Scanners (1981)

A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

David Cronenberg

Stars:

Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan

3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer O'Neill	...	Kim Obrist
Stephen Lack	...	Cameron Vale (as Steven Lack)
Patrick McGoohan	...	Dr. Paul Ruth
Lawrence Dane	...	Braedon Keller
Michael Ironside	...	Darryl Revok
Robert A. Silverman	...	Benjamin Pierce (as Robert Silverman)
Lee Broker	...	Security One
Mavor Moore	...	Trevellyan
Adam Ludwig	...	Arno Crostic
Murray Cruchley	...	Programmer 1 (as Lee Murray)
Fred Doederlein	...	Dieter Tautz
Géza Kovács	...	Killer in Record Store (as Geza Kovacs)
Sonny Forbes	...	Killer in Attic (as Sony Forbes)
Jérôme Tiberghien	...	Killer in Attic (as Jerome Tiberghien)
Denis Lacroix	...	Killer in Barn

Storyline

Darryl Revok is the most powerful of all the scanners, and is the head of the underground scanner movement for world domination. Scanners have great psychic power, strong enough to control minds; they can inflict enormous pain/damage on their victims. Doctor Paul Ruth finds a scanner that Revok hasn't, and converts him to their cause - to destroy the underground movement.

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Plot Keywords:

psychic | psychic power | doctor | blood | film projector | 

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Taglines:

Their thoughts can kill!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Telepathy 2000

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 4,100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Filmplan, Victor Solnicki Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A very early treatment from 1976, entitled "Telepathy 2000" takes place in the future, begins with the protagonist (who is named Harley Quinn) telepathically raping a woman in a subway, and was set as a spy movie. In this version, a company called Cytodyne Amalgamate was breeding evil Scanners to take over the world and the U.S. Government was employing good Scanners to stop them.

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Goofs

At the very beginning of the final fight between Revok and Cameron, Cameron hits Revok in the head with a statue. When the camera cuts to Revok's face before the statue makes contact, there is already blood on Revok's face where the statue is about to hit.

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Quotes

Paul Ruth: I want you to access the Ripe program. I do not have ConSec computer clearance.
Cameron Vale: Neither do I.
Paul Ruth: But you do have a nervous system. And so does a computer. And you can scan a computer, as you would another human being.

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Crazy Credits

Credits scroll like words on the CONSEC computer monitor.

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Connections

Referenced in Fear of the Flesh: The Making of 'The Fly' (2005)

User Reviews

Another Cronenberg Classic Worth Seeing

After a renegade scanner named Revok (a mutant human with advanced mental powers) causes another man's head to explode, he is hunted by a second scanner hired by a semi-secret scientific organization. Meanwhile, other scanners are picked off one by one, and the hunter is left with great moral and existential questions -- where did he come from, what is his purpose and is there a right or wrong side in this human/mutant battle?

Director David Cronenberg can seemingly do no wrong. As I watch one film after another of his, I wait to find one that is the pock mark on the perfect career. Some of his films (such as "Rabid" or perhaps "Stereo") may be of less quality than others, but I have yet to find one that is outright bad. "Scanners", for the record, ranks among his best and has become a cultural staple.

You know you're a culturally important film when you're referenced by "Wayne's World". But seriously, this film is a science fiction story that -- like many science fiction stories -- holds some greater cultural and moral issues worth investigating.

The issue of racism is here. Like the recent "X-Men" movies, and many other films, the idea of someone who is different in a superficial way (scanners look like ordinary humans) and is rejected raises the point that we as a society need to accept those who are not like us. Racism stinks, whether it appear in its purest form (skin color) or through religion or other means. And that's what makes this film so clever: the main character is a hero, but yet he is the outcast -- in some ways we see him as being more human than those who would have him killed.

This also happens to be a film that focuses on one of Cronenberg's strong points: his love of science. Or perhaps science gone wrong, if you will. Does any other director really tackle this as effectively as Cronenberg? I don't think so. (Imagine what would happen if he started making a series of Philip K. Dick novels into films.)

I suppose I didn't really get into the film itself so much, but the beauty of the film is that what you take away from it if you view it critically is so much more than the plot or effects or lighting. Yes, you have a great cast (isn't Michael Ironside creepy?) and a head explodes. Yes, you have gun fights and mind control. Even a little bit of romance (but only just a pinch, nothing like a Goldblum-Davis connection in this one).

If you can't tell, I want you to see this movie. If you're the type of person I am, you'll find this movie so smooth and refreshing on your mental palette that the film ends before you've even realized it began -- the sign of a really great film (or a really short one, which this isn't). Give it a chance, you'll like it.