Scanners (1981)

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

David Cronenberg (written by)

Release Date:

14 January 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

There are 4 billion people on earth. 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created... and they are winning.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Psychic Power | Psychic | Doctor | Driveby Shooting | Tied To Bed

Awards:

3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Jennifer O'Neill	...	Kim Obrist
Stephen Lack	...	Cameron Vale
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

Also Known As:

Telepathy 2000

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Finland:K-18 (original rating) (1981) | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Iceland:(Banned) | Norway:16 (cut) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Trivia:

William S. Burroughs' novel "Naked Lunch" contains a chapter concerning "Senders," a hostile organization of telepaths bent on world domination, a clear literary inspiration for this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kim (Jennifer O'Neil) runs from her burning apartment, she suddenly is wearing a winter coat when she gets outside, a coat that she did not have on as she escaped from the flames.

Quotes:

Cameron Vale: [sees that Kim has had a nosebleed] What happened?
Kim Obrist: I was scanned. The woman in the waiting room...
Cameron Vale: She scanned you?
Kim Obrist: No, not her. Her child. Her unborn child scanned me.
Cameron Vale: That's what the Ripe program is. The doctors on the computer list are giving ephemerol to their pregnant patients.
Kim Obrist: I don't understand.
Cameron Vale: Ephemerol. Ephemerol is creating new scanners.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of the Censors (1995) (TV)

SCANNERS (David Cronenberg, 1981) ***

My father owned a magazine which had reviewed this one back in the day (when I was myself barely aware of who David Cronenberg was) and I still recall its electrifying poster. Having caught up with the film after all this time, I can safely say that it's one of the director's better and more intriguing vintage/genre efforts.

Movies about psychic powers were fairly popular around this time: Cronenberg himself would also make THE DEAD ZONE (1983) – while, say, Brian De Palma had already dabbled twice in the subject with CARRIE (1976) and THE FURY (1978). SCANNERS is noted for some truly gory make-up effects (which are something of a Cronenberg trademark anyway) courtesy of THE EXORCIST (1973)'s Dick Smith – for instance, I've always known of the scene with the exploding head…and actually seeing it, I have to admit that it still packs a wallop! Though the body-twitching brought on by the intense concentration when a person is being "scanned" can appear silly, the concept of thought-control as a political weapon is fascinating and, in fact, has been a favorite on the screen for some time already. The chilling twist here is that a colony of these superior yet destructive beings is in the offing a' la the "Damned" films of the 1960s, with pregnant women being unwittingly 'infected' – their demented leader (Michael Ironside) obviously intent on world domination.

The revelation regarding the latter, hero Stephen Lack (a benign "Scanner"), and the foremost authority on the subject – a scientist played by a typically riveting Patrick MacGoohan – isn't exactly surprising since all three are always at the core of the proceedings. With this in mind, though Jennifer O'Neill receives top-billing, her role (as one of a small group of "Scanners" who oppose Ironside's evil ways) is essentially secondary. Anyway, while MacGoohan is dispatched by a 'mole' in his organization (again, the latter's contact is shrouded in mystery but his identity is pretty obvious!), Ironside and Lack fittingly engage in an effects-laden battle-of-wills (capped by an incredible if clever twist) at the climax.

For the record, the film was followed by a couple of sequels (both made the same year, 1991!) and even as many spin-offs later on in that decade – all of which are most probably no more than pale imitations of Cronenberg's original (which, apparently, is itself on the point of being remade)…