User reviews

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

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.

What was once startling and shocking is now more humorous than anything else. This early Cronenberg film delivers his usual brand, but it doesn't stand the test of time. Between the infamous early head scene and the big confrontation ending scene, there is a lot of boredom, though some of it is okay. Some of the cast is a problem as well. Stephen Lack lacks talent and the more famous Jennifer O'Neill isn't much better and ludicrously looks like she stepped away from a magazine cover shoot. On the other hand, Patrick McGoohan overacts. I saw this when released and this was the first time I had seen Michael Ironside. He's rather effective here in a creep role that he would often repeat in his, thus far, whopping 282 credits listed here. The only other performers of interest here are Lawrence Dane & Robert A. Silverman in a small role. The special effects (all gore) hold up pretty well and for the uninitiated, this is a must for horror buffs.

Cameron Vale (played by artist Stephen Lack) is a derelict who, after a bizarre incident in a shopping mall, is rounded up by two goons who bring him to eminent doctor Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan). Paul reveals to Cameron the reality of his situation: Cameron is in fact a "Scanner", or a person with extraordinary telepathic abilities. Scanners can not only look into the minds of others, and manipulate them, but can also do very unpleasant things to human bodies. Paul recruits Cameron to help him track down Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside, in his breakthrough role), a rogue Scanner with plans for world domination.

The late, great Dick Smith was the special consultant to the makeup effects crew (Stephan Dupuis, Chris Walas, Tom Schwartz), and it's these effects that take center stage in this interesting and bleak thriller from Canadian legend David Cronenberg. The exploding head that everybody remembers so vividly actually occurs only about 13 and a half minutes into the show, so viewers don't have long to wait. Of course, as has been pointed out, how does one top something like that? Well, Cronenberg waits until the end to come up with a pretty good showdown between good Scanner and bad Scanner.

The pace is admittedly deliberate, but the ideas unfortunately don't feel completely fleshed out. Quite a bit of exposition is packed into the last act. The filming of this classic wasn't particularly enjoyable for Cronenberg as he *did* have to begin filming before his script was even finished, so he *was* unfortunately rushed. Still, his story is a damn entertaining and intense one.

Howard Shores' music score is wonderfully over the top and scary, and sets and locations do have a very sparse look. The acting is variable; McGoohan looks bored, as if he doesn't really want to be there, and Jennifer O'Neill, while beautiful, doesn't really add anything to the film. Lack gets a lot of flak for his performance, which I'll agree isn't a particularly dynamic one, but it does suit the character, a man who was a lonely fringe dweller for a long time until being awakened into a larger reality. (Cronenberg does make an effective parallel here to the way that real life people with mental issues get treated.) Former Cronenberg repertory player Robert A. Silverman is fun in another of his offbeat parts, and Lawrence Dane is excellent as security chief Braedon Keller, but it's Ironside who completely steals the show as the nasty villain.

While not without flaws, "Scanners" remains one of its directors' most memorable efforts to date.

Seven out of 10.

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!

I was pretty disappointed. It's more of a step down than a step up for Cronenberg; it seemed like he was sacrificing his vision to make a mainstream-friendly film. As a result, the film is basically a bunch of great scenes strung along by a generic, rather lame plot and some truly terrible performances. Even so, those scenes - the exploding head, the phone line stuff, the final battle - are so fantastic and so memorable in their own right that they make it worth getting through everything that comes between. Just a brilliant combination of sound and image in those sequences. So, overall, the film is nothing great, but it's not a complete wreck, either.

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.

Shock specialist David Cronenberg brings us this above average terror film , that he wrote as well as filmed . There are 4 billion people on earth , 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created and they are winning . A scientist (Patrick McGoohan) sends a man named Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him . They have superpowers who can read and explode brains ; in addition , they can inflict enormous pain/damage on their victims . Then , there takes place a lethal war among a bunch of potent persons with extrasensory powers , the good boys led by Cameron (Stephen Lack) and the bad guys commanded by Revok (Michael Ironside) .

Interesting and formidable Cronenberg film plenty of thrills , shocking scenes , suspense , intrigue , plot twists and being slightly entertaining , though sometimes slow-moving and receives a rather plodding treatment. The main theme of the film was taken from William S. Burroughs' 1959 novel 'Naked Lunch' , as it contains a chapter concerning "Senders", a hostile organization of Telepaths bent on world domination, a clear literary inspiration for this film . Dazzling , hypnotic entertainment that poses a challenge to its viewers , it was deemed extremely graphic for its time with some eerie scenes as when heads explode . Occasionally confusing but otherwise excellent film , portraying a peculiar ring with psychical powers . Hightlights of the picture are its first shocking scene in which a role's head blows up , spewing bone, flesh and blood all over and of course , the creepy final confrontation among protagonists. Good special effects and make-up made by expert Dick Smith and his helper Chris Wallas, the exploding head scene was accomplished by filling a latex head with dog food and rabbit livers, and shooting it from behind with a 12-gauge shotgun . The picture was well and originally directed by David Cronenberg who delivers his goods with solid skill . However , Cronenberg once called this the most frustrating film he'd ever made. The film was rushed through production , filming had to begin without a finished script and end within roughly two months so the financing would qualify as a tax write-off, forcing Cronenberg to write and shoot at the same time. Cronenberg also cited difficulty with and antagonism between the leads, particularly Patrick McGoohan and Jennifer O'Neill.

It was followed by various sequels , in which Cronenberg had no connection to his 1981 flick , these are the followings : ¨Scanners 2 : The New Order ¨ by Christian Duguay with David Hewlett , Deborah Raffin , Tom Butler and Raoul Trujillo ; ¨Scanners III: The Takeover¨ by Christian Duguay with Liliana Komorowska , Valérie Valois , Steve Parrish and Colin Fox ; ¨Scanner Cop¨ by Pierre David with Daniel Quinn , Darlanne Fluegel , Richard Grove , Mark Rolston and Richard Lynch, and ¨Scanner cop II , the showdown¨ by Steve Barnett with Daniel Quinn , Patrick Kilpatrick , Stephen Mendel and Robert Forster , among others .

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+

This was well ahead of its time; even now, it's uncommon to see a film on psychics or their superhuman abilities. To even conceptualise a topic of this complexity demands bravery and a mind of a visionary, and David Cronenberg proved to have both!

Albeit neither the acting nor the storytelling are its strongest suits, regardless, the film leaves an impression thanks to its unique ideas and interesting world-building, most of which are well represented throughout its showing.

On a side note, I genuinely think it should be rebooted, I feel with today's advancements in technology, such notions would flourish and could evolve into something extraordinary, provided it is supervised by a competent individual taking the director's seat.

This film is famous for its head-exploding scene, but that fact may hurt it more than help, at least in retrospect. The scene occurs early in the film, and for all its conceptual beauty, the execution is technically sloppy--surprising, particularly since this is a David Cronenberg film. I'm a fan of most of Cronenberg's work, but in my eyes, Scanners is one of his big mistakes, albeit one that is oddly overrated by genre fans. But the primary reason the infamous scene hurts the film is that little else happens like it again, at least not until the very end, about an hour and a half later. For most of its running time, Scanners is very dated, oddly non-atmospheric, convoluted and ultimately boring low-budget science fiction dreck.

It takes place in an alternate universe where an experimental drug has turned a number of people into telepaths who also can tap into psychokinesis when it comes to other humans' bodies and minds. There are a number of problems with this. The primary one is that Cronenberg, who also wrote the story and script, just plops us into the middle of a jargony world, with ominous government organizations, but with little backstory or explanation.

Another problem with the premise is that a lot of the conflict involves people thinking dangerous things/doing ill will via thinking. It's a problem because thinking is something that we cannot observe or experience in others (except for scanners, none of whom will be watching the film). So what we're left with is watching scanners and their victims grimace in various ways, which end up looking like a combination of constipation, sexual ecstasy, and someone in the midst of a heart attack. Sans context--and we're not usually given enough context, that's not exactly fodder for dramatic tension; it more often has the effect of unintentional humor.

There are also problems with the casting. Stephen Lack, who ends up being the protagonist, is oddly aloof and disengaging. He has all the charisma of the bare, clinically lit sets. Michael Ironside, as the chief antagonist, is better, but he's absent from the film for long periods of time, and he occasionally launches into bits of ridiculous overacting--maybe in an attempt to balance Lack's Mister Rogers-like drone. The rest of the cast is okay, but they're given mostly empty but ridiculous things to say.

Unintentional humor will also creep up at this point in time with the science aspects of the film's science fiction. The computer subplot and the machinations/physics surrounding it are absurd (as they were in 1980, but most people were far less familiar with computers then), and the mention that the computer has a "nervous system" made me lament that Cronenberg didn't instead develop something like the game console from his superior film eXistenZ (1999).

Cronenberg tries to spice things up with a few gun violence scenes and car chases/stunts, sometimes with thriller accoutrements. These scenes probably work better than any of the other material, but they're also very pedestrian, and feel like what they are--an attempt to wake the audience up from encroaching slumber.

On the good side, the special exploding body effects are good and the "artist" scanner's sculptures are memorable and disturbing.

On the bad side, the lead actor, Stephen Lack, has about the acting ability of a brick. I haven't seen acting this bad outside of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The movie moves slowly and fills the long spaces between action with overly involved exposition or pointless filler, and the "twist" at the end of the film is cheesy enough to make one cringe.

Cronenberg is a great director, but only when he has a budget for something other than just special effects and only when he DOESN'T write the screenplay. Avoid.

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.

The notion of the money shot is malleable. Scanners (1980) includes one that actually works to demarcate subtext. Here, the mind actually leaves the body, violently. Scanners' "...transitional edits serve as direct, amplifying links where the last moment of the first scene builds a question or expectation that is immediately answered or fulfilled in the next shot..." Filmplan International financed the production, budgeting more than $4 million toward the project. Originally called The Sensitives and then Telepathy 2000, Scanners had been in revision since the early 1970s, trumped by the personal vigor behind both Fast Company and The Brood. Like Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg institutionalizes the Cartesian, Consec housing the balance. The opening sequence, whereby a Scanner is hunted down, is guerilla film-making urban mall style, and is a reprise of Michael Anderson's Logan's Run (1976). The final shootout sequence whereby Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside) and Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) scan themselves to death happens to be the first film since Crimes of the Future to have a distinct notion of closure, the means to an end, culminating with an optimistic destruction of a character. Scanners is an attempt to make thought visible, the ramifications of which are stronger than the external. Our money shot, a proverbial augmentation: mind out of matter. Subsequence solidified Scanners as Cronenberg's first film to top the Variety box-office chart.

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 are a culturally important film when you are 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 is 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 did not 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 cannot 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.

Scanners is well-known for the hilarious head explosion scene that's made it's way into many videos online, especially blowing up (heh heh) in the early days of Youtube.

A Cronenberg flick filled with psychic head poppers should've been a literal no brainer (I'm on a roll here, mkay), but you only get one actual head-burster scene with some funny gore at the end.

The movie is like a low-rent take off on the X-Men, which general audiences would've been less familiar with at the time, so it probably seemed more original in 1981, even though X-Men came much earlier. A subset of humans are born with incredible powers, and a wise, kindly old man wants to gather a team of these powerful and amazing individuals to work as a team on behalf of humanity, while another member of this super-powered race is a violent rogue, seeking to dominate the world with their natural powers. Yep, Cronney and his writers definitely cribbed from the House of Ideas from this script whether or not they'd admit it.

Even with the plagiarism, Scanners could've been a serviceable good vs evil psychic powered action flick with hilarious trademark Cronenberg gore, but what you get instead is a fairly restrained, dragging sci-fi flick with some very flat performances. The main actor, Stephen Lack, barely seems like a human being sometimes, he would've been well-cast as an android.

The best performance comes from Michael Ironside as the villain, who sports some very funny facial expressions while he's summoning his powers. If you want to know what Ironside looks like after a hefty helping of 3-bean casserole, Scanners should be your first stop.

Mainly, unless you're curious or bored, just watch the head-bursting scene on Youtube and go to better Cronenberg flicks for the good stuff.

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.

Maybe if humans had telepathic capabilities and were "scanners," they would see the pain in other people and where it came from, and empathy and forgiveness would increase in the world. Hahahahaha. Just kidding. No, of course it would be weaponized and monetized by some large corporation or the government.

This film has an interesting enough premise, but the execution is just awful, with lots of moments that make zero sense, and acting that's beyond wooden. Seriously, Stephen Lack in the lead role has the range of cardboard while he appears to read off of cue cards. There are some cool moments like the head exploding and other mental battle scenes, but everything else draped around them is weak. It needed intelligence in some other area besides the special effects.

David Cronenberg is a great director, he's made classic movies like The Brood, The Dead Zone, The Fly, History of Violence, Eastern Promises, etc. Scanners is definitely one of his best films, the effects are gory and memorable especially the famous head exploding scene, the final battle is also beautifully done. The acting is great especially from Michael Ironside who does a wonderful job as the villain Derol Revok. The music is good, the theme at the start and end is great.

Scanners is a sci-fi masterpiece from a great director, one of David Cronenberg's best films. This film defiantly should be seen, check this out. 10/10

Cronenberg's first breakout film that really showed his talent for art and SF. I think this is the first Cronenberg film I ever seen, but that was years ago, and after Fly (1986) I decided to look for Scanners again. The film did not have budget that big, but it was enough for Cronenberg to show his bizarre, violent artistic world. This film also holds one of the most memorable scenes ever, I bet you know what scene I'm talking about.

Someone can easily say that this is a "typical" Cronenberg film, well for most of us, it is and it has a good SF element. Well, this time Cronenberg shows us the world of paranormal, telekinetic abilities of mutated individuals, which is used for controlling of other people, their will to be exact, or even destroy them. Most of those mutants are controlled by scientist, except for one, the most powerful called Revok (played by always awesome and badass Michael Ironside, the man with the cool, deep voice himself), who has his own agenda - to find his brother Cameron (played by Stephen Lack), who is also a Scanner, not aware of his scanning potential. But, he was found by scientist and they trained him to control himself and to find Revok himself. From Cronenberg you can always expect good, weird story, well written script, actors and cold, quiet and somewhat suspicious ambient and atmosphere. The film holds (for that time) pretty spectacular (well, for someone disturbing special effects), and because of that I think that Cronenberg is neglecting a logical credibility of the story, but no matter, still everything else compensate that neglecting. It's a great movie and must see.