Tag Archives: david cronenberg

Shivers (1975) – Cronenberg’s Parasites of Paranoia

26 Friday Sep 2025

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Being terrified is just the beginning!

Fifty years on, David Cronenberg’s Shivers still crawls under the skin with its unnerving mix of clinical detachment and raw, bodily horror. Long before he became a household name with The Fly or Videodrome, Cronenberg was already sketching out the blueprint for what would define his career: a fascination with the fragility of the body, the corruption of the mind, and the terrifyingly thin barrier between civilized society and primal chaos.

Set in a sterile, luxury apartment complex on the outskirts of Montreal, the film wastes no time in subverting its backdrop. The sleek modernity of Starliner Towers becomes the perfect incubator for dread when a strain of parasites begins infecting its residents. What starts as a medical curiosity spirals into an epidemic of violent, lust-fueled mania, leaving Dr. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton) desperately trying to contain the outbreak before it spills into the wider city.

Seen today, Shivers is more than just a scrappy feature—it’s a disturbing excavation of suburban sanity itself. Cronenberg peels back the polished façade of modern living to expose the harrowing paranoia festering beneath. The parasites aren’t just creatures; they’re symbols of desire, repression, and contagion, spreading through the building like gossip at a cocktail party, reminding us how easily fear and panic can travel.

While the low budget occasionally betrays its ambition, the rough edges only enhance the sense of unease. This is Cronenberg at his most raw and uncompromising, testing boundaries that would echo across his career. From here, he would refine his obsessions into the sleek terror of Scanners, the grotesque intimacy of The Fly, and the icy eroticism of Crash. But in Shivers, we see the first burst of infection—the moment body horror and social commentary fused into something unshakably his own.

The Prognosis:

Shivers hasn’t lost its bite. It’s grim, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s as relevant as ever in a world still haunted by viral outbreaks and communal fear. Cronenberg reminds us that the real horror doesn’t just come from outside—it festers within, waiting patiently to consume us all, one by one.

  • Saul Muerte

The Shrouds (2024) – Cronenberg’s Grief-Laced Techno-Tomb

02 Wednesday Jul 2025

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How dark are you willing to go? For David Cronenberg, The Shrouds marks another step into the abyss—one not of body horror, but of soul-rattling grief. This is arguably his most intimate and meditative work in decades, stitched together from threads of personal mourning, speculative technology, and the philosophical weight of death’s final curtain.

At the centre is Karsh (played with measured intensity by Vincent Cassel), a widower and tech entrepreneur who creates a radical new device: one that allows the living to peer into the graves of their deceased loved ones via digitally monitored “shrouds.” This deeply invasive (yet oddly spiritual) concept is classic Cronenberg—scientific progress colliding with deeply human frailty. But when a series of graves, including that of Karsh’s wife, are mysteriously desecrated, the film pivots into a sombre, noir-like mystery driven more by obsession than resolution.

From the turn of the century, Cronenberg’s work—Spider, A History of Violence, Cosmopolis, and Crimes of the Future—has leaned away from his earlier grotesque sensibilities and toward psychological excavation. The Shrouds is a continuation of that journey, and perhaps his most self-reflective piece since The Fly. With the recent passing of his wife, the film becomes a stark act of cinematic mourning—less a story than a eulogy.

The concept of the shroud here operates on multiple levels: biblically, as the linen of death and resurrection; metaphorically, as the veil between life and death; and narratively, as the enigma that cloaks Karsh’s unraveling. There’s also the ever-present shroud of mystery that clouds the truth—not only of the graveyard desecrations, but of Karsh himself. As the film progresses, Karsh becomes more opaque, his motives murkier, and his grief increasingly pathological. These twists are fascinating but also frustrating, leading the narrative into a fog of unanswered questions that might leave some viewers cold.

Yet Cronenberg surrounds Cassel with a stellar cast that brings warmth and depth. Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce, both enigmatic and grounded, help anchor the film in emotional reality even as it drifts into cerebral territory. Their performances are subtle yet compelling, with Pearce offering a particularly nuanced turn.

The Prognosis:

The Shrouds isn’t easy to love—but then again, grief rarely is. What it offers is a look into one man’s private hell, filtered through the lens of a director who has never shied away from uncomfortable truths. If its philosophical weight sometimes outweighs its dramatic clarity, it remains a compelling, mournful meditation from one of cinema’s most fearless auteurs.

  • Saul Muerte

The Shrouds will be screening in cinemas nationwide from Thu 3rd July.

Movie review: Crimes of the Future (2022)

27 Saturday Aug 2022

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For a director considered one of a kind, and creating a unique vision for film with the birth of venereal horror, it seems interesting that David Cronenberg should return to the horror genre having been absent from the scene for 23 years. And yet, his latest entry, Crimes of the Future, (which shares the same title as his 1970 feature, but there the similarity ends) bears all the hallmarks of these earlier films in his canon of work combined with his more recent and psychological ventures. Where Cronenberg built his name through the physical and sensual characteristics of humanity, his other fascination in the metaphysical realm and human psyche has risen to the fore. 

There are familiar themes at play here with the advancements of humanity through biotechnology in this instance, but still the harbouring of infectious disease to remind us of our own frailty. The twist though is that infectious disease has been eradicated and humankind has been left with pushing the boundaries of morality without the risk of harm that can come about through surgical measures. These actions are now considered an art form; Cronenberg’s playground, a balance of art and physical horror with an intellectual bent, firmly in the mix. Confrontation is always at the heart of Cronenberg’s features, his curiosity to look at the way we shift and squirm a prime scrutiny of his work. In the opening scenes Crimes of the Future forces us into the realms of discomfort when a mother smothers her child with a pillow because she believes him to be inhuman.

In the film’s journey, we primarily follow Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), who has an accelerated evolution syndrome, where he can develop new internal organs. This leads him to perform live surgical procedures carried out by his partner Caprice (Lea Seydoux). Much like Max Renn in Videodrome, Tenser is driven by his pursuit of truth and this exploration spirals deeper into a loss of control and a fatal resolution.

Tenser weaves his way through an investigation that sees him employed by a governmental agency to infiltrate a group of radicals. This sees him rub shoulders with the National Organ Registry where Timlin (Kristen Stewart) and Wippet (Don McKellar) work. Timlin is immediately enamoured by Tenser and is sexually drawn to him. 

There’s also Lang (Scott Speedman) who is the father of the afore-mentioned boy killed by his mother. Lang’s story is also a tragic one, driven to investigate his son’s condition that allowed him to consume plastics with no detriment to the human body. 

All these avenues intertwine into one complete examination of the human soul, immersed in a world where the physical is no longer a barrier. With no obstacles in place, what does it mean to be human? A question that continues to guide Cronenberg’s pursuit.

The Prognosis:

Mortality is and always be the vessel of David Cronenberg’s interests, be it through venereal horror, metaphysical horror, or sensual and intellectual obsessions. His latest vehicle is a culmination of them all, and through his uniqueness Cronenberg manages to project potentially his most complete image of himself, but in doing so, some of that identity gets lost in this portrayal. Without the edges; Without the pointy edges of quirkiness; David Cronenberg, much like his own lead characters, Max Renn; Seth Brundle; Beverly and Elliot Mantle, become lost in his pursuits and finds his own personality engulfed into obscurity.  Yet I still find myself drawn by his vision.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Scanners (1981)

26 Tuesday Jan 2021

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It’s been 40 years since David Cronenberg’s visionary tale of telepathy, telekinesis and by now a recurring theme in the Canadian director’s work, espionage surrounded by political and government conspiracies embedded in a deeply psychoanalytical point of view. 

It’s hard to believe that this is Cronenberg’s seventh outing in the director’s chair, having already produced body horror films such as Shivers and Rabid, the latter of which had been reimagined by The Soska Sisters and is well worth your time. Scanners still has that low budget, earth feel to it that is often expected in the first few films in one’s career, and only two years later he would serve up a double hitter in the classics Videodrome and The Dead Zone.

Another theme that is prevalent throughout Cronenberg’s work is that of an uprising, often from an oppressed group or individual, but also that of misguided intentions that lead to their true calling.

In the case of Scanners, we are first introduced to Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), who is ostracized from society by appearance at first, being a homeless figure trying to survive on the streets, but we quickly learn that he harbours the ability to read people’s minds and inflict pain on those who torment or ridicule him through telekinesis. This ability comes attached to a group in society known as scanners and when he is detected in a shopping mall, he is soon hunted down and subjected to close scrutiny and rehabilitation by Dr. Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan). 

Once he conforms to the will of Ruth and with it the Government agency that takes advantage of Ruth’s knowledge, Vale is then charged with hunting down a group of vigilantes led by Revok (Another fine turn from Michael Ironside). Can Revok be controlled? Or is there more to Revok’s revolution than meets the eye?

Scanners can be bookmarked as the film that changed Cronenberg’s career, moving away from the body horror image that had shaped his career at this point, and moving him into the mainstream playing field.
It still has some moments that reflect the style and substance that made Croeneberg’s name on screen, most notably this head explosion scene…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qCszP4HI7U

The prognosis:

Scanners does suffer a little in exposition and the lead performance from Stephen Lack, is somewhat stilted which detracts from engaging with the narrative. Whether this is down to the performance of the actor in question or the director’s choice in portrayal is hard to pin down, but it certainly curbs the film from being Cronenberg’s finest moment. It is still an enjoyable ride though and well worth your time to explore a master visionist honing his craft. 

  • Saul Muerte