All director’s have to start somewhere at the bottom of the Hollywood totem pole. James Cameron wouldn’t be where he is today if he hadn’t got offered a gig on Pirahna II: The Spawning. For David Cronenberg though, that film that began his rise to the top was Shivers.
And that film is getting a remake.
The original flick that Cronenberg helmed was a low budget horror that saw a parasite drive apartment tenants into a frenzy of sex and violence that could be described as Roman in scale. The entire complex itself degenerates into a mass murder-orgy before the climax of the film which made for a pretty great thriller back in 1975. Deadline reports that the film will be remade, with producers Jeff Sackman and Michael Baker on board. Danish filmmaker Rie “Thinning the herd” Rasmussen will direct, with the Ian Driscoll script describing the film as:
The new Shivers will be updated for today’s social and sexual realities. In a post-HIV world, where people interact through screens rather than skin, the parasite breaks down those digital barriers. This is a world that is both more liberated than that of 1975, and more fearful and uptight.
Hey, I worked in an internet cafe for way too long. Judging by what the perverts would come in and watch late at night, liberated is a very loose word to throw around here. I’m still curious to see how this idea is applied to the final film though, so bring it on I say. Just less parasite worms, asseblief. That stuff was too creepy.
Last Updated: September 9, 2013
James Francis
September 9, 2013 at 15:46
It would be nice to see a new version of this. Cronenberg’s film is a classic, but it hasn’t aged well.