Latin and subtitled, Shiver will not be seen by many people with English as a first language but for lovers of horror and vampires it really should be seen regardless. Shiver touches on the subjects of raising a teenager, gambling addiction and vampirism. It is also a movie about a creepy small town (think Jeepers Creepers) and bullying. It is a really good watch that starts out a bit slow but picks up the pace quickly.
Young Santiago (Junio Valverde) has a skin disease called photophobia which makes him unable to be out in the sun for extended periods of time due to complications that would be almost fatal for him including skin cancer. This disease makes his life hell as a teenager as he wears a hooded jacket year-round with shades in case he gets exposed at any time. He is also attending night school where all the other kids consider him a freak, all except his best friend. When it becomes too much to bear, Santi (who begins having nightmares that the sun incinerates him like a vampire) convinces his mother to have them move and they relocate to a tiny town in the foggy mountains which would allow for Santi to attend school daily like a regular child.
What Santi and his mother didn’t know however is that the town, bordered by a dense forest is about to have a mysterious force taking lives and draining it’s victim’s blood. At first some sheep get slaughtered and then people end up dying. Santi, being the mysterious stranger in town is blamed for the murders and his condition and wanting to fit in does not help his situation with the accusations.
Shiver is very different from your standard horror movie, it doesn’t question the audience’s intelligence as it leaves much to the imagination with the mystery of the murders and the unknown entity within the woods. The parts of movie that showed the interaction between Santi and his mother Julia (Mar Sodupe) are very well acted and makes you feel sorry for him in his tortured life.
Above all else the best part of Shiver is the big reveal into what is truly behind the murders and the disappearances. It is completely out there and atypical of the standard vampire fluff that we see being released almost weekly.
If you are interested in a different take on vampirism and the blood sucking monsters that everyone loves so much, check out Shiver, it’s available for instant viewing on Netflix.
Cinephile and opinion writer, Greg Dragon has been a fan of movies since the 80's when Kung Fu theater was all the rage and Roger Moore was James Bond. As an opinion writer that has reviewed Box Office releases on a number of prominent websites, Greg is the founder and lead critic of Spicy Movie Dogs.
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