#paul hampton

[twilightronin]

Shivers - David Cronenberg 1975

[weirdlookindog]

Shivers (1975) - French grande

[gatutor]

Jill Corey-Paul Hampton "Senior prom" 1958, de David Lowell Rich.

[filmjunky-99]

s h i v e r s, 1975 🎬 dir. david cronenberg

[creepynostalgy]

Lynn Lowry and Paul Hampton in Shivers (1975)

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Shivers

The fact that a film is misunderstood (oddly by the estimable Robin Wood but not by Roger Ebert, of all people) does not necessarily make it good. David Cronenberg’s first commercial feature, SHIVERS (1975, Tubi) — AKA THE PARASITE MURDERS AKA THEY CAME FROM WITHIN —was dismissed as so much smut by most critics on its release and labeled “reactionary” by Wood. Though Cronenberg’s directorial techniques at that time were rather rudimentary (some of the fight scenes are far from convincing) and some of the actors aren’t up to snuff, there are persuasive ideas there that would be more fully developed in the director’s later films.

In a plot device he would return to repeatedly, the film’s horror stems from a male scientist’s discovery gone haywire. In this case, Dr. Emil Hobbes has developed a parasite that can replace diseased organs…or at least that’s what his partner (Joe Silver) thinks. It’s actually designed to unleash its host’s basest desires, to prove to the world that we’re just animals. The test subject is a 19-year-old girl Hobbes had molested as a child. He’s ensconced her in a luxury high-rise on an island in Montreal, where the attentions paid her by neighbors have spread the parasite. The building’s resident doctor (Paul Hampton) discovers what’s going on and tries to stem the incursion.

Wood read the film’s horror as sexuality, usually perceived as a liberating force in films of the era. But before the infection is revealed, we see examples not of sexual repression but rather sexual exploitation. The film’s patient zero had been molested by Dr. Hobbes, has been used by him as a test subject and seems to have been used by the men of the complex. One is an old horndog seen coming on to the women in the doctor’s waiting room. The most prominent of the men (Allan Migicovsky, later Kolman) neglects and demeans his wife (Susan Petrie), who’s turned for support to a lesbian (Barbara Steele) who seems to have designs on the woman. Even the nominal hero is in an exploitative relationship with his nurse (Lynn Lowry). When the infection hits, people are driven to sexual activity not for the joy of it, but as a means of spreading the parasite to others, and the encounters frequently start with the infected forcing themselves on the uninfected. It would seem, then, the source of the horror is the frequently unacknowledged sexual violence lying beneath the dominant culture.

Cronenberg’s direction here isn’t as effective as it would become in later films. The dialog scenes at the start drag a bit, though it helps that one of the most accomplished actors, Silver, gets to deliver all the scientific gobbledygook. But the film also builds to his arrival at the complex only to turn him into the picture’s Scatman Crothers (five years before Stanley Kubrick made THE SHINING, which makes you go, “hmmm!”). Lowry has a funny moment preparing dinner for Hampton, particularly when she coos over a roast that’s clearly burnt beyond salvaging, but her dramatic scenes are kind of empty. The worst offender is Hampton. He never really connects with Lowry, even when he’s trying to save her, and when he’s running around the building dodging the infected, his rhythms are all wrong. His moves read comical when they’re supposed to be generating tension.

Whatever flaws the film has, however, can hardly be blamed on special effects artists Dick Smith and Joe Blasco, who create some grisly iconic effects. The parasites themselves are suitably repulsive, like phalluses made from feces. But there’s also a playful moment when Migicovsky talks to the parasites within him, which create bulges in his stomach, and even gets them to move about. In one of the film’s most famous effects, an infected Steele kisses Petrie and the bulge in her throat passes to the other woman’s. These are the kinds of queasy/sexy/borderline funny effects the film seems to be aiming at but only too rarely achieves.

[paulic]

August 66 was insane. Look at them

[nat111love]

Now, answer the damn question.

[maycanady]

FOUND | 1.05 "Missing While Undocumented"

[underthecitysky]

Text from the Abbey Road Tribute Facebook group (x)

The story about Nancy and her gummy is a nice little window into the Paul and Nancy dynamic. :)

And RIP to Jimmy Buffett.

[90363462]

FOUND ↳ Season 2 ↳Episode One | Missing while Perfect

[labyrinthphanlivingafacade]

[filmjunky-99]

s h i v e r s, 1975 🎬 dir. david cronenberg

[godiva-duchess]

Now let’s be fr. I watched the 8th episode of Found and FINALLY saw a glimpse of the promise. This show has a delicious premise but it has not tried to capitalize on it at all. Y’all do not tune into this show for the missing person of the week. You come for the dynamic between Sir and Gabi. That’s the draw and this is the first time since it started that I got chills and felt like we were getting somewhere.

Now… the writing…🤦🏿‍♀️ I’m pretty good at following a story. Even though I feel like there’s a sexual undertone in Sir’s interest in Gabi, I’ve been leaning more toward “father figure” just to be pc, but what was that “tell me you love me” scene? Even though I know what I know, I follow y’all lead. What was that?

[mileenaxyz]

🤢

ETA Someone on Facebook pointed out to me that this dynamic is confirmed further when Sir talks about hating Bella for breaking up their family and ruining everything by stealing Gabi away. She likened it to when an already dysfunctional marriage finally collapses once the baby comes, but instead of admitting fault, the father blames the child.

[xothemedia]

Found 1x8 | “Missing While Homeless”