← Back to Reviews
in
That's the plea that Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), a "scanner" with telepathic abilities, asks a fellow "scanner" he just met. Even though he's been tasked with finding an "evil scanner", his state of mind is in such disarray that he must first ask how can he stop this "thing" inside him, before he finally loses his sanity in this weirdly bizarre mish-mash of scifi and horror.
Scanners follows the titular subjects who've been found to have special mental abilities. When one of them called Daryl Revok (Michael Ironside) starts to wreak havoc, a security and weapons company puts its trust in Vale to find him and stop him, before he takes over the world.
For better or worse, this film will always be known primarily for an iconic scene in which Revok uses his powers to blow up the head of a fellow scanner. This scene, which has been "memefied" endlessly, occurs in the opening 15 minutes and hardly anything tops it in terms of special effects, gore, tension, and just sheer "WTF-uckery", but it's still a fun ride.
Probably one of the weakest points of the film is Lack, who is barely serviceable as the lead. Even though his performance is not bad, it's just too bland to get us all pumped up. Ironside, on the other hand, is all the opposite. His performance is energetic and in-your-face, and Ironside chews it all up pretty well.
The cast is rounded out by Jennifer O'Neill and Patrick McGoohan as the leader of a group that's trying to find Revok, and the doctor that's in charge of the scanner program of ConSec, a mysterious security company that might have ulterior motives. O'Neill is ok, but McGoohan is pretty good as he sells the doctor's nature and motivations. He's a complex character that I wish would've been explored more.
Overall, Scanners never regains the shock and awe of its opening act, but still manages to hold your interest with a solid and intriguing story, some tense moments, and compelling performances from Ironside and McGoohan.
Grade:
SCANNERS
(1981, Cronenberg)
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #12
(1981, Cronenberg)
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #12
"It's the voices in my head. They're driving me crazy. How do you stop them?"
That's the plea that Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), a "scanner" with telepathic abilities, asks a fellow "scanner" he just met. Even though he's been tasked with finding an "evil scanner", his state of mind is in such disarray that he must first ask how can he stop this "thing" inside him, before he finally loses his sanity in this weirdly bizarre mish-mash of scifi and horror.
Scanners follows the titular subjects who've been found to have special mental abilities. When one of them called Daryl Revok (Michael Ironside) starts to wreak havoc, a security and weapons company puts its trust in Vale to find him and stop him, before he takes over the world.
For better or worse, this film will always be known primarily for an iconic scene in which Revok uses his powers to blow up the head of a fellow scanner. This scene, which has been "memefied" endlessly, occurs in the opening 15 minutes and hardly anything tops it in terms of special effects, gore, tension, and just sheer "WTF-uckery", but it's still a fun ride.
Probably one of the weakest points of the film is Lack, who is barely serviceable as the lead. Even though his performance is not bad, it's just too bland to get us all pumped up. Ironside, on the other hand, is all the opposite. His performance is energetic and in-your-face, and Ironside chews it all up pretty well.
The cast is rounded out by Jennifer O'Neill and Patrick McGoohan as the leader of a group that's trying to find Revok, and the doctor that's in charge of the scanner program of ConSec, a mysterious security company that might have ulterior motives. O'Neill is ok, but McGoohan is pretty good as he sells the doctor's nature and motivations. He's a complex character that I wish would've been explored more.
Overall, Scanners never regains the shock and awe of its opening act, but still manages to hold your interest with a solid and intriguing story, some tense moments, and compelling performances from Ironside and McGoohan.
Grade: