Amazon.com video review:
"If this picture doesn't make you scream and squirm, you should see a
psychiatrist--quick!" shouts the film's trailer. This time the hyperbole is
right. David Cronenberg's debut feature, and Canada's first domestic horror
film, is an ingeniously engineered slasher of thoroughly modern horror
that, like George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, charts a social
breakdown by tearing through our most intrinsic taboos. A genetically
engineered designer parasite--part aphrodisiac, part venereal
disease--created by a modern-day mad scientist escapes into a colorless,
self-contained apartment complex and goes searching for hosts. This monstrous
parasite multiplies and invades the alienated occupants, turning them into
a pack of id-driven sex maniacs. Cronenberg's suffocating vision of modern
life turns his budgetary limitations--dreary, bland sets, flat lighting,
and numb performances--into a severe portrait of society out of touch with
its physical and emotional existence. Cronenberg pushed the boundaries of
gore in 1974, but more insidious is the way he pushes the boundaries of
behavior: under the influence of this invasive disease, families
turn to incest and murder, strangers sexually assault the helpless, and
finally they band together as a pack of bloodthirsty, libido-driven
animals.
That taboo-breaking display still has the power to get under your skin. The
film has also been released under the titles The Parasite Murders
and They Came from Within. Cult horror icon Barbara Steele costars.
--Sean Axmaker
