Shivers

David Cronenberg's Shivers is such a TERRIBLE movie. Let's talk about it. Also, I meant to post this in the fall so let's pretend that it's not January 4.
 

My Colors

 

(from green nail polish going clockwise) Pretty Edgy by Essie, Jana by Zoya, Jancyn by Zoya, Lilou by Julep, Black Sketch by Milani, Blanc by Essie and Fishnet Stockings by Essie.

First, I painted my nails with Blanc.

Now it's time to paint a tree. I started by painting the branches.

Next, I added orange leaves. On my middle nail, I painted dots on the tree branches and a few dots on the ground. On my other nails, I painted a combo of dots and deformed looking stars to represent my leaves.

Then I added red leaves.

Next, I added yellow and green leaves.

Yay leaf nails! PS I knit those fingerless gloves! 😻

 

Shivers

 
I usually find something redeeming about my horror film of the week, but I SUPER disliked this one. Shivers takes place in a sterile, uniform apartment building in Canada. The film opens with a yuppie couple touring an apartment. In the unit next door, Doctor Hobbs, this old creepy guy who's doing weird experiments, is murdering his teenage mistress. Yay!

Doctor Hobbes believes that humanity has become too rational and lost contact with its natural instincts. So he develops a parasite that's half-STD, half-aphrodisiac and plans to release it. (Because parasitic infection is always the solution. Like, that time NEVER when all of humanity got hookworm and suddenly world peace and prosperity were achieved). Doctor Hobbes infects his 19-year-old mistress with the parasite, but then realizes how dangerous it is. In an effort to save others, he kills his mistress and commits suicide. But oopsie, the mistress has already had sex with a bunch of people in their apartment building. For the next 70 minutes, everyone in the building gets infected with a parasite that makes them act like sexually aggressive zombies. So fun!

The movie annoyed me because the plot made no sense and the details of the parasite's transmission were not consistent. And when it comes to super bloody films about STD-parasites, I at least expect my parasitic method of transmission to be effing consistent. One guy had the parasite crawl out of his body like a worm. Then his little parasite worm friend bit other people and infected them. He was the only one who experienced this parasite worm situation. Everyone else transmitted the disease through sexual intercourse.

A lot of other people hated this movie too and wrote real angry articles about it. Shivers was partially financed by the Canadian Film Development Corporation, a taxpayer-funded organization that was created in an effort to kick-start Canada's film industry and bring Canada to Hollywood's level of prestige (lol). Canadian journalist, Robert Fulford wrote an article called, "You Should Know How Bad This Film Is. After All, You Paid For It". OMG so sassy I love it! My favorite line: "If using public money to produce films like Shivers is the only way that English Canada can have a film industry, then perhaps English Canada should not have a film industry." Oh, Robert Fulford, I celebrate you!

Flowers & Creepy Child Murderers

It was 70 degrees today, there are beautiful tulips in my kitchen and I existed outside in a tank top with very minimal shivering. I think summer is here! Time to watch a super weird horror film and paint flowers on my nails! 

My Colors

Lightening by Sally Hansen, Blank Canvas by Milani, Blue Print by Milani, Van d'go by Essie, Mira by Zoya, Mint Candy Apple by Essie and Pretty Edgy by Essie.

I started by painting my nails yellow and letting that dry. 

I painted a trellis using Blank Canvas by Milani.

Now it's time for flowers! I painted three different types of flowers: forget-me-nots, tulips and gerbera daisies. 

Forget-me-nots: Using Milani's Blue Print, I made an "x" on one of the cross-sections of the trellis and then another "x" to create an eight petal flower.

Tulips: The tulip is a bit more difficult. It required a toothpick and a LOT of patience. I started by drawing three small lines. Then I connected the outer two lines in a "u" shape. 

Tip: Glob enough polish on the tip of the toothpick so that you can use the toothpick like a pen. 

I painted the outline of the tulip and filled in the rest. Last, I drew a stem on the tulip using the toothpick.

Gerbera Daisies: I drew my daisies using a toothpick. I started by putting a glob of pink polish on one of the cross-sections in the trellis. Then I drew five circular petals around that center. I then filled it in!

Final step: I added a yellow dot to the center of my daisies and forget-me-nots.

The Brood (1979)

The Brood, like all David Cronenberg films, is a little scary, a little sexual and REAL weird (I've also written about Dead Ringers, another Cronenberg film). The Brood is about Frank, a father who is trying to get full custody of his daughter, Candy. Candy's mother, Nola, lives at a mental hospital. 

The director of this mental hospital, Dr. Raglan, practices a technique called 'psychoplasmics' in which he encourages his patients to rid themselves of their anxieties. Through this practice, his patients develop sores on their bodies, which he explains as physical manifestations of their mental pain. Through Nola's sessions with Dr. Raglan, we learn that Nola was abused by her mother as a child and blames her father for failing to protect her.

So at first this seems like a psychological thriller. 

Then...

Deformed, murderous demon children show up and start killing everyone! YAY!

Nola's mother, father and Candy's teacher are all murdered by these child beasts wearing identical white jackets. Then they capture Candy (who looks a lot like them, but like with a face). Frank, desperate to get Candy back, learns from Dr. Raglan that Nola is birthing these mini murderers and sending them off to kill her enemies.

In the end, Frank manages to kill Nola, causing her brood to die. He rescues Candy, but as he drives her away, the viewer notices small sores on her arm, indicative of her future mental illness.

Women can create new life and that's threatening to men

The Monstruous Feminine had a whole chapter about The Brood titled Woman as Monstrous Womb. YAY!!!

This film shows the horror of parthenogenesis (women creating children without the male sperm). Nola is all powerful to create a future generation of small satans in little jackets. Even Candy, who is mostly raised by her father, still inherits her mother's mental illness. The fact that Candy looks so similar to the brood, further  shows how much power a mother has over her offspring.

In addition to controlling future generations, a woman's ability to give birth "aligns her with nature and threatens the integrity of the patriarchal symbolic order." This is seen when Nola opens her bathrobe, revealing a sack with a fetus. She then rips it open and licks the bloody child that emerges. In the civilized world, women are quiet, clean and proper. However, the world of childbirth is regulated by a different set of rules where women are loud, unclean and improper.

Yay for weird movies!