies are a terrible, terrible creation. I know in my previous post about the worst spider scenes I was a little harsh on those eight legged disgusting creatures but hey, at least they eat flies. Flies do nothing except mooch off of our leftovers. They're the bums of the insect world with their nasty little tongues sneaking a taste of our delicious sandwiches while our heads are turned away. If you took a midnight stroll through the park you would find them sleeping in their own filth with their hands roasting on a trash can fire (just go with it). If you still remain unconvinced of how gross they are let us take a look at these particular moments from horror.

The Amityville Horror

Having only seen bits and pieces of The Amityville Horror I find it strange how no matter when I turn this movie on, the part I always see is the priest getting swarmed with flies. I've seen a lot of things in this world; gruesome rape scenes, hellish depictions of butt sex, people being fed poop, and Mady Gosselin getting her ears pierced--but I have never seen a mass of flies do something so terrifying to another human being. When Father Delaney goes into a room of the evil house where unspeakable murders took place, he sees a grotesque blob of flies on the window.

The harder he prays the more the flies seem to multiply and soon they start attaching themselves all over his face. They go in his eyes, his ears and all over his hair...blagh!

In real time, Rob Steiger had honey put on his face to attract the flies. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? That means that Rob Steiger really had that many flies all over his face! I don't get queasy from watching horror films very often but this scene makes me feel very ill. The combined buzzing of the flies paired with witnessing them rape Father Delaney's face gives me nightmares and a little bit of heartburn.

Grace

As if realizing that your sweet baby was still dead wasn't damaging enough, finding flies swarming around your still dead baby probably is enough to make you really, really, upset. This scene skeeves me out for a few reasons. To begin with I really hate when she sniffs the baby and then lurches away in repulsion. I've smelt a poopy diaper before and while it may have made me grimace it did not make me lurch away in such repulsion. Only one conclusion can be drawn; this baby must have had diarrhea. Just kidding. The conclusion is; the baby is dead and that smell is her rotting flesh. Secondly the scene where the flies are glued to all the fly paper and on top of the little fly net? Sick. Seriously sick.

Everything about this scene just really freaks me out. When the fly flies up her nose and then back out? Ugh. One of my least favorite parts about CSI is when they find are looking for a dead body and then see a bunch of flies. It's a sign of very very bad things. As Gil Grissom once said, there is no smell on earth like a decaying body and the large presence of flies always makes me unwillingly wonder what it smells like (garbage on a hot day combined with curdled milk and maybe some Indian food..that's my guess).

Drag Me To Hell

Have you ever tried to sleep with a fly buzzing around your room? It's possibly the 2nd most annoying sound in the world. The first most annoying sound in the world is when my cat decides 3 AM is the perfect time to crinkle up a plastic bag. When a fly is stuck in a room, it's insanely aggravating. I know because I spent an hour trying to kill the fattest fly in the world last week in my sister's bedroom. Imagine then what it's like if you were sleeping and a fly flew into one nostril and came out the other. How about if the fly flew into your mouth?

What about if a gross old gypsy lady barfed up a bunch of insects into your mouth? Yeah it would probably be awful. Also I'm not even sure she's barfing up flies but there are bugs of some sort in there so it's good enough.

The Fly

Clearly the ultimate way to gross out people with flies is by taking one and making it life size. There is truly nothing more disgusting than watching Seth Brundle slowly and painfully turn into Brundlefly. Since I already hate flies, you can imagine my repulsion when watching Brundlefly exhibit such traits as instantly throwing up the minute he touches food.

Then there's the fingernails falling off, the teeth falling out

and the gnarly bloody, wrinkly skin and possibly the worst---the coarse, black fly hair sticking out from his back...! Plus I trust I don't need to show this screen shot to convince you that you should never have sex with a fly.

So much of The Fly is difficult to stomach but I often find myself conflicted as I battle with my extreme love for it. If there was ever a movie to end all arguments for why flies are really gross, Cronenberg's The Fly would be it. Heck it IS it because this IS an argument for why flies are gross. And that is my concluding statement.

****EDIT*****

I just found exhibit Q while watching The People Under the Stairs

I'm simultaneously happy and repulsed.

Dead Ringers: Separation Can Be A Terrifying Thing.

Funny isn't it that I should watch both Sisters and Dead Ringers within a few days of each other? I'll have you know that my sudden desire to watch Sisters was random and due to boredom, but my reason for watching Dead Ringers is simple; I've been feeding my boss's cat for the past week or so.... AND... wait for it... have had time to actually read something because I have to take the train and so I've dived headfirst into Cronenberg on Cronenberg. You may remember when I reviewed Videodrome not too long ago and shouted out my question to the world of just when we would be getting a movie about what goes on inside Cronenberg's head by Cronenberg. Well, my buddy Chris of All Things Horror, heard my cries and gave me the next best thing which is... a book about Cronenberg and his movies, written by Cronenberg. It is quite a good read, and I became very interested in all the talk about Dead Ringers. Yes you've guessed it---I just love gynecology.

But honestly I've been quite smitten with Cronenberg movies as of late and while I still can't say that I completely understand them (and who can?) this book has certainly proved one thing; Cronenberg is a very normal guy. He's not sexually perverted or misogynistic---he is simply taking ideas and really getting inside them. He if you will--is how Elliot Mantle delves into the concept of "Inner Beauty". Just because we don't see the inside of a vagina er.....thematic concept doesn't mean it isn't also beautiful. Right?

So Dead Ringers? Not what I expected which means nothing in terms of criticism. I expected it to be tantalizingly gory and highly sexual in both subliminal and overt ways. And in some ways it was all of those things--but not in the way that you would expect. I thought for a brief moment after I had finished watching it that Dead Ringers was a divergence from Cronenberg's past work. Then, after a few minutes of reflection I realize that it wasn't at all. I still felt the same strange ickiness and profoundness, I just felt it in different ways. Dead Ringers is still every bit as disturbing as The Brood or even The Fly--we just get there in a different way.

Based on the real life case of the Marcus twins and on the novel Twins by Bari Wood, Dead Ringers follows the strange lives of twin gynaecologist's Elliot and Beverly Mantle. Brothers psychologically joined in a bizarre way where what effects one ultimately effects the other and the consequences are sometimes startling. The two share women, and the women do not realize it--that is until one, Claire Niveau finds out and Beverly begins a downward spiral from the moment she splashes her drink in his face. What ensues is a strange development where little by little the brother's psyche begins to diminish and we begin to realize how truly connected they really are.

As usual, summaries of Cronenberg's movies are useless so I implore you to ignore it. What I loved most about the film however was its complexity. After my initial viewing, my thoughts were all molded into one and I couldn't help but think how useful it would be if Elliot and Beverly wore name tags. I instantly decided that I must watch the film over again and that is where I began to love it. Elliot and Beverly are separate entities with separate personalities. Claire herself points this out as she quickly realizes that Beverly is the nice one and Elliot is the asshole. It should be easy then to pick them apart but in truth it isn't---and that's where the real key lies. Although different, Elliot and Beverly are connected by a similar desire for knowledge and experience. They are yin and yang--not opposites, but compliments and without each other they are useless. When Elliot says "you have not slept with Claire Niveau until I've slept with Claire Niveau" it's a startling realization. What happens to one must happen to the other or--it has not truly happened.

Therefore, although not literally, Elliot and Beverly are--Siamese twins. Think of the dream sequence where they are bound by that grotesque sac of ickiness.

Even the whole idea of both sleeping with the same woman, eerily echoes the concept of Siamese twins being able to withhold sexual lives whilst still being connected. I read in the Cronenberg book that the lives of the Mantle twins are meant to be a sort of display. The woman whom Claire meets says "everyone" knows about the Mantle twins as if they are some legend of circus folklore---just like Siamese twins in freak shows. The colors in their apartment are tinged with blues and purples,

meant to echo the atmosphere in a fish tank (which also echoes the beginning conversation about fish sex).

The Mantle brothers are at home in their tank on display for the world to look in on.

When Beverly begins his downward spiral into madness, it is only a matter of time before Elliot starts to go as well. He feels that he also needs to start popping pills in order to keep synced with Elliot. That is his madness. It may not be as apparent and focused as Beverly's but it's there and it's quite a disturbing concept. Of course one cannot ignore the outrageous lengths to which Beverly de-compensates. Those gynecological instruments for examining mutant women are some of the craziest things I've ever seen in my entire life. How horrifying the normal gynecological instruments in and of itself are and then to see THESE?

Holy cow. The scene in the operating room is absolutely terrifying as is Beverly's desperation for any kind of drug that he leaps across the patient to put the mask on his own face. I would also like to point out how creepy those red surgical suits are.

They seem so surreal and even like something the Emperor's men would wear. I think I did actually spot them wearing something of the sort at one time or another...Oh yes here is...his Royal Guard.

...SPOILERS abound

The fact is at the film's depressing end, we find that their death--foreshadowed in the story of the Siamese twins--is expected. With Beverly continuing in his ways it was only a matter of time before the true "separation" would happen. Just what can it mean that Beverly uses his mutant gynecological tools to separate Elliot? Are the Mantle twins in essence a mutant? How much creepier can it get than Beverly stumbling around and calling for his brother, blind to the dead body on the operating chair with its insides on the outsides? And that final shot of the two brothers,

Beverly presumably also dead and splayed across Elliot---how much more perfect can it get? A separation of Siamese twins is risky. The death of one twin is equally risky as most cases find that the other cannot last very long without their counterpart. Beverly and Elliot on the surface are different but when it comes down to it---exactly the same. Could this even be why Cronenberg chose to use the same actor for both brothers? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Alright well I suppose this was less of a review and more of a spill my guts session. Tut tut what can I do? My review is this; I love this movie. And it's fabulous. Bam. Done.

Dead Ringers of course may not be everyones cup of tea but I maintain that it was one of the most thought provoking experiences that I've had in a while. I recommend a second viewing for anyone who feels different and hopefully you'll walk away with an odd sense of mystery and enchantment. Plus who doesn't love....TWINS??????????????

Yeah, that's what I thought.