Review of Scanners (1981) by Chris W — 07 Aug 2013

In this sci-fi horror action film from David Cronenberg, the Scanners of the title refer to a group of humans who possess extraordinary and immensely powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities which essentially sees them becoming social outcasts.

When one of them, Darryl Revok goes rogue and plans to create a scanner army to take over the world, another, Cameron Vale is recruited by a shady corporation named ConSec to bring Revok down.

This film is all over the place. I described it as sci-fi horror action, and while it has some of those qualities, it also kind of exists in its own unique unclassifiable bubble. It's also got mixings of class warfare, prejudice against the superior-abled, and a sense of psychedelia combined with anti-authoritarianism. It's definitely a Cronenberg film alright.

It's a very dated film, but in a pretty cool way. I liked that it reeked of the early 80s, as it gives the proceedings a unique vibe and atmosphere, and a sense of style that you don't really see today. I think we need a lot more chrome and stuff that's blood red in color.

The film does have an eerie and unnerving atmosphere and tone that really help enhance the ridiculous and nutty plot. This is further helped by the set design, cinematography, effects, and Howard Shore's creepy score.

The acting from the lead is admittedly pretty bland and distracting, but Michael Ironside is wonderfully batty and menacing as Revok.

All in all, a weird film, and a bit of a mess. But it's got some cool ideas, is technically well made, and is pretty entertaining, so yeah, give it a watch.