Amazon.com essential video: David Cronenberg's 1981 horror film is a darkly paranoid story of a homeless man (Stephen Lack) mistakenly believed to be insane, when in fact he can't turn off the sound of other people's thoughts in his telepathic mind. Helped by a doctor (Patrick McGoohan) and enlisted in a program of "scanners"--telepaths who also can will heads to explode--he becomes involved in a battle against nefarious forces. A number of critics consider this to be Cronenberg's first great film, and indeed it has a serious vision of destiny that rivals some of the important German expressionist works from the silent cinema. Lack is very good as the odd hero, and McGoohan is effectively eccentric and chilly as the scientist who saves him from the street, only to thrust him into a terrible struggle. --Tom Keogh
Bad transfer This movie appears to be a possible transfer from a vhs tape. The film is not clear and the color is terrible. Not much care was put in placing this movie on dvd. When there is a closeup of the cast speaking, their lips do not move with the words. I was very disappointed in the quality of this dvd. This movie is good and should have looked better on dvd. Two stars was given because it is a good movie. I have this movie on vhs, and could have saved my money by not buying the bad dvd. Save your money.
This may blow your mind... This 1981 film by David Cronenberg is absolutely mind blowing, you have to see it to know what I'm talking about.
This movie is about people with telekinetic powers that are viewed by society as "freaks" but a potential power source by one company, Consec. These "freaks" are called scanners and have the ability to get into your mind and "scan" it. Scanners can use their ability for bad or good but sometimes have a hard time to control their ability. Dr. Ruth, a "psycho-pharmacist" who heads a research team for Consec (played by Patrick McGoohan)aids scanners with their abilities. Dr. Ruth tries to help one lone scanner Cameron Vale (artist Stephen Lack) to use his powers in a more positive way. Another scanner Darryl Revok uses his powers in evil ways and tries to convert Vale. This is where the action begins.
This little gem is listed as a horror film, but I found it more sci-fi than anything else. It may be dated with the clothing worn and is a low budget film, but do not let this stop you, for it is one good movie! It is definitely one for lovers of sci-fi, thrillers or horror not to miss.
I bought this when Amazon had a terrific deal on DVDs and I sure got my money's worth! Sometimes low budget films can pack a punch and this one does it, don't miss Scanners...
Pure Camp This is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. The performances are wooden, the dialogue painfully awkward and cheesy, and the plot is full of holes. However, I laughed almost the whole way through. It is just pure silliness, delicious camp. Not a great film, maybe, but certainly great entertainment!
On another note, I had to wonder if Cronenberg wrote this shortly after reading Alfred Bester's 'Demolished Man.' It's not really the same, but similar in enough ways to make me wonder.
One of Cronenberg's best One of David Cronenberg's finest mashes of science fiction and pure horror, Scanners remains one of his most frightening and original films to date. Stephen Lack plays Cameron, a homeless vagrant who can hear other people's thoughts in his head. Soon enough, he is captured by mad scientist Dr. Ruth (The Prisoner's Patrick McGoohan) and learns that he is a "scanner": a human with vast, telekinetic powers that are literally mind blowing. When an even more powerful scanner (Michael Ironside) unhatches a plot for worldwide domination, Cameron goes hot on his trail, which leads to an inevitable, bloody showdown. Though not all elements of Scanners have aged particularly well, the film still holds up nicely almost thirty years later, and the special effects do for the most part as well, with the infamous "exploding head" scene ranking among one of the best effects sequences of the era and genre. Even though there were a whole series of vastly inferior sequels and spin-offs, David Cronenbergs' original Scanners is a masterpiece from one of the most brilliant minds to ever grace the science fiction and horror genres.
A Classic I still find this movie much creepier than many of the newer horror movies. A classic, well worth watching.
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