Customer Reviews

Todd Sheet's The Shivers [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In The Shivers, some teenagers decide to have a party in the old Dread Mansion, a place with a history of violent deaths -- with a name like Dread what did you expect? But, of course, forces of evil are unleashed and gruesome mayhem ensues. Director Todd Sheets' trademark violence and gore are in full effect, but this one's lacking that spark that makes his other films special. The Shivers is bogged down with tiresome clichés (there are plenty of closeups of banging doors and trembling hands on doorknobs) and the characters never come to life. But of course there are some grotesque scenes here that recall the best of H.G. Lewis and Lucio Fulci (whom the movie is dedicated to).

What The Shivers lacks in freshness through most of its first half, it almost makes up for in ambition near the end. The characters travel between dimensions unlocking ghastly secrets, facing off against demons and evil spirits, and eventually come to a final confrontation with Ebon Dread himself. But even ambition can't save this one from its clichéd origins and long stretches of dull.

I'd recommend Todd Sheets' extremely entertaining Violent New Breed over this one any day.

I rented this video at the local store after hearing a lot of good things about Todd Sheets on the Internet. I have to say I was sorely disappointed. I'm not hypercritical when it comes to low-budget gore films; I LOVED Andreas Schnaas' "Zombie Doom," despite the fact that it wasn't so strong plotwise (come to think of it, I'm not sure it had a plot.) I watched the movie for the gore, and Schnaas delivered.

That's my primary criticism of "The Shivers." I expect some occasionally bad dialogue, subpar acting, and so on. But it seems to me that if you're marketing a film on the basis of its gore effects, you better make them look halfway realistic. Sheets & Co. didn't even try. The murder scenes are very poorly done, and in one case it was obvious that one of the filmmakers had run down to the frozen meat section of the grocery store to get the "intestines" that were revealed in a stomach-ripping scene.

I think Sheets is able to tell a story, and might have some success in the future. He has talent. But there's a deliberate schlockiness here that he needs to get over. I've heard it took Peter Jackson four years to make "Bad Taste," the all-time classic of shot-on-video horror. Sheets might want to do the same thing: save the money, and make one really good movie, instead of four or five marginal ones.

It starts off almost normal, people talking around a campfire and theyt tell scary stories about the old Dread Mansion, a place that one of them has just bought. They all eventually get trapped inside in trypical HH fashion and things move along brisk at this point. By the middle, things really take some odd turns and the film kicks into overdrive. Gore flies, the camera zooms and twists and the story goes into some new and exciting places. To tell more would be to give too much away. Things heat up in this one and the pacing increases to a really great finish that had me on the edge of my seat. Great care seems to have been taken on the look of the film because I was really impressed with the atmosphere and the lighting. Sure, some of the acting is poor in spots, but othet acting is incredible (the guy in the wheelchair!) and the effects are very realistic and sick. I give it a 4 and a half. Impressive, entertaining and a lot of fun.

Some other reviews on here made me think, you know SOME people claim to be the biggest Horror fans ever but these same people would have hated many classics from the 70's and 80's like Cannibal Girls, Eaten Alive, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, etc. This movie is made by people who OBVIOUSLY really love Horror movies... the good kind. It is low budget, but provides several good effects sequences, has some great mood and lighting and even some digital effects. The music is one of my favorite parts... I'd like to see it on a CD someplace!

The story is a pretty ambitious one about a haunted mansion, time travel, demons, ghosts and other dimensions. It entertained me more than the big budget dreck like the Haunting remake and the current "safe" ghost movies from the studios. Plus one effect even shocked me and I am pretty jaded. Wow.

Add this one to my "must have on DVD" list. Good job to the people who made it and to those who have enough taste to know raw talent when they see it.

I have been a fan of all of director Todd Sheets later films. His older films I don't really like, nor do I reccomend, however, since the original Zombie Bloodbath, I am always entertained and have a good time with each title he creates. Now he has surpassed my expectations with The Shivers.

Not to be confused with the OTHER SHivers, an old David Cronenberg film, this film is about a group of people throwing a party at an old mansion they are working on. The film really kicks into gear after about 15 minutes of dialog to set things up. Once the party goers get locked inside the mansion, it's one gore scene after another and these scenes are INTENSE! Some of these are the grossest gore parts I have seen since Lucio Fulci gouged eyes in ZOmbie! I loved every minute of it!

But there is more than gore here folks! There is a story, some cool digital effects, travels between dimensions and other worlds and even an incredible bloopers collection under the credits. All I can say is that if you want a real Horror film, and you like low budget stuff, buy this. It is way better than the safe stuff Hollywood is cranking out and the guy genuinely loves doing this and needs all our support!

This is another great Todd Sheets movie. Please, take my advice, buy it, watch it, cherish it. Its a goody.

first of all, amazon.com needs to start watching their products before they sell them. this movie looks SO homeade, i`d be surprised if it had a copyright to sell it. yeah it is SORTA gross, but there are MUCH better movies, this was a complete disgrace to horror fans, and i`m THE biggest horror fan, no arguements cause i know better.....amazon.com if something is widescreen you need to mark it as WIDESCREEN, cause the next time this happens, you will lose my business, AND....i WILL go through the trouble of sending it back for a refund.