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Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Z. Dane, Chuck Shamata ... see more see more... , Michael Ironside , Adam Ludwig , Victor Désy , Mavor Moore , Robert A. Silverman , Neil Affleck , Robert Boyd , Lee Broker , Terry Coady , Louis Del Grande , Nicholas Kilbertus , Victor Knight , Geza Kovacs , Denis Lacroix , Jack Messinger , Anthony Sherwood , Alex Stevens , Jerome Tiberghien , Anne Anglin , Ken Umland , Sonny Forbes , Steve Michaels , Lee Murray , Malcolm Nelthorpe , Fred Doederlein , Dean Hagopian

The title of this David Cronenberg sci-fi horror film refers to a group of people who have telekinetic powers that allow them to read minds and give them the ability to make other people's heads explo... read more read more...de. The children of a group of women who took an experimental tranquilizer during their pregnancies, the scanners are now adults and have become outcasts from society. But Darryl (Michael Ironside) decides to create an army of scanners to take over the world. The only person who can stop him is his brother Cameron (Stephen Lack), who wants to forget that he was ever a scanner. Winner of the International Fantasy Film Award at the 1983 Fantasporto Film Festival, Scanners was followed by a pair of sequels, neither of which involved Cronenberg. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Flixster Users

61% liked it

29,562 ratings

Critics

76% liked it

25 critics

R, 2 hr.

Directed by: David Cronenberg

Release Date: February 14, 1981

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DVD Release Date: August 28, 2001

Stats: 1,435 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,435)

  • vendettagainst
    August 23, 2011
    vendettagainst
    Scanners is David Cronenberg's classic sci-fi/horror film that put body horror on the map. There's little to be said about the movie, because if you're familiar with Cronenberg and his body of work, you already know he's interesting in society's excessive interest in sex and tech... read morenology.

    The bad news: The DVD transfer is horrendous. There's a huge audio sync problem that becomes more and more prominent as the film progresses. I'm not sure if this is a fault of the source print, or what; but it doesn't do the movie justice. Hopefully some distributor will be able to fix this problem in the future, but it may not be possible.

    Audio sync problems aside, Scanners is one of Cronenberg's most notable achievements. I give it a 95%. (He's still the king of gore.)
  • LoughnerWasLucid
    July 15, 2011
    LoughnerWasLucid
    The beginning of David Cronenberg's career makes the second half of Rob Zombie's career look like Quentin Tarantino's career.
  • ajv2688
    January 10, 2011
    ajv2688
    Another great sci-fi horror movie from Cronenberg. The special effects are so cool, and the story is interesting. I love this movie.
  • hunterjt13
    November 28, 2010
    hunterjt13
    The second major scene sets the tone for the entire film. Two "Scanners," people who have telepathic and telekinetic abilities, do battle. The loser's head explodes. Literally fucking explodes. I've seen my fair share of gore, in real life and in cinema, but this hits a ten o... read moren the fucked-up scale. And during the rest of the film, I feared that I was going to see another man's head turn into a watermelon-versus-bottle-rocket horror show. I think this fear is the film's only real achievement. I know we don't watch science fiction for these elements, but the acting is truly horrid, featuring Stephen Lack in the most wooden, forced performance I've seen in a long time, and the dialogue was about as stolid and cliche as anybody can write. Also, I question how a telepath could communicate with a computer; this seems to break the rules the film sets up. Finally, when the Scanners battle, all we get is the sight of straining faces and the sound of a screeching crescendo. I don't know how to improve these moments, but I know that this effect does make for compelling cinema.
    Overall, Cronenberg's early work, which I'm seeing for the first time, is not as good - relies too much on gruesomeness - as his later work (cf. Crash and Existenz.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 9, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    David Cronenberg's film Scanners is one of his best films along with Videodrome. Cronenberg has always had a unique flair to being able to twist an audience's imagination. Scanners is a fascinating film to pushed the boundaries of ones imagination. It's got a pretty good blend of... read more action and horror with a psychological approach that makes Scanners a memorable film. Memorable in the way that it's one psychologically disturbing and terrifying film, and memorable because of the ground breaking special effects. The film also displays a strong performance by Michael Ironside, a formidable character actor as the film Antagonist and Stephen Lack as the films Protagonist. Scanners is a solid Sci Fi horror film and is one of director David Cronenberg's very best films.
  • matertenebraum
    April 5, 2010
    matertenebraum
    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' s... read morecene (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.

    scanners Pictures, Images and Photos

    scanners Pictures, Images and Photos

    scanners Pictures, Images and Photos

    Scanners Pictures, Images and Photos
  • FilmFanatik
    February 4, 2010
    FilmFanatik
    Great special effects but an often boring storyline.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 22, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    10 Seconds: The Pain Begins. 15 Seconds: You Can't Breathe. 20 Seconds: You Explode.
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    Classic Cronenberg, I love this film. The special effects are still good today, a CGI version would never be able to match the class of real gore of the films from the mid 70's- mid 80's. Michael Ironside should be the bad guy in all films, mind you, he pretty much is.
  • RCCLBC
    September 24, 2009
    RCCLBC
    An interesting premise, poorly executed.

View All Scanners Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
June 5, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Like Tod Browning, Cronenberg doesn't have the stylistic resources to match the forcefulness of his ideas, but his movies remain in the mind for the pull of their private obsessions. Full Review

June 5, 2007
Variety

All this should give fans of David Cronenberg's previous pix their money's worth, although lack of any rooting interest vitiates any possible suspense and highly elegant visual style works against muc... Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Scanners is so lockstep that we are basically reduced to watching the special effects, which are good but curiously abstract, because we don't much care about the people they're happening around. Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The quality of the film's inventiveness is not always of the first order, which is too bad because Mr. Cronenberg does seem to be a director-writer of some style. Full Review

June 5, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Ironside is fantastic as the lethal Revok, helping make this a popular cult favorite. Full Review

Lori Hoffman
March 16, 2007
Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly

Excellent Cronenberg horror flick

Derek Adams
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

Part conspiracy thriller, part political tract, it is Cronenberg's most coherent movie to date, drawing a dark (but bland) world in which corporate executives engineer human conception to produce ever... Full Review

Chuck O'Leary
February 20, 2006
Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com

A mind-blowing telekinesis thriller that immediately put Michael Ironside on the map as one of the most intense actors around.

Jeffrey M. Anderson
October 25, 2004
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

An early masterpiece by David Cronenberg. Full Review

Jake Euker
March 8, 2004
Jake Euker, Filmcritic.com

Cronenberg's obsession with making the human insides visible begins here.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Scanners Trivia

  • In the the David Cronenberg classic, Scanners, who played Daryl Revok?  Answer »
  • what movie had the tagline..10 seconds;the pain begins. 15 seconds;you can't breath. 20 seconds; you explode?  Answer »
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