by: mjames
Posted on 11.10.09 in All Horror Films
Release Date: 1981

Ah, Scanners. With two sequels, a failed television series and a big-budget remake on the way, why not revisit the film that started it all? Director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence, The Fly, eXistenZ) is practically still an infant here, crafting a sort of late 70’s paranoid Americana vibe mixed with kooky sci-fi theories about ESP and a few exploding craniums. Scanners, while ostensibly a suspenseful sci-fi thriller, ends up as more of a horror film in much the same way the original Terminator does. Sure, we’re talking about telepathy and telekinesis here, but all it boils down to is gore, gore, gore.

Comparing Scanners with Terminator probably gives it too much credit though. While Terminator was ahead of its time, Scanners is firmly rooted in 1981. Scanners are people who have been born with incredible but dangerous mental powers. Sort of like the X-Men, except instead of having all kinds of different powers, they all have the same one. Over the course of the movie, it becomes less and less clear what this power actually is. At one point it is explained as form of extra-sensory perception that allows the user to connect his nervous system to that of another living being. In practice, it looks like bad actor’s faking diabetic shock to Devo B-sides. With it, you can read thoughts, cause heart attacks, control people like puppets, and… hack computers? In one memorable scene, veteran B-movie badass Michael Ironside uses his power to explode a rival Scanner’s head in one of the most grotesque special FX sequences ever used in film. It is this moment for which the film is probably best known and fondly remembered. Sadly, it comes rather early and little that follows is as interesting.

Our hero is Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), a deranged, wandering vagrant who is unable to lead a normal life due to the voices in his head. Discovered and abducted by the government, he learns that he is a Scanner, and the voices in his head were the thoughts of everyone around him. They offer him a way to control it if he agrees to work for them. With little fuss, he does, and soon our hobo is a dapper double agent, sent out to infiltrate the rival Scanner underground led by the powerful and dangerous Daryl Revok (Michael Ironside). His psychic misadventures lead him to a different group of Scanners, one opposed to Revok’s underground and with the help of their leader Kim Obrist (Jennifer O’Neill), Cameron discovers there’s far more to himself and to being a Scanner than his government masters have told him.

The cast also features Patrick McGoohan as Cameron’s government mentor and Robert A. Silverman as a demented sculptor. Jennifer O’Neill isn’t too bad either, but Stephen Lack… I can only shake my head at the name and move on. This guy is from another world. You will rarely see acting this bad in your life. Despite a few classic moments, like the aforementioned head-explosion, this film is an embarrassing, dated mess. If it had really been about crazy psychics from various secret societies running around the city and blowing each other’s heads off (like Highlander without sword-fights, just decapitations) THAT would be an entertaining film. The plot, despite a hilariously over-acted and gore-filled final showdown, never makes much sense or rises above the horrible performances and grating music. It may have a reputation as a classic but the original Scanners is one headache you can just avoid. Maybe the remake will take the idea somewhere better. Somewhere with more exploding heads.

* Acting – 2
* Blood – 3
* Violence – 3
* Partying – 1
* Language – 2
* Humor – 1
* Predictability – 1
* Girls – 1
* Gore – 3
* Sexuality – 1
* Torture – 1
* Overall – 1

• ★★★★★

  Acting:

• ★★★★★

  Blood:

• ★★★★★

  Violence:

• ★★★★★

  Partying:

• ★★★★★

  Language:

• ★★★★★

  Humor:

• ★★★★★

  Predictable:

• ★★★★★

  Girls:

• ★★★★★

  Gore:

• ★★★★★

  Sexuality:

• ★★★★★

  Torture:

• ★★★★★

  Overall: