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133 reviews in total

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52 out of 67 people found the following review useful:
Probably one of the best sci-fi social commentaries of our time., 9 November 2004

Author: mccarthystuart from Liverpool, England

Well, were to begin?

First off, when I first saw Scanners, it really didn't do that much for me. Nowadays, I've learnt to view the film through more enlightened eyes, and appreciate it for the masterpiece that is most rightfully is.

Apart from the much-lauded 'exploding head' scene (which could have used a little more blood spattering everywhere) one of the film's most chilling scenes is at the very beginning when the lead character, Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) causes a woman to have a fit in a shopping mall before being captured by a pair of heavies. The scene was so convincingly played out that it really shock me up.

The more interesting aspect is the fact that most of these 'scanners'(or telepathic curiosities as the CEO of Consec calls them) are usually forced to live on the fringes of society as their telekinetic powers are feared and misunderstood by many. It would seem that the director, David Cronenberg, was using this plot device as a metaphor to comment on society's prejudicial attitudes towards the mentally ill. Like many of his low-budget horror films right up to 'The Fly' (1986) 'Scanners' has a very subversive, fly-on-the-wall take on society's ills. The modern society portrayed in 'Scanners' is a world viewed through the eyes of the outcast.

Throughout the film, there is a general feeling of starkness, from the synthesiser-tinged score by Howard Shore, to the general sparse look of the film. This gives the viewer a rather apt feeling of coldness and isolation.

Michael Ironside steals the show as the unhinged renegade scanner, Darryl Revok, who has a vast army of scanner converts at his disposal ready and willing to annihilate anyone unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

The only down side, however is the casting of Stephen Lack as Cameron Vale. Although he makes a fairly decent effort of playing his part, Lack just doesn't seem to have that much-needed 'spark' to bring his character to life.

All in all, 'Scanners' comes highly recommended as a 'must-see' feature.

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25 out of 32 people found the following review useful:
David Cronenberg's Scanners!, 21 October 2004
Author: Miyagis_Sweaty_wifebeater (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA

Scanners (1981) was another one of David Cronenberg's "body in revolt" films. This one deals with people that have telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Not your average horror film because it's quite heady. That's what I like about Cronenberg, not only does he make great psychological horror/thrillers but he makes you think. Nothing is spoon feed to you. The splatter effects have given this movie it's much deserved place in one of the best horror set pieces ever made. Two scenes stand out the most. After watching this film you'll understand why gore hounds love this movie.

The only part of this movie that I would have changed would have been the lead. Mr. Lack was okay but I felt that Cronenberg could have found an actor with more experience. Michael Ironside was chilling, ice ran through his veins. This movie made his career as a movie heavy. Jennifer O'Neill was nice to look at and fit in well. A strong storyline and good directing made this one a must see.

I was very impressed with this movie. The soundtrack was apt for the movie.

I haven't watch this film in awhile. But after seeing it on D.V.D. recently, I'm still a big fan of Scanners. Sadly I'm not too fond of the sequels.

A+

If you love heady horror films this is a must see.

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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Brilliant underrated Sci-fi shocker!, 15 May 2009

Author: John Lindsey from Albuquerque New Mexico

In a world populated among humans, there is a race of super-powered mutant human beings called "Scanners" who have a unique form of ESP that can read minds even destroy them literally including machines through telekinesis as well. Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is a homeless Scanner who was minding his own business until he is to be given a task by a kind doctor named Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) to hunt down an evil scanner named Daryl Revok (Michael Ironside). Joining with him is a female Scanner named Kim (Jennifer O'Neil) along his side they must try to track him and his goons down before he has a plan to take over the human race.

A solid and underrated cult Science Fiction horror thriller from the brilliant David Cronenberg. Sure Stephen Lack's acting is very weak but the other actors like McGoohan and Ironside are just great aside from wooden Lack, i also love the realistic and gruesome make-up and gore effects by Dick Smith and Chris Wallace that still hold up today very realistically without CGI such as the famed exploding head scene everyone remembers. I also like Howard Shore's chilling music score long before his scores to "Silence of the Lambs" or "Lord of the Rings", the film is a metaphor on birth defects and how a drug can mutate a child into something different that they will grow up into even something dangerous. It also does offer a statement on humanity and how another race of being can be accepted or discriminated against sort of like how the "X-Men" movies worked out.

It's definitely not for the squeamish but for those looking for a good thrilling and intelligent Sci-fi horror thriller then this is it.

Also recommended: "Videodrome", "Akira", "Firestarter", "The Dead Zone (1983)", "Carrie", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)", "Re-Animator", "Maniac (1980)", "The Brood", "The Fly (1986)", "The Toxic Avenger", "C.H.U.D.", "Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004)", "The X-Files 1 & 2", "X-Men Trilogy", "The Thing (1982)", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", "Rabid", "Ichi The Killer", "Grindhouse", "Tokyo Gore Police", "The Shining", "From Beyond", "Brainstorm", "Altered States", "Blade Runner", "28 Days Later", "Return of the Living Dead 3", "28 Weeks Later", "Day of the Dead (1985)", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "ExistenZ", "Suspect Zero", "The Gift", "Tetsuo The Iron Man", "Hulk", "The Incredible Hulk (2008)", "Cannibal Apocalypse", "Inside", "Twilight Zone The Movie", "Final Destination Series", "Tourist Trap", "Chopping Mall", "Halloween III: Season of the Witch", "The Blob (1988)", "An American Werewolf in London", "Pyrokinesis", "Battle Royale" and "The Hills Have Eyes (2006)".

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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Dark and Dysphoric, 29 August 2006

Author: MrVibrating from Sweden

Scanners is Cronenberg's venture into telepathy and the strange workings of the mind(he seems to do one movie on each theme, doesn't he?) While it is not as good as many of his other movies, it's still worthwhile.

First of all, the effects are really good. Some shots easily beat what the best CGI can do today, and some are just plain sick(you'll jump, I promise you). I was actually scratching my head over some things, thinking "how did they do that?", which is a good measure of special effects skills.

Second, the atmosphere is very powerful. It's a dark and unknown world in here, and no-one living in it likes it at all. The characters are all slightly off colour, subnormal. Our hero is no exception. The unknown Stephen Lack does a good-enough job, what with all the grimacing and psycho-playing. The supporting cast is over all sufficient. A treat is, as usual, Michael Ironside, who gives his pretty simple character a nice edge and a personality.

As for the story, it's sometimes hard to follow, and sometimes it lacks something. The ending is a bit rushed as well(even though the climax is incredible).

Still, Scanners is a cult movie and if you can find time, and you're in the right mood, it's certainly worthwhile for it's innovative gore, moody atmosphere and Michael Ironside.

7/10

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15 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Another Cronenberg Classic Worth Seeing, 5 March 2007

Author: gavin6942 from United States

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.

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18 out of 26 people found the following review useful:
Mind-Blowing Experience, 19 November 2001
Author: BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC

Scanners is a film about a group of human mutants that are able to basically make people go mad, and finally they can make their minds actually explode. Supposedly created out of the scientific work of a scientist working on a product for pregnant women(or something like that), the scanners(as they are called) are divided into two factions. One is out to destroy all other scanners and the other works for the labs that created them. This is an intensely philosophical film filled with many thought-provoking questions and issues. Director David Cronenberg again uses the idea of the human body in an aberrated state as the focus for terror. He directs with style and suspense, and uses a lot more gore in this than most of his previous features. Don't let that keep you from seeing this film. the acting is solid all around with Stephen Lack giving a nice performance in the lead, and Michael Ironsides giving yet another chilling performance of dementia. He sure can play one sick and crazy guy! Patrick McGoohan plays the fatherly scientist with style and finesse. One of Cronenberg's best!

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
rtypically cool, strange Cronenberg kind of horror movie, with a few genuine ideas, 3 August 2007

Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

Scanners will definitely be one of those films I'll check out on a moments notice- if it's on late at night on the sci-fi channel that is. It's a work that sometimes tries for the low-key, and other times goes for the ultra-gory and darkly comic, but it's all pulled off nicely by director David Cronenberg with help from horror make-up legend Dick Smith. It's a story that seems to be just a pure good vs evil thriller, with Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) and Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), where one doesn't even quite know what he is and how he can hear so many voices at once thinking in unison, and the other kills people by controlling their minds, sometimes to make their heads explode. Yet there's another element thrown in, which has to do with industry and corporations (or rather one corporation) invests interest in making sure a drug called Ephemerol (real drug (?)), to put a control on pregnant women- but it doesn't quite work. This is expanded upon, the more one thinks about it, into the idea of mind-control, and how clarity of the mind works for a scanner (i.e. the scene where the scanners are 'communing' before a shoot-out occurs, psychically linked a bit).

Other ideas start to flow from there, and it's fascinating to see how they fly out in little spurts- if not as strongly as in Naked Lunch or History of Violence- while the carnage goes on. Some of it is just downright delirious; I loved the scene where Keller, by gun-point, makes programmers try to 'turn off' Vale by tapping into the frequency that he's already been trying to jam on the other side through a phone line. Chaos ensues as we see computer chips freak out, Vale's mind goes into a freeze, then he snaps out and comes back with a big wallop that sends the power line crashing down- not too oddly enough right next to a gas station where the pump's become unhinged- and huge explosions start coming out on both ends. Cronenberg has as a sidebar the true perils of technology in dealing with such a concept like telekinesis and taking it a step further into the realm of morality and free-will (as Kim says she did before coming to Com-Sec with Vale). Meanwhile, Cronenberg keeps on with about as many shoot-outs and explosions and mania as a B-movie touched slightly by dementia, and it's usually a sweet ride technically (even if one is certain after a while which of the scanners will love or not, particularly when a van drives alongside the one holding the scanners and bullets ring out).

The big draw, of course, for most viewers are the head explosions. Actually, there's only one, but in a way it's not a bad thing really. I liked that Cronenberg uses gore, not just in the case of Scanners but in the bulk of his work, to illustrate a point (when one hears him in interviews, it's clear he takes ultra gory and horrifically bloody and organ-y violence seriously, unlike many of todays would-be horror directors). And when the head-explosion comes, it's both horrific and, in a perfect way, hilarious. We know something terrible will happen by the near spaghetti-western length drawing out of the scanner match between Redek and the other guy, and when it comes it's akin to when in RoboCop the executive gets killed by the big battle robot- you know it's coming, but it's still the thought and build-up that counts. And bear in mind, as it is Dick Smith, the climax will not disappoint even for the most weathered genre aficionado. While the biggest flaws would be in a few scenes dragging (the dialog from Ruth before his demise chiefly), and Lack's dearth of talent, it's very worthwhile to see even if you're not terribly familiar with the director. It's low-budget and inventive within the bounds of the plot.

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13 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Could have been stronger in several key areas but is still worth seeing, 9 January 2006
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

Within "normal" society exists a new breed of person who possess telepathic powers. They are small in number but their powers makes them very dangerous – but also very powerful in the hands of the right people. Dr Paul Ruth runs a secretive programme trying to develop the power into a weapon but he only has one recruit – Cameron Vale. When Ruth's programme is violently attacked by scanner Darryl Revok, they realise that the battle is being lost and they prepare Vale to go undercover, in filtrate Revok's group and lead them to him.

As everyone and their dog knows, this film is always talked about for the infamous scene near the start where we are first shown the power of the scanners, however there are many scenes across the whole film that are just as strong as that one. The opening scene is powerful as it shows the ability Vale has and the lack of control he has over it while the scene where Revok escapes capture is even more sinister and gripping. This pretty much carries across the whole film although there are some slows spots and parts of the story that don't hang together as well as they should. Cronenberg is famous for his body horror but he does do tension well and here he is solid when called upon. The low budget does show through at times but mostly it is good.

The acting is a little bit ropey though, which is maybe where the limitations do show through. Lack is OK but he isn't anything special – he can say his lines well enough and not fall over while walking but he can't bring out much more below the surface than that. He reminded me of the old b-movie matinée stars who have good jaws but not much else. McGoohan is better and his presence is welcome in his scenes. Ironside is hammy but enjoyable perhaps not having as much screen time as I would have liked but effective when he is. The support is mostly pretty average, O'Neill is OK but the rest are so-so and are sometime amusing as they get scanned.

Overall though this is a classic cult film. The plot moves forward well enough although I would have liked more real life commentary from Cronenberg above the general "mental illness" metaphor that it acts as but his direction otherwise is good. The cast are mostly only OK but they do enough to keep the story moving while moments of horror and tension are well served up. Could have been better in several key areas but is still worth seeing.

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Prophetic, 2 May 2008

Author: BroadswordCallinDannyBoy from Boston, MA

A common aspect of most great films is that they take time to sink in. Into their audience and into culture. Upon seeing a good film an audience will often know whether they've liked it or not, but what they won't know is quite why. That is what takes time to sink in. As a film is thought about and even seen again once or twice does it become great. It is the basic test of time that all classics must pass in order to achieve that honored status. The term "instant-classic" has always been a marketing gimmick since if you can take in the whole of a film instantly it means that it didn't offer a lot and isn't as good as it could have been.

David Cronenberg's films are those films that you have to see more than once. Many people today don't get that that's where the fun of a good story is: it's not a quick fix of special effects, but rather something that grows on you. Even if you end up not liking the film, the thinking about it and possibly re-seeing it will tell you WHY. Today many people don't care to go that far and just settle on eye candy. Nothing is wrong with eye candy, but when your mother told you to eat your vegetables, she wasn't just talking about food.

"Scanners" is not just a great film that was ahead of its time when it came out, it is a great director's first conceptual masterpiece. Cronenberg showed much promise with his early works, but he was clearly on the learning curve. With "Scanners" he make use of bigger sets, more expansive special effects all while presenting a frightening aspect of ever developing computer technology in an interesting story. The kicker is that most of what the film presents is relevant in more ways than one to today's world. Maybe not quite word for word, but this film is quite prophetic and a science fiction classic. --- 9/10

Rated R for violence and gore. Ages 13+

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Scanners is one of Cronenberg's early films of worth, 28 April 2007

Author: tavm from Baton Rouge, La.

David Cronenberg is one of the most provocative horror directors ever as one of his early films like Scanners proves. Stephen Lack has just been picked by Dr. Patrick McGoohan to infiltrate a sinister organization of scanners-people of telepathic abilities. Lack is one of them who gets administrated a drug to control his more intense urges. Michael Ironside is the one they're looking for. Jennifer O'Neill, Lawrence Dane, and Robert Silverman also lend support. See heads explode and veins pop! There's lots of exposition but more than enough gore and action to satisfy any hard core fans out there. Film actually seemed a little short but there's not a wasted minute here. All Cronenberg and horror fans should definitely seek this one out.

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