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Many have ranked Vittorio De Sica’s LADRI DI BICICLETTE (THE BICYCLE THIEF in the U.S., BICYCLE THIEVES in the U.K.) as one of the premiere films of all time. When the British magazine Sight & Sound first conducted its definitive survey of the top critics around the world in 1952, the film had already made such an impression that it was voted the greatest film in history. When the survey was done ten years later, it had fallen to sixth and by 1972 it was no longer on the list. However, the most recent polling year in 2002, directors were polled and the film made their top ten.

I begin my review this way, because it shows over time styles have fallen out of style and how critics have changed with the times. But when directors are asked, they choose the simplicity of De Sica’s style. Often collaborating with writer Cesare Zavattini, whom was nominated for his work on this film, De Sica often chose non-professional actors to play characters close to themselves. The plot is simple; a man named Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani, UMBERTO D.) desperately needs a job. When he gets one, the only stipulation is that he needs a bike; unfortunately Antonio has pawned his bike. His wife Maria (Lianella Carell, ZITELLONI, I) pawns their linens to get the bike back. Brimming with pride, Antonio heads out on his first day of work, but then a young man steals his bike. The next day, Antonio, along with his plucky son Bruno (Enzo Staiola, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA), goes out to look for the bike. The family’s survival depends on it.

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One of David Cronenberg’s early low-budget horror films, SHIVERS establishes what would go on to be the trademark of his work — a mix of sex and violence. Throughout all his work, there is an unsettling preserve line that is crossed between horror and sexual perversion. It makes his films haunting. SHIVERS does just what its title advertises.

Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton, LADY SINGS THE BLUES) is a doctor at a new exclusive Canadian apartment complex. He’s having an affair with his nurse Forsythe (Lynn Lowry, CAT PEOPLE). Some of the men in the complex, including businessman Nicholas Tudor (Allan Kolma, upcoming W.), are complaining of painful abdominal lumps. When the gruesome scene of a murder-suicide is discovered in one of the apartments, Dr. St. Luc discovers the unorthodox experiments of Emil Hobbes (Fred Doederlein, SCANNERS), who believes the human race has become too rational and needs to tap into its primal side, making him develop a parasite that turns its hosts into sexual fiends.

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