Scanners (1981)
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A renegade psychic wages a war against a corporation that seeks to exploit and control those with telepathic powers.
The story
In a world where 'scanners' are individuals possessing telepathic and telekinetic powers, the corporation ConSec seeks to exploit these abilities for its own ends. The story follows Cameron Vale, a man struggling with the overwhelming 'voices' of others' minds, who is recruited by a psychologist working for ConSec. Vale is tasked with infiltrating and neutralizing Darryl Revok, a dangerous and radicalized scanner who has begun a violent campaign to seize control over other scanners. As Vale tracks down and confronts various individuals, he must navigate a web of corporate interests and the escalating threat posed by Revok's growing power.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Cameron Vale, a man haunted by the 'voices' of others, is revealed to be a 'scanner'—a person with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. He is recruited by Dr. Paul Ruth of the corporation ConSec to track down and stop Darryl Revok, a radicalized scanner who has turned violent and seeks to dominate other scanners. During a public demonstration, Revok reveals his power by causing a ConSec operative's head to explode. Vale begins a journey to find other scanners, eventually teaming up with a woman named Kim Obrist. They discover that Revok is running a pharmaceutical company, Biocarbon Amalgamate, and is distributing a drug called ephemerol to create a new generation of scanners. It is eventually revealed that both Vale and Revok are sons of Dr. Ruth, who experimented on them as children. In a final telepathic confrontation, the two brothers engage in a duel. While Vale's body is destroyed, he successfully swaps minds with Revok, leaving the villain trapped in Vale's dying body.
- First release year
- 1981
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- Canada
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Cronenberg
- Writers
- David Cronenberg · writer
- Cast and characters
- Stephen Lack · Cameron Vale; Jennifer O'Neill; Michael Ironside · Darryl Revok; Lawrence Dane; Patrick McGoohan
- Genres
- science-fiction; horror
- Themes
- evolution; counterculture; body horror
- Tone and mood
- dark; haunting; shocking
- Premise and plot tags
- telepathy; telekinesis; conspiracy; body horror
- Source material / true-story basis
- David Cronenberg's scripts The Sensitives and Telepathy 2000
- Franchise connections
- Scanners
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film was initially met with lukewarm reviews but has since been reevaluated as a cult classic, noted for its body horror and iconic special effects.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 68%; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 6.7/10 · scale: 10; Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 8 critics
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best International Film · 1981 · win; Saturn Award · Best Make-Up · 1981 · win; Saturn Award · Best Special Effects · 1981 · nomination; Fantasporto · Best International Fantasy Film · 1983 · win
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled The Sensitives.; The exploding head scene was filmed four times, but the director only kept the first.; The film's drug, ephemerol, is noted to mirror the real-life thalidomide scandal.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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