ecl@hocsj.UUCP (10/17/84)
SHIVERS (THEY CAME FROM WITHIN,; THE PARASITE MURDERS)
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
As I said in a previous review, it has been at least eight years since
I saw the puzzling THEY CAME FROM WITHIN at the old Fort George Drive-in in
Southgate, Michigan. As I remember, my comment at the time was, "If this
film was intended as a satire, it is a good film. If the guy who made it
was just a flash-in-the-pan filmmaker and the parallels to other films were
coincidence, it was a lucky and okay film. If the filmmaker was
intentionally parodying other films and knew what he was doing, this was a
pretty good film." I guess I reserved judgement to see how other people
regarded the new filmmaker David Cronenberg.
Well, the verdict is in, folks. Cronenberg did not have just a lucky
shot on his first commercial film. He is now a popular and successful
filmmaker. I still think this early effort is one of his best and certainly
the wittiest film he has made. Seeing it again, I am reminded of scenes
that strongly influenced later filmmakers. This is just one more film that
had its most powerful images imitated by ALIEN. In fact, much of Alien was
borrowed but the scenes that stick out in people's minds (including the
parasite eating its way out of the body), was borrowed from SHIVERS.
Starliner is an upscale apartment complex on a small island within
commute distance to Montreal. It is a society unto itself offering all the
benefits of a small city. It does, however, have a rather large health
problem: it is being ravaged by an attack of parasites spread by kissing and
sexual contact. These parasites turn their hosts into ravening sex fiends.
Your typical mad scientist has bio-engineered these little beasties in order
to destroy nasty human inhibitions and tried them on an inhibited young lady
without stopping to think that removing her inhibitions would effectively
spread the parasite before it has been perfected. This premise gave
Cronenberg plenty of opportunity to pack a film with sex and gore--proven
boxoffice attractions.
The scientific underpinnings of this film are less than convincing. A
venereal parasite roughly four inches long and at least three-quarters of an
inch wide stretches more than our suspension of disbelief. But in an odd
way, the absurdity simply reinforces the wit of the film, which is
plentiful. The film has oddly twisted echoes of THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING
DEAD and THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. In the former film, zombies come in hordes
to kill the living and make them part of their numbers. The sex zombies
have the same goal but they do it with sex. In the latter, the hordes come
around at night calling "Come out." In SHIVERS the call becomes "Come out.
We're having a party."
This has proven to be an influential film and, with the exception of
SCANNERS, it is Cronenberg's most watchable. Where later films show
Cronenberg's rage at society, this one shows instead good-natured swipes.
It is the beginning and the end of his fun films. If the subject matter
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doesn't turn you off, this one has some rough edges but is a pleasure to
see.
(Evelyn C. Leeper for)
Mark R. Leeper
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