B-Movie Horror auteur, David Cronenburg, spends a bit more money here to give us his best B-movie to date. Scanners is showing it's age (1980), but it still offers a thoughtful and gripping concept. It's well-crafted, suspenseful and thick on plot. And where it focuses much on plot and heavy dialogue, the character development is lost due to uneven acting and too much concentration on the plot action. It's tempting for a reviewer to pan a film for not living up to their personal expectations. But since David Cronenburg lives up to his own expectations I will give him his own merit recognition.
Scanners was billed as a Sci-Fi Horror flick, but it's actually more of an espionage thriller with some gory violence and a storyline involving science fiction.
People with telepathic/psychokinetic powers are being commodified by a corporate giant known as ConSec. In what we assume to be a dystopian world, these few individuals ranging around 237, and growing, are being harvested and researched for money and corporate greed. Though the morals of all involved are questionable, the most sinister and malevolent Scanner, Darrel Revoc (Michael Ironiside), plans to form his own renegade and overtake the world by means of violent force. The benign Scanners, Cameron (Stephen Lack) and Kim (Jennifer O'Neill) choose to be independent of any corporate control and to defeat Revoc and his evil organization.
Without giving away too much of the plot, Scanners does boast some impressive sets, old school special effects and a chilling background score. The weakness lies in some of the acting. Mainly Silverman and Lack. Silverman's acting is inappropriate and tedious even for an eccentric character. Lack doesn't possess the charisma of a leading man and his performance is stiff. His blank stares and wooden performance were bland and indicative of weak acting skills. But in the context of the plot it actually worked to the film's advantage. This is a plot driven movie. The downside is that I didn't have any personal investment in any of the characters. This could be a deficiency in the script or acting. Old pros like (Patrick McGoohan) Dr. Ruth, always give admirable performances. Career villain actor, Michael Ironside, is effective and convincing in his role. Jennifer O'Neill does a fine job. But the rest of the cast is just bland and mediocre.
It was implicated, early in the film, that Scanners are tormented by their own powers, because they are absorbing the thoughts of other humans constantly. As a result they suffer mentally. It would have been more interesting to me if the film delved more into that realm rather than the espionage angle. We are caught up in a minutiae of Corporate machinations, subterfuge and action sequences instead. Our lead, Cameron, starts off as a homeless degenerate who oddly possesses the Telepathic powers. Once he is apprehended and used for corporate gain, he flees as soon as he can. He starts off as an outsider and becomes another type of outsider.
There are some things I liked about scanners, beside the Head explosion scene. In a way the movie was ahead of its time and it foresaw the cynical view that anything that has positive potential will be used for greedy purposes by government or corporate conglomerates. This is a flawed film that does deliver on suspense whilst giving the viewer a moderate thrill for their time.
Overall - 6.5 Stars.
Scanners was billed as a Sci-Fi Horror flick, but it's actually more of an espionage thriller with some gory violence and a storyline involving science fiction.
People with telepathic/psychokinetic powers are being commodified by a corporate giant known as ConSec. In what we assume to be a dystopian world, these few individuals ranging around 237, and growing, are being harvested and researched for money and corporate greed. Though the morals of all involved are questionable, the most sinister and malevolent Scanner, Darrel Revoc (Michael Ironiside), plans to form his own renegade and overtake the world by means of violent force. The benign Scanners, Cameron (Stephen Lack) and Kim (Jennifer O'Neill) choose to be independent of any corporate control and to defeat Revoc and his evil organization.
Without giving away too much of the plot, Scanners does boast some impressive sets, old school special effects and a chilling background score. The weakness lies in some of the acting. Mainly Silverman and Lack. Silverman's acting is inappropriate and tedious even for an eccentric character. Lack doesn't possess the charisma of a leading man and his performance is stiff. His blank stares and wooden performance were bland and indicative of weak acting skills. But in the context of the plot it actually worked to the film's advantage. This is a plot driven movie. The downside is that I didn't have any personal investment in any of the characters. This could be a deficiency in the script or acting. Old pros like (Patrick McGoohan) Dr. Ruth, always give admirable performances. Career villain actor, Michael Ironside, is effective and convincing in his role. Jennifer O'Neill does a fine job. But the rest of the cast is just bland and mediocre.
It was implicated, early in the film, that Scanners are tormented by their own powers, because they are absorbing the thoughts of other humans constantly. As a result they suffer mentally. It would have been more interesting to me if the film delved more into that realm rather than the espionage angle. We are caught up in a minutiae of Corporate machinations, subterfuge and action sequences instead. Our lead, Cameron, starts off as a homeless degenerate who oddly possesses the Telepathic powers. Once he is apprehended and used for corporate gain, he flees as soon as he can. He starts off as an outsider and becomes another type of outsider.
There are some things I liked about scanners, beside the Head explosion scene. In a way the movie was ahead of its time and it foresaw the cynical view that anything that has positive potential will be used for greedy purposes by government or corporate conglomerates. This is a flawed film that does deliver on suspense whilst giving the viewer a moderate thrill for their time.
Overall - 6.5 Stars.