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Stars: Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Michael Ironside, Jennifer O’Neill, Lawrence Dane, Robert A. Silverman, Mavor Moore, Adam Ludwig, Fred Doederlein | Written and Directed by David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg’s Scanners is a film that lingers in the mind long after the credits roll—not just because of its infamous head-exploding sequence, but because of the way it explores the intersection of science fiction, body horror, and psychological paranoia. Watching it again, I’m struck by its unsettling atmosphere, its mixture of cerebral and visceral horror, and its willingness to engage with themes that feel just as relevant today as they did over forty years ago.

At its core, Scanners is about a secret group of individuals gifted (or perhaps cursed) with extraordinary telepathic abilities. These “scanners” can read minds, control others’ bodies, and—in the most extreme cases—cause gruesome cranial detonations. Our protagonist, Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), begins the film as a lost soul,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

Martin Scorsese has programmed Living, Breathing New York, which starts with Shadows and a 35mm print of Heaven Knows What on Sunday; The Rubber Gun (watch our exclusive trailer debut) plays Saturday with a Stephen Lack Q&a; Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Wild at Heart screen.

Anthology Film Archives

Robina Rose’s Nightshift (watch our exclusive trailer debut) begins playing in a new restoration; Matías Piñeiro-curated series offers Antonioni, Hollis Frampton, and Straub-Huillet.

Film Forum

Luis Buñuel’s Él begins screening in a 4K restoration; Lou Ye’s Suzhou River and Spring Fever screen; Play It As It Lays and Godard’s A Woman Is a Woman continue; Space Jam screens on Sunday.

IFC Center

Hideaki Anno’s Love & Pop plays in a new restoration; eXistenZ, Mulholland Dr., Paprika, Best in Show, Palindromes, and Pink Flamingos show late.

Canadian International Pictures, sister company to the great Arbelos Films, takes upon itself the noble mission of restoring and releasing lesser-seen films from up north. Their next project is a film I’d frankly never heard of, but upon watching a trailer for its restoration I can’t see it soon enough: Allan Moyle’s The Rubber Gun stars Stephen Lack (Scanners) as a Montreal drug-pusher whose makeshift family is put under threat. Ahead of bicoastal premieres––Los Angeles’ American Cinematheque on March 6 (with a Moyle Q&a) and New York’s Roxy Cinema on March 11 (where Lack will do a Q&a on March 15)––we’re pleased to exclusively debut said trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “Charismatic painter Steve (Scanners star Stephen Lack) has carved out a reputation as Montreal’s premiere drug connection, trafficking narcotics with a crew of friends (and lovers) living as a makeshift ‘family’ on the fringes of society.

David Cronenberg’s cult classic Scanners, a defining film in 1980s horror and science fiction, is set for a spectacular re-release with a brand-new Limited Edition 4K Uhd and Blu-ray box set from Second Sight Films. Available from 31 March 2025, this special edition celebrates the groundbreaking effects, unforgettable performances, and haunting themes that have made Scanners an enduring entry in the genre.

Scanners marked a turning point in Cronenberg’s career, cementing his reputation as a master of visceral storytelling. The film’s chilling exploration of telepathy and corporate conspiracy introduced audiences to a terrifying new vision of psychic warfare. Now, with a fresh 4K restoration approved by Cronenberg himself, viewers can experience every unnerving detail with stunning clarity.

The Limited Edition box set features a rigid slipcase with striking new artwork by Krishna Shenoi, paying homage to the film’s eerie, otherworldly tone. Packed with extras, the set includes a...

One of David Cronenberg‘s most beloved films is getting a brand-new ultra-high-definition treatment. Blu-ray.com has revealed that the label Second Sight is going to be releasing new Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays of Scanners. The sci-fi thriller, which features powerful telepaths, is sealed in history as having one of (if not The best) head explosion scenes. And you can now see it in every gory detail when the new physical media is released on March 31.

Scanners stars Jennifer O’Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, and Michael Ironside. Following his 1975 film Shivers, Cronenberg penned a treatment for a sci-fi story called Telepathy 2000. The basic idea of the plot concerned a protagonist named Harley Quinn raping a woman telepathically in a subway before revealing itself as a spy story of corporate espionage. The evil Cytodyne Amalgamate Corporation deliberately bred Scanners as a government program to overtake the world. This idea...

As the nights grow longer and the air turns crisp, it’s the perfect time to settle in with some of the best spooky films ever made. From eerie silent classics to modern horror hits, spooky cinema has evolved across decades, yet each era has its own spine-tingling gems. Whether you love atmospheric terror or heart-pounding scares, here’s a journey through the best films from the 1920s to today that will give you chills. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy. 1920s - 1980s ‘The Haunting’ (1963) Cast: Julie Harris,...

David Cronenberg’s Scanners is being turned in to a TV series.

The 1981 sci-fi horror film, which was essentially Cronenberg’s breakout hit, is in development at HBO.

Black Mirror writer William Bridges is writing and Lovecraft Country director Yann Demange on board to direct. They will both exec produce the remake, which comes from The Morning Show producer Media Res, Demange’s Wayward Productions and HBO.

There have been previous attempts to turn Scanners into a TV series. Bob Weinstein’s Dimension Films attempted to remake it in 2011. Media Res teamed with Bron in 2017 to start developing a remake.

The film followed scanners that are psychics with unusual telepathic and telekinetic powers.

It followed Darryl Revok, played by Michael Ironside, a renegade scanner, to wage a war against ConSec, a weapons and security company. Another scanner, Cameron Vale, played by Stephen Lack, is dispatched by ConSec to stop Revok.

A series version of the David Cronenberg film “Scanners” is in development at HBO, Variety has confirmed.

Per the official description, the series is “set in the mind-bending world of David Cronenberg’s seminal film. Pursued by relentless agents with unimaginable powers, two women living on the fringes of modern society must learn to work together to topple a vast conspiracy determined to bring them to heel.”

William Bridges will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on the series. Yann Demange will direct and executive produce via Wayward Films. Cronenberg, who wrote and directed the original film, will serve as an executive producer. Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer will executive produce on behalf of Media Res Studio. Meredith Duff and Sarah Sullivan of Wayward Films will also executive produce along with René Malo and Fanny-Laure Malo, Pierre David, Clark Peterson, and Aaron Gilbert. The show is a co-production between HBO,...

In the 1970s and 1980s, shopping malls were popping up all over America, and it was only a matter of time before they became a favoured setting for horror films – where better to plunge a knife into the heart of American consumerism and idyllic suburban life? It wasn’t long before malls in the movies were crawling with supermarket creeps, rabid shoppers running amok, and masked psychos in the ventilation system, plotting to burn the shoppers’ paradises to the ground!

To celebrate the release of the ultimate mall horror, the cult 80s slasher Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge, on Limited Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video, here are eight more mall-based chillers featuring everything from security robots running amok to Christmas shopping trips ending in complete and utter chaos.

Rabid (1977)

Canadian horror maestro David Cronenberg sets an outbreak of rabies in humans in the Cavendish Mall in Quebec, where shoppers...

My reasoning for discussing David Cronenberg's Scanners for this year's “Class of 1981” is two-fold: 1. I don't remember how old I was exactly, but I distinctly remember the VHS cover artwork grabbing my attention during a brief trip to Blockbuster with my mom - of course, she didn't rent it for me - and 2. After all these years, I never got the chance to watch it!

In a weird way, I'm really glad that my mom didn't let me watch Scanners. That distorted face of a man screaming with his eyes bulging out left a sense of mystery and dread in my mind for years. I miss when movie posters piqued your interest and the imagery alone made you want to watch the movie. I suppose life, other films, TV shows, and projects of my own are what kept me from ever watching Scanners until now, but I've watched the...

This article contains spoilers for the ending of Scanners.

Scanners was the fifth commercially released feature film (and seventh overall) directed by David Cronenberg, the independent Canadian auteur who initially made a name for himself as a director of visceral, provocative horror films such as Shivers, Rabid, and The Brood. Released 40 years ago on January 14, 1981, Scanners was a turning point for Cronenberg in many ways: it edged away from the sexually tinged “body horror” of his first few films and into the realms of sci-fi, action, and conspiracy thriller, while adding advanced visual effects and an overall polish to the director’s clinical esthetic.

Although none of his films up to that point had achieved any sort of mainstream success outside Canada, Scanners was a breakthrough for Cronenberg: his most expensive film to date (with a budget of $4 million), it was his first to also earn decent money in the lucrative North American market.

We’re kicking off September’s home media releases this week with a great group of titles that include cult classics, indie horror, and a handful of Shudder Originals. Vinegar Syndrome is showing some love this Tuesday to both The Eleventh Commandment and Larry Cohen’s Perfect Strangers, and for those of you who may have missed seeing them on the aforementioned Shudder, now you can catch up with Z, Blood Quantum, and Terrified on both Blu-ray and DVD.

Other home media releases for September 1st include Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest from Scream Factory, Limbo, Widow’s Point, and Beetlejuice in 4K.

Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest

A young family moves to a new apartment in the outskirts of the big city. The nanny they hired to look after their newborn daughter quickly becomes trustworthy. However, the eldest boy notices frightening behavior of the woman, but...

Joseph Baxter Kirsten Howard Sep 28, 2017

David Cronenberg’s explosive 1981 sci-fi horror film Scanners is set to be made into a television series...

The realm of peak television just got a bit of news that’s looking to literally blow minds: Scanners, the esteemed 1981 science fiction horror cult film from director David Cronenberg, is set to be adapted – à la HBO’s Westworld – as a television series.

See related Outlander season 3 episode 4 review: Of Lost Things Outlander season 3 episode 3 review: All Debts Paid Outlander season 3 episode 2 review: Surrender Outlander season 3 episode 1 review: The Battle Joined

A bidding war over the rights to the Scanners property saw Michael Ellenberg of Media Res and Bron Studios emerge victorious, reports Deadline. With prospective studio suitors consisting of Lionsgate, Paramount and Skydance losing out, Ellenberg will put a Scanners television series into development. Serving as executive producer, he's reportedly looking for a high-end filmmaker for the showrunner position.

“Scanners,” the 1981 David Cronenberg classic about a group of individuals living with telekinetic powers, is being developed into a television series. According to Deadline, Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res and Bron Studios have won a heated bidding war for the property, securing the film’s rights over Skydance, Lionsgate, and Paramount.

Read More:David Cronenberg: Why He’s Considering Retiring From Filmmaking

The Weinstein Company-owned Dimension Films was the property’s previous owner for nearly a decade. The studio tried to adapt “Scanners” into a television series back in 2011 with Alexandre Aja (“The Hills Have Eyes”) signed on to executive produce and potentially direct the pilot. Dimension had plans to remake the property as a film before landing on a TV adaptation and even hired David Goyer to write the script. Neither the film or the series ever got made, but now the latter is being developed under a new studio.

When people accuse David Cronenberg’s work of being “cold” or “clinical,” I suspect the movie they’re really talking about is his 1988 psychological thriller, Dead Ringers. It is a movie about surgeons, so of course it’s clinical. It is photographed with special cameras and carefully choreographed movements that require precision. It is a film about two men who share an unspoken bond and who keep all of their emotions under wraps. Of course it feels cold. But it is also a movie in which a woman tears into the flesh connecting conjoined twins with her teeth. There’s no mistaking it for anything but a David Cronenberg movie.

Jeremy Irons plays Beverly and Elliot Mantle, twin gynecologists who run their own highly successful and experimental clinic. Despite their deep connection, the brothers are different: Elliot is suave and confident, while Beverly is shy and frightened. When they meet...

Well, genre fans, November 15th is a rather quiet week on the home entertainment front, as there are only a few releases coming our way this Tuesday. Scream Factory has put together a stellar Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, and Synapse Films is releasing their Collector's Edition steelbook of Dario Argento's Phenomena.

The sixth season of Game of Thrones makes its way home this week, too, and Star Wars fans can finally enjoy The Force Awakens in 3D from the comfort of their couches with a brand new set that arrives on Tuesday.

Dead Ringers: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold) is in love with handsome Beverly. Or does she love Elliot? It’s uncertain because brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle are identical twins sharing the same medical practice, apartment and women: including unsuspecting Claire.

In portrayals that...

"Two bodies. Two minds. One soul." Identical twins share more than their looks in David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers. Scream Factory will release the psychological thriller on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray beginning November 15th, and we've been provided with three copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers.

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Collector's Edition Blu-ray copy of Dead Ringers.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Dead Ringers Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on November 18th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

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Dead Ringers Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold) is in love with handsome Beverly. Or does she love Elliot?...

"Separation can be a terrifying thing." Featuring a dangerous love triangle involving identical twins, David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers will be released on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray on November 15th from Scream Factory, and we have a look at a high-def clip and trailer from the film.

Dead Ringers Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold) is in love with handsome Beverly. Or does she love Elliot? It's uncertain because brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle are identical twins sharing the same medical practice, apartment and women – including unsuspecting Claire.

In portrayals that won the New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor Award, Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists whose emotional dependency collapses into mind games, madness and murder. David Cronenberg (The Fly) won the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards Best Director honors for melding split-screen techniques, body doubles and Iron's uncanny acting into an eerie, fact-based tale.

Bonus Features

Disc One...

This November, Scream Factory will release Dead Ringers and Rabid on Collector's Edition Blu-rays, respectively, and to help make the wait a little sweeter, they've unveiled the full list of special features for both David Cronenberg movies.

Press Release: Progenitor of the body horror genre and master of psychological terror, filmmaker David Cronenberg is known for his visceral style, crafting stories that interweave audacious physical transformations with challenging narratives and complex emotional arcs.

This November, two seminal Cronenberg films, Dead Ringers and Rabid, make their Collector’s Edition Blu-ray debuts from Scream Factory. Each film features a new 2k scan and is loaded with new bonus features, making these critically acclaimed masterpieces must-owns for cinephiles.

Dead Ringers November 15th, 2016

Cronenberg’s haunting tale of twin gynecologists and the woman they both love will make its Blu-ray debut November 15th, 2016 from Scream Factory, in conjunction with Morgan Creek Productions. The two-disc...

About once a month, Cinelinx will chose one director for an in-depth examination of the “signatures” that they leave behind in their work. This week, we’re examining the trademark style and calling signs of David Cronenberg as director.

Cronenberg first became interested in film during college, where he self-taught himself the art before establishing a co-op to produce films. His first feature length films were art-house movies, Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970). Shivers (1975) was his breakthrough. That film received a lot of attention because although people were talking about it, they were divided in regards to its vulgarity, especially considering the fact that it was funded by the Canadian government. Still, it was the most profitable film funded by the Canadian government up to that point. His follow up was Rancid (1977) which was commercially successful. His next movie took a break from body horror to explore his love of cars and racing.

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The Battle for ‘Lawrence of Arabia’: How T.E. Lawrence’s family and friends opposed bringing his story to the screen

T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935) ranks among the 20th Century’s oddest heroes. This short, smart, and mischievous British soldier helped organize the Arab Revolt against Turkey, a secondary front of the First World War. He became Emir Feisal’s trusted ally, painfully conscious that the Allies wouldn’t honor promises of independence. After the Paris Peace Conference, Lawrence retreated into the Royal Air Force and Tank Corps as a private soldier, T.E. Shaw… read the full article.

Holding Out For a Heroine: On Being a Woman and Loving Star Wars

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a little girl in possession of a good imagination must be in want of a heroine. At least, this was the truth of my childhood. Like many people of my generation, my...

The Bitter Ash

A rather precious thing happened in Montreal in the mid 1970s. Canadian cinema had been dominated by the National Film Board since its formation in 1940, and the generally-perceived character of Canadian film was all educational documentary, and not a lot of fun. Directors such as Claude Jutra, Don Owen, and Gilles Groulx struck off on their own to make the first Canadian new wave fiction films (A tout prendre [1963], Nobody Waved Goodbye, and Le chat dans le sac [both 1964] respectively), on the back of independents like Sydney J. Furie’s groundbreaking A Dangerous Age (1959) and Larry Kent’s student feature The Bitter Ash (1963), but for all their youthful, semi-bohemian trappings, these were still quite po-faced affairs. Then came the “genial loser” films of the 70s, led by Owen’s Goin’ Down The Road (1970), and others such as The Rowdyman (Peter Carter, 1972) and Paperback Hero (Peter Pearson, 1973), for the...

Welcome back everyone for the final day of Daily Dead’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide! Because it’s been an exceptional year for genre fans, we’re focusing today on recapping more books and films that would make for great gifts this holiday season and are perfect for all fans. We’ve also got another great find from over on Etsy and we’re celebrating a new subscription service from the fine folks over at Waxworks Records.

And be sure to check out today’s final Holiday Horrors trivia question below for your shot at winning some awesome merchandise from our fine sponsors at HorrorDecor.net, Scream Factory and Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Thanks so much for following along with our 2014 Holiday Gift Guide and I hope you guys had as much fun reading the series as I had putting it together!

Vendor Spotlight: Waxwork Records

Waxwork Records specializes in releasing horror,...

David Cronenberg made six movies before Scanners, and it felt like all of them were a precursor to a great coming out. Critics were shocked with what he put onscreen. Nobody knew what to make of it. They only knew that they were seeing something strange and disturbing, something that resembled nothing else in movie history. They were disgusted by the groundbreaking visual effects, and disturbed by the paranoid fantasy lying beneath them. But the film became a big hit and with it, the career of one of cinema’s most distinctive auteurs had well and truly begun. The new Criterion Blu-ray edition is everything any fan could possibly hope for. Hit the jump for my full Scanners Criterion Collection Blu-ray review. One look at the profoundly unsettling artwork on the cover gives laymen a good idea of what awaits inside. Similar images can be found on the Blu-ray box itself,...

If you've heard of, but never seen, David Cronenberg's Scanners you're still likely to be familiar with the infamous head-exploding scene. It's perhaps the most iconic scene in any one of Cronenberg's films and there are a lot to choose from, and while I've seen people argue Scanners is only memorable for that one scene, I was happy to find more enjoyment in this 1981 classic than I remembered the first time I watched it. That being said, I don't remember the first time I saw Scanners, but I do know it was before I really knew what it was to watch a Cronenberg movie. In fact, I've still yet to explore his entire oeuvre including films such as The Brood, Naked Lunch and Crash, primarily because I believe there is a mood one must be in before watching one of his films. You need to almost prepare yourself with...

David Cronenberg’s Scanners provided a milestone moment in the horror genre: the exploding head scene. It’s so shocking and visceral that it it simply can’t be forgotten. And if you’ve ever wondered how the effects team pulled it off, then ponder no more: a new behind-the-scenes video that’s part of The Criterion Collection Blu-ray and DVD release that came out today explores the trials of making the head explosion authentic, and the blast of improvisation that made it work.

“With Scanners, David Cronenberg plunges us into one of his most terrifying and thrilling sci-fi worlds. After a man with extraordinary—and frighteningly destructive—telepathic abilities is nabbed by agents from a mysterious rogue corporation, he discovers he is far from the only possessor of such strange powers, and that some of the other “scanners” have their minds set on world domination, while others are trying to stop them.

As I mentioned in today's DVD/Blu-ray column, I only received my Blu-ray review copy of Criterion's new edition of David Cronenberg's Scanners just last night so I have only had a chance to unwrap the cellophane and admire the art, but Criterion is giving you a taste of what the new set has to offer right now in the following featurette taking a look at the film's most iconic moment... the exploding head and how it was accomplished. The piece includes comments from cinematographer Mark Irwin, special effects supervisor Gary Zeller and special makeup advisors Stephan Dupuis and Chris Walas. So sit back and check out how they turned Louis Del Grande's head into an exploding ball of blood and guts and if you're looking to pick yourself up a copy, remember, it's 50% off at Barnes & Noble making it $14 cheaper than the current Amazon price. yt id...

For the week of July 15th, we have giant rats, a handful of indie horror movies, a David Cronenberg classic and a killer Scarlett Johansson sci-fi thriller all coming our way on Blu-ray and DVD.

Criterion is releasing a brand new Blu-ray/DVD combo of the horror classic Scanners and Scream Factory is continuing their Summer of Fear with their latest release, Deadly Eyes, as well. Jonathan Glazer’s stunning sci-fi film Under the Skin is also getting its home release on Tuesday and, for all you shark movie fans out there, Anchor Bay’s put together a fun four pack of some recent shark-related titles perfect for a camp-tastic marathon one night.

Spotlight Titles:

Scanners (Criterion Collection, Blu-ray/DVD Combo & DVD)

From Criterion Collection comes the Director- Approved Dual-Format Blu-ray and DVD Special Edition Feature of Scanners which includes a new, restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by director David Cronenberg,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: July 15, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95

Studio: Criterion

With his 1981 science fiction/horror thriller Scanners, David Cronenberg plunged audiences into one of his most provocatively splatterific creations.

After a man with extraordinary—and frighteningly destructive—telepathic abilities is nabbed by agents from a mysterious rogue corporation, he discovers he is far from the only possessor of such strange powers, and that some of the other “scanners” have their minds set on world domination, while others are trying to stop them.

Starring Michael Ironside (Haunting at the Beacon), Stephen Lack (All the Vermeers in New York) and Jennifer O’Neill (L’innocente), the cult favorite Scanners offers a trademark Cronenberg combination of the visceral and the cerebral. This gruesome and bizarre film about the expanses and limits of the human brain was the Canadian filmmaker’s breakout hit in the United States, due in no small part due...

At the start of this year, the folks who run The Criterion Collection teased that Scanners would be receiving their prestigious home video treatment this year, and now the box art has been revealed and the discs put up for pre-order.

Read on for all the details, which are sure to make your head explode with excitement!

Set for release on July 15th, Criterion's release of the flick will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD, with the Blu-ray also including a DVD copy. Both releases will feature brand new, eye-catching cover art, courtesy of artist Connor Willumsen.

Pre-order your copies over on Criterion's website, and check out full release details below!

With Scanners, David Cronenberg plunges us into one of his most terrifying and thrilling sci-fi worlds. After a man with extraordinary—and frighteningly destructive—telepathic abilities is nabbed by agents from a mysterious rogue corporation, he discovers he...

Criterion has announced their July 2014 titles and among them is one fans have been waiting a long time to see introduced, David Cronenberg's head-exploding sci-fi Scanners, set for a July 15 release. The set will include a newly restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by Cronenberg, "The Scanners Way" visual effects documentary, a new interview with Michael Ironside, a 2012 interview with actor and artist Stephen Lack, an excerpt from a 1981 interview with Cronenberg on the CBC's "The Bob McLean Show" and Cronenberg's first feature film, Stereo (1969). Also on July 15 comes Robert Bresson's 1959 classic Pickpocket, telling the story of Michel (Martin Lasalle), a young pickpocket who spends his days working the streets, subway cars, and train stations of Paris. Features include: New, 2K digital film restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Audio commentary by film scholar James Quandt Introduction by writer-director Paul Schrader The Models of "Pickpocket," a...

We have fantastic news for fans of Scanners that have been eagerly awaiting news of a Blu-ray release. David Cronenberg has been overseeing a newly restored transfer of the film that will be available on Blu-ray & DVD as part of The Criterion Collection in July:

“With Scanners, David Cronenberg plunges us into one of his most terrifying and thrilling sci-fi worlds. After a man with extraordinary—and frighteningly destructive—telepathic abilities is nabbed by agents from a mysterious rogue corporation, he discovers he is far from the only possessor of such strange powers, and that some of the other “scanners” have their minds set on world domination, while others are trying to stop them. A trademark Cronenberg combination of the visceral and the cerebral, this phenomenally gruesome and provocative film about the expanses and limits of the human brain was the Canadian director’s breakout hit in the United States.

Top 10 Ryan Lambie 24 Apr 2013 - 07:37

From remote typing to making giraffes run around in a zoo, here's Ryan's pick of 10 strange and unnerving paranormal powers in cinema...

Telekinesis. Mind over matter. Distant mental influence. Whatever you care to call the paranormal ability to move chairs, bend spoons and cook ready meals with the power of thought, such phenomena are a common presence in popular culture.

This list is devoted to a few of the weird and sometimes unsettling use of paranormal abilities in movies. These are the unlikely and surprising uses of powers, and some of them could be quite useful in everyday life, if we were lucky enough to possess them - who wouldn't like to be able to do a day's typing without even having to get out of bed? If there are any scientists reading this (who just happen to be working in the field of...

★★★★☆ Released on Blu-ray for the first time this week courtesy of Second Sight Films (in a stylish steelbook package, no less), David Cronenberg's cult thriller Scanners (1981) is a near-prefect distillation of the Canadian director's key preoccupations with psychoanalytics and transmogrification. Stephen Lack stars as protagonist Cameron Vale, a drifting vagrant blighted by deafening voices in his head. Little does Vale know that he is, in fact, a 'scanner': one of a handful of individuals in the United States blessed (or perhaps plagued) with telepathic powers. However, not all of Vale's kin are as sheepish about their talents.

Read more »...

Scanners is the last low-budget Canadian film that David Cronenberg made before he went legit with the masterpiece Videodrome and pretty good Stephen King adaptation The Dead Zone. Scanners was also way ahead of its time, it presents similar themes and characters that would become commonplace some twenty years later with things like Heroes, X-Men and Chronicle. Of course this is all done on an early 80s definition of a low-budget but still it manages to work although it is not without flaws.

We start with a hobo named Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) who is arrested at a shopping mall after he seems to telepathically make a woman have a heart attack after she mocks him. Cameron is introduced to Dr Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) who works for the ConSec corporation that is there for the purpose of researching ‘Scanners’ , telepathic beings who are capable of doing great harm to the human race.

Scanners, one of the most iconic horror films of the Eighties from legendary director David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis, A History of Violence, The Fly), is heading to Blu-ray for the first time in a highly collectible limited edition steelbook thanks to Second Sight Films.

From the Press Release:

The cult classic horror Scanners comes to Blu-ray as a limited edition steelbook along with a DVD release on 8 April 2013 complete with a slew of brilliant new special features including:

• My Art Keeps Me Sane – Interview with star Stephen Lack

• The Eye Of Scanners – Interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin

• The Chaos Of Scanners – Interview with executive producer Pierre David

• Exploding Brains & Popping Veins – Interview with makeup effects artist Stephen Dupuis

• Bad Guy Dane – Interview with actor Lawrence Dane

Scanners II: The New Order and Scanners III: The Takeover will also be released for the first time on Blu-ray only as single releases on...

Now here’s some cool news coming out of the Son of Monsterpalooza convention. None other than Metallica's Kirk Hammett has been added to the celebrity guest roster that will be appearing at the Marriott Burbank Convention Center on October 26-28.

Hammett will be signing copies of his book, Too Much Horror Business: The Kirk Hammett Collection. He's being added to an already stellar lineup of guests, a sample of which is listed below.

Other guests include Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Pumpkinhead), Lisa Marie (Ed Wood, Mars Attacks! ), Stephen Lack (Scanners, Dead Ringers), George"The Animal" Steele (WWF Wrestler, Ed Wood), Veronica Cartwright (Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Lori Cardille (Day of the Dead), Ashlynn Yennie (Human Centipede 1 and 2), Barbara Nedeljakova (Hostel I & II), Howard Sherman (Day of the Dead) and many more. Vendors on hand will be selling original art, t-shirts, DVDs, masks, model kits and much more! Also scheduled are special presentations,...

On the Road movie reedited for Toronto screening Based on Jack Kerouac's '50s novel, Walter Salles' Otr adaptation starring Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, and Kristen Stewart (above photo) will be screened at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. We all knew that. What we didn't know is that Tiff 2012 will unveil a new cut of the film (via indieWIRE), which premiered last spring at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. The 2hr20m drama has been downsized to approximately 125 minutes. That's an interesting development, as Otr has already been screened in several countries, with varying degrees of box-office success. [Check out the On the Road trailer. Check out Kristen Stewart On the Road poster; Garrett Hedlund On the Road poster.] Otr movie reedit hardly unique On the other hand, different cuts shown in different countries is hardly something new. Whether as a result of poor critical/box-office reception, (perceived) local sensibilities, and/or censorship, the movie you watch in, say, Canada isn't necessarily the exact same movie watched by someone in Singapore,...

What do you get when you cross the wildly popular Monsterpalooza festival with the Halloween season? You get Son of Monsterpalooza, a brand new fest that will rise on October 26-28 at the Marriott Burbank Hotel and Convention Center.

Son of Monsterpalooza will feature celebrity guests, presentations, amazing artists, unique vendors, cool contests and a walk through a ghostly experience called "The Haunted Halls."

The lineup of guests currently includes: Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Pumpkinhead, Near Dark), Stephen Lack (Scanners Dead Ringers), Lisa Marie (Mars Attacks! , Ed Wood, Planet of the Apes), Veronica Cartwright (Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Howard Sherman (Day of the Dead, Tales from the Darkside), Gaylen Ross (Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead), Catherine Mary Stewart (Night of the Comet, The Last Starfighter), Lori Cardille (Day of the Dead, Tales from the Darkside), John Amplas (Creepshow, Martin, Knightriders), Jenny Wright (Near Dark, I Madman, The Lawnmower Man...

Scanners

Directed by David Cronenberg

Written by David Cronenberg

1981, Canada

In the early stages of Cronenberg’s career, he established himself as a prolific director of horror films by splicing his features with science fiction elements. His efforts in creating a new sub-genre went unnoticed until his seventh film, Scanners.

At the time of its release, Scanners did not receive a lot of critical acclaim, but became successful enough for Cronenberg to break into Hollywood. For film fans, its classic yet graphic scenes are now part of 1980′s cinema that saw him with fellow director Paul Verhoeven define the era with their now-cult films (Robocop, Total Recall, The Fly).

Scanners follows Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), who is mysteriously captured by defence and weapon company ConSec. Unbeknowst to him, he is a Scanner: an individual who has unexplained telepathic powers – and he is not the only one in the world. He...

Robert Pattinson as Eric Packer, Cosmopolis Robert Pattinson's multibillionaire Eric Packer doesn't go on and on about wanting a haircut in this new Cosmopolis trailer — yes, another new Cosmopolis trailer. (Please scroll down.) This a more philosophical trailer, with cosmic statements such as "I smell sex all over you." Pattinson's reaction to that is priceless. And are they watching snuff films (minus the sex) at one point? [Check out another Cosmopolis trailer.] Now, this latest Cosmopolis trailer also offers a better look at the various supporting actors in the film. The English Patient / Hidden's Juliette Binoche looks particularly impressive. Cronenberg co-wrote the Cosmopolis screenplay with Don DeLillo, the author of the novel on which the film is based. In addition to Pattinson and Binoche, Cosmopolis features A Dangerous Method's Sarah Gadon, Sideways / Cinderella Man's Paul Giamatti, Sweet and Lowdown / In America's Samantha Morton, Resident Evil: Retribution / I Am Number Four's Kevin Durand,...

Robert Pattinson in Cosmopolis "I wanna a haircut," says Robert Pattinson's multibillionaire Eric Packer — sounding like a petulant, spoiled brat with too much power and all-too-mundane needs — at the beginning of the newly released Cosmopolis trailer. (Please scroll down.) But mere human power has its limits. What will Packer become when there's "no more money" and "no more sex" and "no more power"? What would any of us become, especially if we can't get the haircut we want? [Check out another Cosmopolis trailer.] As expected, considering that this is a David Cronenberg movie, the Cosmopolis trailer looks great, Pattinson looks and sounds flawless in the role of the billionaire whose universe is about to be radically rearranged, and the (audible) dialogue sounds as weird as what one gets to hear in real life, e.g., "The logical extension of business is murder" or, again, "I wanna a haircut." No wonder the Cannes Film Festival...

One of the all-time great screen villains, Michael Ironside also has a tendency to lose body parts. Phil celebrates the Laurence Olivier of the missing limb...

If there is one thing guaranteed to get me to watch a film, regardless of my mood or the movie’s reputation, it would be the sentence, “It’s got Michael Ironside in it”. I’m just a huge fan, and have loved his work ever since I first saw the original V TV mini-series one balmy childhood summer while I was staying at my Auntie Anne's.

As Ham Tyler, the leather jacketed ex-cia agent who becomes an instrumental figure in the Los Angeles Resistance movement, Ironside seemed to dominate every scene he was in, and what impressed me most about his zero tolerance approach to the alien visitors was that here was a good guy who looked and sounded like a bad guy.

The once-proposed theatrical remake of David Cronenberg's Scanners is evidently turning into a TV show. The 1981 film most famous for its exploding head opening [1] (and less famous for Stephen Lack's toneless but oddly appropriate performance) has already spawned a couple of shoddy sequels. So this isn't quite the unwelcome spin-off that, for instance, a sequel to Videodrome might be. In fact, Scanners is the sort of story that could very easily support an extended TV narrative. It posits a society in which one company has developed a drug which, given to pregnant women, will bring out the psychic power inherent in their children. The powerful adult 'scanners' are broken into factions working with and against the company, which is enough of a beginning for a show. Get more details about the plan after the break.  Deadline [2] has the news, saying that Dimension Films is developing the series now,...

According to Deadline, David Cronenberg's science-fiction horror classic Scanners may be headed to the small screen. The Weinstein Co.'s Dimension Films is developing a drama series adaptation of the movies about a group of people with telepathic and telekinetic abilities, with The Hills Have Eyes writer-director Alexandre Aja signed to executive produce the series and potentially direct the pilot. Bob Weinstein conceived the plan with Aja to convert the property into a TV show.

The TV series would be in place of the recently rumored remake headed for theaters. Dimension is already in talks with potential showrunners to create and run the series.

Scanners was released January 14th, 1981 and stars Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside, Robert A. Silverman, Lee Broker, Mavor Moore. The film is directed by David Cronenberg.

Scanners was released in 2009.

Constantly overlooked at awards ceremonies, the varied films of David Cronenberg often benefit from some remarkable performances. Here are 10 of the very best…

David Cronenberg's films are frequently noted for their existentialist themes and startlingly imaginative flashes of violence, but there's one aspect of his movie making that's often overlooked. Almost every film he's made since the late-70s has featured at least one stand-out performance, and I'd even go so far as to say that some actors have never bettered their Cronenberg-driven turns.

With but one exception, most of these performances have been overlooked by major award-giving organisations. To redress the balance a little, here's our list of career-best performances in Cronenberg's films...

Samantha Eggar

The Brood

Cronenberg's fourth feature, The Brood benefited from a great cast, including Oliver Reed as a glowering psychologist and Art Hindle as a young father struggling through the divorce from hell. It's...

Scanners (Original Release Date: 14 January 1981)

If you bring up David Cronenberg when talking movies with a casual moviegoer, chances are the moviegoer will at some point say to you, “Isn't he the guy who directed the movie with that scene where _____?” Some Cronenberg movies offer multiple moments -- most of them grotesque -- to fill in the blank. With The Fly, you get multiples. There's the meatymass that used to be an ape. There's the arm-wrestling match. There's the final transformation into Brundlefly. (Maybe next week I'll finally write a review that doesn't mention Brundlefly. We'll see.)

The blank for Scanners will forever be filled in with “that guy's head explodes.” You don't even need to have seen the movie at this point. “Hey, have you ever seen Scanners?” “Sure. My favorite part is where that guy's head explodes.” “Word.” The asker doesn't really care whether or not the askee has seen it.

Just to prove that you don’t need a huge budget to make a classic sci-fi movie, here’s our list of genre features whose ideas triumph over their lack of funds…

Ideally, science fiction films require large quantities of cash. Truckloads of the stuff. Just look at the most famous examples of the genre: Metropolis, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Where the horror genre requires little more than a few pence, a bottle of fake blood and a hacksaw to realise, a good sci-fi movie usually requires the building of vast sets, costumes and copious amounts of special effects.

But then, we have the subjects of this top ten list, sci-fi movies whose wealth of ideas more than makes up for their lack of financial investment...

10. Mad Max (1979)

A film so low budget its costume department could only afford one genuine leather jacket, Mad Max launched the once-stellar film career of Mel Gibson,...

By Matt Singer

We're getting into the Halloween spirit at IFC.com this week by taking a look back at some famous movie makeup jobs (that are, at minimum, 25 years old) that have maintained their power to scare the bejeezus out of viewers. These kids today with their computer generated imagery and their Blu-rays and their "Saw V"s! Back in our day, we didn't have computers to do our imagination's dirty work for us. Visionary artists had only prosthetics, wire, plaster, rubber and a whole lot of Karo syrup to bring their creations to life! Back in our day, these were the movies you rented on Halloween! At the video store! As far as we're concerned, they still should be. And don't you dare teepee our Web site or we're calling the cops. [Part two of our list can be found here.]

10. The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Directed by Paul Leni

Makeup by Jack Pierce

To get a sense...

This story of a short-circuited New York love affair set against the twin backdrop of Wall Street boom and bust and the art gallery/museum scene looks like the film that could win Jost a much larger and more mainstream audience.

The film's harmonizing tones of humor, faux romance and desperation are entertainingly set in an early scene involving an argument over money between a not-yet-fashionable artist Gordon Joseph Weiss) and his flattering but tightfisted dealer (Gracie Mansion).

The film's main story, however, focuses on Anna (Emmanuelle Chaulet), a young French woman on an extended stay in New York, who is picked up at the Metropolitan Museum's Vermeer room by a financial trader, Mark (Stephen Lack). Their arm's-length, if consummated, relationship is revealed largely in a series of stop-and-go conversations filmed by Jost in unblinking long takes, often with the camera tracking slowly, stately, between them.

The film is loaded with supporting players (Grace Phillips, as Anna's friend, is a particular stand-out) and anecdotes that are also filmed in the same deliberate style. Rather than feel forced, however, these shots give the confrontations and conversations an added air of reality, of inevitably uncomfortable silences and miscommunications.

Jost also uses them to show people at work, and the scenes of Mark at his trading console, barking out orders to a room full of other traders, are one of the most realistic depictions of the steady, stressful grind of brokering.

In the end, the film is dealing with big subjects -- art, money, responsibility, love -- but there's no force-feeding of the issues. On the other hand, rarely are these matters treated to such accessible depths and such easy complex-

In the end, the film is dealing with big subjects -- art, money, responsibility, love -- but there's no force-feeding of the issues. On the other hand, rarely are these matters treated to such accessible depths and such easy complex-ity.

ALL THE VERMEERS IN NEW YORK

COMPLEX CORPORATION

in association with American Playhouse

Director-editor-cinematographer Jon Jost

Producer Henry S. Rosenthal

Music Jon A. English and the Bay Area Jazz Composers Orchestra

Color

Mark Stephen Lack

Anna Emmanuelle Chaulet

Felicity Grace Phillips

Running time -- 87 minutes

NO MPAA RATING

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...