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starring: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironsidedirected by: David Cronenberg
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780792836070
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 6304509170
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: August 26, 1997
Running Time: 103 minutes
Sales Rank: 70843
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: January 14, 1981
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Welcome to the world of the Scannersa race of humans with telekinetic powers that can wreak havoc beyond your most dreaded nightmare. Writer/director David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch) brings the terror closer than ever beforehe brings it right into your mind. Cronenberg is a modern-day horror master whose name fits in easily with the likes of King, Craven and Carpenter...and Scanners, with its spectacular and shockingly realistic special effects, is a startling masterpiece of the genre. When a rogue Scanner of unparalleled power (Michael Ironside) wages a bloody war against the normals, young empath Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is recruited to trackhim down. But Vale is inexperiencedand a battle with another Scanner could mean a grisly death...or worse. Can Vale vanquish his insanely violent, power-mad adversary? Only one thing is certain: Scanners delivers the chills-down-your-spine, heart-in-your-throat, you-can't-watch-but-you-daren't-leave goods (Time)!
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating:  - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - A Classic
I still find this movie much creepier than many of the newer horror movies. A classic, well worth watching.
Rating:  - A Few Good Scenes
I saw this movie when I was much younger and loved it back then. Now that I am older and watching the movie I did not find it as good as I remembered. A few good scenes of exploding heads and melting faces but over all not very exciting.
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