One of the golden boys of Canadian film, David Cronenberg, is being celebrated at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival for his commitment to quality moviemaking and his ability to make even the most hardened tough guy feel a little bit queasy (like when Samantha Eggers opens the egg sack in "The Brood;" classic). Now comes word from TIFF that the director’s first film, the psychosexual nightmare "Shivers," is being remade. Because of course it is.
The announcement was made from producers Jeff Sackman and Michael Baker, who play to shoot a remake to Cronenberg’s 1975 debut (which was produced by "Ghostbusters" filmmaker Ivan Reitman), early next year. Danish filmmaker Rie Rasmussen will direct the project from a screenplay written by Ian Driscoll, with plans to update the tale for modern audiences, something that makes us quite worried.
If you haven’t seen the original "Shivers," which has a commemorative screening at TIFF this year, it’s a gross-out kick, involving a luxury apartment complex that is invaded by parasites that turn its residents into sex crazed beasts. It’s really awesome and extreme and hilarious, and it’ll be interesting to see if the new filmmakers can walk that final tonal tightrope and come out on the other side unscathed. Apparently Rasmussen’s film "Human Zoo" premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. We’re praying for the best with this one, people, but fearing for the worst.
The word "unnecessary" in your headline is… well, pretty much unnecessary. Because all remakes are pretty much unnecessary.
Shivers is one of Cronenberg's best – seriously, he went all fucking out in that movie, it's absolutely deranged. Shivers has more character, imagination and mentalness than any number of Cronenberg's more recent respectable, journey-man flicks. The remake will be bullshit, because a major component of the vibe and atmosphere of early Cronenberg was the cheapness, the library music, the secluded feeling of late-70s Canada. Interesting side-note: by pure coincidence, Shivers was released the same year as JG Ballard's High Rise, also about the denizens of a luxury high-rise running amok. Ben Wheatley is apparently working on an adaptation of High Rise, so it would be funny if they coincided again.
Could be interesting. I wouldn't call the original "awesome". It has that stuffy low budget seventies feel and Cronesy didn't really get it going until The Brood.