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... 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.

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