Scanners II: The New Order (1991)

A scanner discovers a plot by renegade elements in the city government to take power with the help of evil scanners.

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers:

David Cronenberg (characters), B.J. Nelson

Stars:

David Hewlett, Deborah Raffin, Yvan Ponton

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Hewlett	...	David Kellum
Deborah Raffin	...	Julie Vale
Yvan Ponton	...	Commander John Forrester
Isabelle Mejias	...	Alice Leonardo
Tom Butler	...	Doctor Morse
Raoul Max Trujillo	...	Peter Drak (as Raoul Trujillo)
Vlasta Vrana	...	Lt. Gelson
Murray Westgate	...	George Kellum
Doris Petrie	...	Susan Kellum
Dorothée Berryman	...	Mayor
Michael Rudder	...	Feck
David Francis	...	Gruner
Stephen Zarou	...	Walter
Tom Harvey	...	Chief Stokes
Jason Cavalier	...	Convenience Store Thug

Storyline

Good and evil scanners combatting when a crooked politician schemes to gain control of a major city. Scanners are people who, because their mothers had taken a certain drug during pregnancy, have acquired telepathic powers. One scanner escapes from a mental center and is hired by the politician to use his powers to gain control of others minds, and then, their actions.

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Plot Keywords:

scanner | paranormal phenomena | shot to death | resurrection | murder | 

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Taglines:

Thoughts can kill. Again.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and graphic sci-fi action

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English French Japanese

Release Date:

28 June 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agyfürkészők 2. - Az új rendszer

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allegro Films, Filmtech, Image Organization

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed over the course of two months.

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Quotes

Commander John Forrester: How's everything?
Doctor Morse: Not good. Elaine, one of our female scanners, just died. We're losing too many, too fast. The only functional scanners we have left are Feck, Gruner and Drak.
[watching camera surveillance of Peter Drak]
Commander John Forrester: I wouldn't call that functional.
Doctor Morse: He's got tremendous command of his powers. He could bounce back.
Commander John Forrester: He's a psychopath. What we need is a clean scanner. A virgin mind.

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Connections

References Frankenstein General Hospital (1988)

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Soundtracks

Mind to Mind
Written by Aldo Nova & Marty Simon
Performed by Alan Jordan
Courtesy of ATV Music / Polygram Music Publishing Inc.

User Reviews

Not a patch on the original

I know, from looking at other people's reviews, that there are some who feel that this is an 'okay' sequel to David Cronenberg's classic eighties horror flick 'Scanners.' And, maybe it was... once upon a time. However, there are those films that stand the test of time and then there are those who do not age well. I feel this is the latter.

It's about more of those psychics (or 'scanners' as they call them here). A corrupt police chief wants to harness their unnatural power to end crime (and generally make himself equally powerful). But, after years of experimenting on boring scanners who no one cares about, he finds lovely, nice scanner 'David' to exploit. But, luckily for all that is good, David is too nice to be used and sets about ending this corrupt cop's regime before it really starts.

Whereas you can watch Star Wars and not be bothered by the 'seventies haircuts' Han and Luke are sporting, here, everything just seems waaaay too eighties (which is doubly ironic as it's made in 1990).

But it's not just the look of the film I disliked - it's also the story. Everything just happens to fit together waaay too well to be believable. It's one coincidence and obvious plot-motivating device after the next. The (seemingly-mandatory) love story is quite unnecessary and forced, plus the characters either under-act or overact (and I'm thinking about the 'bad scanner' when I mention overacting - he's practically a pantomime villain he's that nasty!). Yes, there's the odd bit of decent gore, but that's a small part of an 1 hour 40 minute film.

Maybe this was an okay film in the eighties, or if you've never seen the original, but, if you're looking for dark and nasty horror, stick to the first Scanners - it's head and shoulders over this one.