5. Shivers (They Came From Within) (1975)
If you had to pick one David Cronenberg film for a list of top Canadian films, your first response should be "that's frickin' ridiculous,"so here's another early cult classic. Cronenberg (who puts the "C" in Canadian Cinema) was able to get the Canadian government to help him fund his first big feature: Shivers. Shivers is the story of an alien parasite that infects the residents of an apartment building. Instead of going on a hunt for brains, though, these mindless zombies are on the hunt for some forceful loving. This was made during the time of George Romero's follow-up to Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and so was most likely considered a low-budget knock off, which in a way it was. After all, it follows the usual format of people trying to escape the growing hordes of people who are turning into zombies. Only instead of wanting to eat your brains, Cronenberg's zombies want to rape you. And you're trapped in an apartment building. While it sounds quite X-rated, the nudity is actually pretty limited, despite its story line. There's quite a bit of implied sex (think of Tarantino's frequent discussions on the actual small amount of violence shown in his films), but it's not something you are going to be watching in 10 minute intervals. From this simple story of zombies, sex and sex-zombies, David Cronenberg went on to become the most critically acclaimed Canadian director ever.