What Is Shivers About?
The premise of Shivers in 281 words, with nothing given away. The full story follows below.
At the edge of Montreal, the sleek Starliner Towers gleams like a promise of modern comfort, yet its polished corridors conceal a simmering unease. The building is a micro‑cosm of contemporary life—luxury apartments, a buzzing medical clinic, and a diverse community of residents whose daily routines mask an undercurrent of secrecy. An atmosphere of subtle dread hangs over the high‑rise, where the ordinary blend of social gatherings and routine upkeep is tinged with a whisper of something far stranger lurking just beneath the surface.
Nick Tudor returns to his apartment after a day plagued by inexplicable stomach convulsions, his body betraying a hidden turmoil that isolates him from his wife, Janine. Their relationship, once grounded in familiar intimacy, is strained as Nick becomes preoccupied with an internal disturbance he cannot explain. Across the hall, the diligent physician Roger St. Luc monitors the building’s health, his curiosity piqued by the odd ailments afflicting several residents. Meanwhile, the enigmatic doctor Emil Hobbes and his partner Rollo Linsky conduct a clandestine experiment that hints at a radical attempt to reshape humanity’s most primal impulses.
The film’s tone walks a razor’s edge between clinical coldness and visceral sensuality, bathing the viewer in an aesthetic that feels both sleekly contemporary and disturbingly organic. As the residents’ hidden conditions begin to surface, the story hints at an unseen force pulling at the strings of desire, intellect, and survival. The interplay of scientific ambition, personal vulnerability, and the claustrophobic confines of the tower creates a suspenseful mood that asks what happens when the boundaries between body and mind start to blur, and how far ordinary people will go when something alien begins to dictate their most intimate urges.
What Happens in Shivers?
The complete story of Shivers, from the first scene to the last, in 700 words (about 3 minutes). Spoilers throughout. Names in the text link to 10 cast member pages.
Spoilers ahead
The film features performances by Barbara Steele, Allan Kolman, Barry Baldaro, Camil Ducharme, Hanna Poznanska, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Paul Hampton, Ronald Mlodzik, and Susan Petrie.
At Starliner Towers, a luxury apartment complex outside Montreal, a chilling sequence unfolds as Dr. Emil Hobbes murders a young woman named Annabelle. He slices open her stomach, pours acid into the wound, and then takes his own life. Nick Tudor, who has been plagued by stomach convulsions, discovers the scene but does not call the police. The two bodies are eventually found by resident doctor Roger St. Luc, who promptly informs the authorities. Hobbes’ medical partner, Rollo Linsky, reveals that the two had been working on a project to create “a parasite that can take over the function of a human organ.”
After another bout of convulsions, Nick leaves work early and vomits a parasite onto the balcony railing. The creature slithers back into the apartment and attacks a cleaning woman in the basement, attaching itself to her face. Nick’s wife Janine tries to care for him, but he grows distant, preferring to speak with the parasites undulating inside his abdomen. At the clinic, Roger meets a sexually active middle-aged resident who is also suffering from stomach convulsions, and he wonders if the illness could be an STD contracted from Annabelle.
Linsky calls Roger from Hobbes’ downtown office to explain that Hobbes had developed a parasite that was “a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease that will, hopefully, turn the world into one beautiful mindless orgy.” He warns Roger that Hobbes believed modern humans had become over-intellectual and estranged from their primal impulses, and that the parasite could be used to reassert humanity’s unbridled, sexual instincts. Linsky urges Roger to avoid anyone displaying odd behavior.
Nick tries to coerce his wife Janine into sex, but she recoils when one of the parasites crawls from his mouth. She flees to her friend Betts’ apartment, where Betts—already infected by a parasite—seduces Janine and passes a parasite to her as they kiss. Meanwhile, other residents—including a mother and her little girl in an elevator and a deliveryman who assaults a resident—become infected, spreading the parasite through the hallways and triggering a wave of attacks and frenzied behavior. Roger keeps searching the building for more parasites while Forsythe, his nurse and lover, tends to an elderly couple who were attacked.
Linsky eventually arrives at Starliner Towers and heads to Nick’s apartment, where Roger had suspected Annabelle’s infection might have reached. He finds Nick lying in bed with parasites crawling over his abdomen. When one parasite latches onto Linsky’s cheek, Nick kills him and swallows the parasite. Forsythe tries to escape in her car but is attacked by an infected security guard. Roger intervenes, kills the guard, and the two hide in the basement. Forsythe speaks of a dream that blends eroticism and death, then vomits up a parasite. Roger knocks her out and attempts to carry her to safety, but they are soon overwhelmed by a horde of infected sex maniacs.
Roger kills Nick in his own apartment, then makes a desperate bid to escape, only to face constant obstacles. He finally reaches the swimming pool area, where he finds Janine and Betts swimming fully clothed. The trio move toward the pool’s edge, smiling seductively at Roger as he searches for a way out, but the infected block his path. He is pulled into the water by Janine and Betts, while the rest of the infected—among them the little girl from the elevator—plunge into the pool and close in on him. Roger is eventually surrounded and infected by Forsythe.
In the aftermath, the trio, along with the other infected Starliner residents, drives out of the building’s garage. By early the next morning, news reports urge the public not to panic as police investigate an outbreak of sexual assaults in Montreal. The city awakens to the unsettling sense that something primal and dangerous has been unleashed within a supposedly safe, modern high-rise. The story lingers with a bleak reminder of how quickly civilization can give way to uncontrollable impulses, leaving the survivors to confront a world where human boundaries blur and danger hides in the most intimate spaces.
Shivers Timeline: Every Key Event in Order
12 key events in the order they happen, from “Hobbes murders Annabelle and commits suicide” to “Morning escape and police investigation”. 12 events name a place, across 9 locations.
- 1
Hobbes murders Annabelle and commits suicide
In a Starliner Towers apartment, Dr. Emil Hobbes slices Annabelle’s stomach, pours acid into the wound, and then kills himself. The brutal act shocks the residence and foreshadows the bizarre experiment behind the outbreak. The scene sets off a chain of discoveries that ripple through the complex.
When:Evening Where:Starliner Towers, Montreal
- 2
Nick discovers the bodies and leaves
Nick Tudor, suffering from stomach convulsions, finds Annabelle and Hobbes’ bodies. He leaves the scene without calling the police, seemingly unsettled more by what he saw than by the danger it signals. His discovery triggers the mounting mystery inside Starliner Towers.
When:Night Where:Starliner Towers
- 3
Roger St. Luc finds the bodies and calls the police
Resident doctor Roger St. Luc discovers the two bodies and immediately contacts the authorities. His professional instinct pushes him to report the incident, marking the first formal response to the unfolding crisis. The discovery intensifies the sense that something biological and dangerous is at play inside the building.
When:Night Where:Starliner Towers
- 4
Linsky explains the parasite project to Roger
Rollo Linsky, Hobbes’ medical partner, explains that they were developing a parasite intended to reempower primal urges. He warns Roger that the parasite could spread and turn people into a mindless mob. The revelation foreshadows the epidemic that will engulf the complex.
When:Next day Where:Hobbes' downtown office
- 5
Nick’s convulsions and the parasite escapes
After another wave of stomach convulsions, Nick vomits a parasite onto his balcony railing. The parasite slips back into the apartment and attacks a cleaning woman in the basement. The infection clearly moves from isolated incidents to an inside-out breakouts across Starliner Towers.
When:Next day Where:Starliner Towers
- 6
Janine and Betts become infected
Nick’s wife Janine tries to care for him, but a parasite crawls from his mouth. Betts, a friend infected in the bath, seduces Janine and transmits the parasite to her. The chain of infection begins to ripple through more residents.
When:Evening Where:Starliner Towers
- 7
Spread through the building’s corridors
More residents are infected as the parasite spreads through the building. The hallways fill with people attacking or being attacked, turning Starliner Towers into a chaotic battleground. Roger and Forsythe struggle to track the outbreak amid the growing chaos.
When:Night Where:Starliner Towers corridors and elevators
- 8
Linsky reaches Nick’s apartment and is killed
Linsky arrives at Nick Tudor’s apartment to assess the situation, but Nick attaches a parasite to Linsky’s cheek. Nick kills Linsky and swallows the parasite, ensuring the infection gains a new host. The medical dread inside the complex deepens.
When:Evening Where:Tudor apartment, Starliner Towers
- 9
Forsythe flees and is attacked by an infected guard
Forsythe tries to flee the building, but an infected security guard assaults her. Roger arrives and shoots the guard, saving Forsythe temporarily as they retreat to the basement. Forsythe recounts a dream blending eroticism and death, then vomits up a parasite, signaling the infection’s intimate grip on the survivors.
When:Evening Where:Starliner Towers basement
- 10
Roger kills Nick and fights to reach safety
Roger returns to Nick’s apartment and kills him to end the immediate threat. He then makes for the exterior, but the infected close in, pushing him toward the pool area where the outbreak’s final clash will unfold. The chase through the building tightens the noose around the last human resistance.
When:Night Where:Nick’s apartment and Starliner Towers pool area
- 11
Pool showdown and Roger’s infection
At the pool, the fully infected converge and overpower Roger as Betts, Janine, and others converge. Forsythe’s parasite completes its takeover of Roger, sealing his transformation. The pool area becomes the devastating focal point of the outbreak’s spread.
When:Night Where:Starliner Towers pool
- 12
Morning escape and police investigation
The remaining infected drive out of the tower with Roger now under the parasite’s control. Early the next morning, news reports urge calm even as police begin investigating an epidemic of sexual assaults in Montreal. The community wakes to a full-blown, citywide crisis.
When:Early morning Where:Starliner Towers garage; Montreal streets
Who Are the Main Characters in Shivers?
7 characters, among them Dr. Emil Hobbes, Nick Tudor and Roger St. Luc: who each one is and the part they play in the story.
- DE
Dr. Emil Hobbes
A physician-scientist who develops a parasitic agent intended to restore primal human impulses. He theorizes that modern people are over-intellectual and aims to unleash unchecked sexuality to reawaken humanity. His experiments trigger the outbreak and he ultimately takes his own life.
- 🧪 Scientist
- 🧬 Parasitic research
- 💥 Catastrophe
- NT
Nick Tudor
A resident plagued by stomach convulsions who becomes a host for the parasite. He is emotionally volatile, tries to coerce his wife into sex, and embodies the film’s theme of eruption of primal instincts. His actions catalyze the spread of infection.
- 🧠 Tension
- 💢 Aggressive
- 🦠 Infection
- RS
Roger St. Luc
A resident doctor who discovers the bodies and leads attempts to understand and contain the outbreak. He remains rational and determined but is overwhelmed by the parasite’s spread and becomes infected at the climax.
- 🩺 Doctor
- 🧬 Investigation
- 🏃♂️ Survival
- RL
Rollo Linsky
Hobbes' medical partner who warns of the parasite’s dangers. He is killed by Nick after being infected and becomes a cautionary figure about scientific ambition and its consequences.
- 🧪 Partner
- 🧬 Warning
- ⚰️ Death
- F
Forsythe
Nurse and lover of Roger who becomes infected and experiences a dreamlike blend of eroticism and death. She fights to escape the building but ultimately succumbs to the outbreak.
- 🧭 Survivor
- 🧬 Infection
- 💃 Erotic horror
- J
Janine
Nick’s wife who becomes infected after encounters with parasites passing between residents. She represents the intimate spread of contagion and the breakdown of trust in relationships.
- 💑 Spouse
- 🦠 Infection
- 🌀 Transmission
- B
Betts
Janine’s friend who is infected and seduces Janine, acting as a focal point for the contagion chain within the apartment complex.
- 🧚 Seduction
- 🦠 Infection
- 🧩 Vector
Where and When Is Shivers Set?
Shivers is set in Starliner Towers and outside Montreal. Here is why the place matters to the story.
Where
Starliner Towers, outside Montreal
Starliner Towers is a luxury apartment complex that serves as the outbreak's main setting. Its labyrinthine corridors, elevators, and pool area become stages for infection and social breakdown. The building's facade of affluence clashes with the chaos unfolding inside.
- 🏢 Luxury apartment
- 🗺️ Montreal area
- 🧬 Contagion
What Are the Themes of Shivers?
3 ideas the story keeps returning to, among them Parasitic Invasion, Sexuality Contagion and Urban Panic.
-
01
Parasitic Invasion
A parasite hijacks human bodies, turning intimate encounters into vectors of infection. The plot uses a scientific project gone awry to critique modern desires and the thin line between intellect and primal urge. The outbreak exposes how quickly social order can collapse when biology overrides consent.
-
02
Sexuality Contagion
Parasites drive a surge of sexual aggression, merging eroticism with violence. Characters become infected through intimate contact, spreading fear and chaos. The horror leverages body invasion to explore fears of losing control over one’s own body.
-
03
Urban Panic
A single building becomes ground zero for an epidemic, showing how urban life can magnify fear and contagion. Authorities struggle to communicate safety while residents fight, flee, and confront the spread. The setting underscores civilization’s fragility when faced with an invisible enemy.
What Kind of Film Is Shivers?
Dark in tone, with fast pacing and a straightforward story, going by the plot summary.
- Tone
- Dark
- Pacing
- Fast
- Story
- Straightforward
- Intensity
- High
- Ending
- Bleak
A relentlessly fast-paced and horrific body horror film that instills a deep sense of dread as a parasitic plague of uncontrollable primal impulses tears apart the fabric of civilization within a single, claustrophobic location.
- claustrophobic
- anxious
- disturbing
- chaotic
- unsettling
- primal
- body horror
- ideological control
- loss of innocence
- pandemic outbreak
Content notes: graphic violence, body horror, sexual assault, murder, suicide.
Where to Watch Shivers
Stream it on Amazon MX Player and Amazon Prime Video, or rent or buy it from Amazon Video and Apple TV Store. US availability and prices from JustWatch.
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