4/5 We're going to do it the scanner way . . .
  by Utah Blaine (Somewhere on Trexalon in District 268)
A small number of humans have been endowed with superhuman telepathic power and are, amongst other things, able to read ordinary human minds. For most of these people, they have been driven to depression and insanity. Thus starts the story for the main character, Cameron Vale, of this early 80s horror flick. Cameron is rescued by Dr. Paul Ruth, who explains some of his unique powers to him. Vale, and others like him, are called Scanners, and possess powers far beyond simple mind reading. Ruth recruits Vale to help battle Darryl Revok, a powerful but insane Scanner who is trying to find and either co-opt or destroy all other Scanners. Ruth wants Vale to penetrate Revok's organization and ultimately destroy him. Vale encounters other Scanners, battles some of Revok's minions, and learns that things are not quite what they seem . . .

This 80s era horror flick has actually aged pretty well. It is most famous for the head blowing scene in which Revok kills another scanner by exploding his head using his telepathic powers. There are plot holes that you can drive a truck through, and some of the acting is really poor (particularly by the two main characters - Stephen Lack and Jennifer O'Neil), but the story is sufficiently compelling (and gory) to hold one's interest. Michael Ironside has some pretty crazy face gestures! I certainly wouldn't put this film into the `classic' category, but it is fairly entertaining if you like horror films, particular from the 70s-80s. If you haven't seen it before, you've got to watch it at least once, just for the head blowing scene and the climactic battle at the end - those two scene are all-time classics!

4/5 Well worthwhile for the cool concepts and effects!
  by Monty Moonlight (TX)
A weapons company with a division focused on a new breed of telekinetic humans called "scanners" has run into trouble from the most powerful scanner yet, Darryl Revok, a psychopath with the power to literally blow your head off with his mind. The company swiftly recruits and trains a confused and naive scanner named Vale (Stephen Lack) to find Revok, but his deadly mission will lead him to new discoveries he never could have imagined.

From the renowned director of "The Fly", "Videodrome", and "The Dead Zone", David Cronenberg, comes one of his earlier Sci-Fi classics, "Scanners". This 1981 film has the dark, gritty look of movies like Highlander and Tron, setting a true '80's sci-fi mood. Ya gotta chuckle at the way they would cover the women in flicks from this period with so much bland clothing, right up to the chin, and still act like they were so very strikingly appealing, ha. Besides the excellent villain we get in Michael Ironside and Patrick McGoohan as the mysterious Dr. Ruth (not to be confused with that other Dr. Ruth), the characters in this sci-fi thriller could generally be more engaging and the second act can drag a bit if you are not so into the industrial espionage type stuff, but it is such an interesting concept they set up in the beginning and worth sticking around for the fun reveals and gross-out final battle! And, of course, the famous exploding head scene, earlier in the film than I expected, is really cool, and I'm not much of a gorehound, ha. The end did leave me a little uncertain, but not as much as all of "Videodrome". Though, I think that was the point of "Videodrome".

Scanners is presented on DVD in enhanced widescreen with one extra, the theatrical trailer. If you are a fan of Cronenberg's other works or sci-fi thrillers in general, this is required viewing. It's not fun not knowing what people are talking about when they talk about "Scanners", so give it one viewing at least!


4/5 David Cronenberg Distinctive "Body Horror" in Full Form
  by E. Drake (Northeast, USA)
Canadian filmmaker, David Cronenberg, films are generally quite entertaining. As in most of Cronenberg's films, his distinctive "Body Horror" style, will cause you to wince numerous times throughout the flick. Michael Ironside steals the show. This method actor is terrifying on screen, even in his very last scene at the end of the film.

If I could say something that may annoy many of you out there, the film does not carry over so well to today, given the dated musical score and the seemingly over used concept of "telekinesis" and the not-so-scary premise. However, put yourself in 1981 and this film was at the forefront of the Sci-Fi genre. A clear example of this is when Stephen Lack (who plays Cameron in the film), uses a pay-phone to "go online" by tapping into the line telekinetically. This scene obviously preceding The Matrix by almost twenty years. There are many a scenes like this.


Back to the music, Howard Shore's (who has since done the Lord of the Rings trilogy) score is fantastic and classic 1980's techno horror, but along with Bowie's album "Low" with Brian Eno (amongst a few other films and albums), this score basically set the stage for the wave of electronica music from the late-80's to today.

All in all, this film will be loved by those seeking a nostalgic feel for the 80's techno/Sci-Fi/horror feel in the light of Blade Runner.

3/5 I Honestly Expected More
  by Steven Stewart (steveo.stewart@hotmail.co.uk)
In my own personal experience, Scanners was one of those movies that everybody around you had seen and told you how great it was but you still hadn't gotten around to it. I did finally get around to watching the film and I have to be honest, I expected a lot more from my experience. It was good don't get me wrong, but personally from my enjoyment of classic cheesy 80s horror-esque type movies, this didn't fit the bill. The acting was wooden and the story quite boring, sure it's a film about people who can read minds, but when you have your main character, a man who didn't originally know he was a Scanner all of a sudden become the most powerful Scanner, I felt the whole thing was rushed.

The tag line for this movie was "There are 4 billion people on earth. 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created... and they are winning." Sounds like a good premise for a movie no? It's a great idea that could have made a great movie and although Scanners had its moments I just found the whole thing boring. The main character Cameron Vale played by Stephen Lack wasn't as interesting as I think Cronenberg expected him to be. He had the creepy look about him and he could pull the serious Scanner face as if he was constipated and trying to push one out, but that was about the only thing he had going for him.

The bloody bits were quite cool and very graphic as they were in those days. The infamous head exploding scene in particular grabbed my attention and disturbed me a little. Michael Ironside who plays the apparently very evil underground Scanner lord Darryl Revok is one of the best parts of the film and comes across as quite intimidating at times.

The story of the film is relatively simple, as the tag line implies there are 237 Scanners in the world and they're winning. Winning what exactly? well that's the war against normal humanity I think, let's be honest if they can read minds and we can't that makes them the enemy. Well a weaponry company known as ConSec and they manage to recruit and 'convert' a very powerful Scanner known as Cameron Vale. Dr. Paul Ruth head of ConSec's Scanner section trains Vale and sends him to find and stop Revok, with some surprising results.

OK, the movie is a bit more complicated than that but my point still stands about it not being as good and as special as people would have you believe. It's not the worst film I've ever seen and there are genuinely entertaining parts, however, there were points in which I found the film quite tedius and a bit predictable. I would recommend this as it's a worthy waste of your time, but I would say to not expect much.

4/5 Heads Will Explode When The Scanners Come To Town
  by J. B. Hoyos (Chesapeake, VA)
The seventies gave birth to psychokinetic horror films such as the blockbusters "Carrie" and "The Fury." In 1980, David Cronenberg (director of such science fiction horror classics as "The Brood," "Rabid," and "The Fly") brought us "Scanners."

Scanners are humans who can read your thoughts and manipulate your actions. Most of them are emotionally dysfunctional because the multitude of thoughts that bombard them can produce insanity. Therefore, they live in isolation. The drug Ephemerol is used to block thoughts.

Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is a good scanner who must find and destroy an evil scanner, Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside). Revok is intent on creating a group of scanners that will rule the world. This plot will be repeated numerous times in future sequels and in such horror hits as the "Firestarter" series.

Cameron encounters many dangerous obstacles during his quest to locate his nemesis. There is much death and bloodshed. Beautiful Kim Obrist (Jennifer Oneill of Lucio Fulci's "The Psychic") is another scanner who befriends Cameron. Together, they make an adorable couple and you can't help but cheer them on in their dangerous quest.

Eerie music and wintry Canadian scenery provide an excellent background for this high tech chiller. The acting is superb, the plot is fast paced, and the ending is quite shocking. "Scanners" is a must see for fans of telekinetic horror.