Scanners (1981)

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6.8	Rating (494 ratings)
6.8	IMDB rating

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Directed by

David Cronenberg

Starring (View all)

Jennifer O'Neill
Kim Obrist

Stephen Lack
Cameron Vale

Patrick McGoohan
Dr. Paul Ruth

Lawrence Dane
Braedon Keller

Michael Ironside
Darryl Revok

Robert A. Silverman
Benjamin Pierce

Mavor Moore
Trevellyan

Géza Kovács
Killer in Record Store

Written by

David Cronenberg
(written by)

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Reviews

Review

9 years, 10 months ago at Jul 20 16:29

carlosonly4fun

This film left me on the fence, the plot often makes no sense, and as the killers try to "kill" the character of Stephen Lack, I wonder if the intentions of the character played by Michael Ironside were true or merely attempts to convince the protagonist to join him. Moreover, although most of the characters are poorly worked except the character Darryl Revok, the special effects are really impres... read more

A good movie

10 years, 8 months ago at Aug 23 8:45

johanlefourbe

Since I’m a huge fan of David Cronenberg’s work, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Basically, it is one of those old-fashioned horror movies that Cronenberg used to make before he became more mainstream. At the end of the day, you either dig those movies or you don’t but I thought it was pretty good. Indeed, the special effects were quite awesome and gruesome and I really en... read more

Review

1 month, 3 weeks ago at Mar 22 21:41

Kyle Ellis

David Cronenberg and a vast majority of his films are fascinating and unlike any seen before. As said before, he was/is a pioneer of body horror, but on top of being disturbing and making one feel intentionally uncomfortable the best of his work (the likes of 'Dead Ringers' and 'The Fly') entertain and stir emotion. They are very well made and more often than that boast great performances, with gr... read more

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Darryl Revok is the most powerful of all the scanners, and is the head of the underground scanner movement for world domination. Scanners have great psychic power, strong enough to control minds; they can inflict enormous pain/damage on their victims. Doctor Paul Ruth finds a scanner that Revok hasn't, and converts him to their cause - to destroy the underground movement.

Release date: 14 January 1981
UPC: 027616865496

Tags: Horror (17), Sci-fi (15), Thriller (8), 1980s (8), 1981 (7), Telekinesis (5), (5), Drama (4), Conspiracy (4), Canada (4), Gore (3), Automobile (3), Dark (2), Remake (2), Business Ethics (2), Pregnancy (2), Car Chase (2), Canadian (2), Trash (2)

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Kyle Ellis posted a review 1 month, 3 weeks ago

“David Cronenberg and a vast majority of his films are fascinating and unlike any seen before. As said before, he was/is a pioneer of body horror, but on top of being disturbing and making one feel intentionally uncomfortable the best of his work (the likes of 'Dead Ringers' and 'The Fly') entertain and stir emotion. They are very well made and more often than that boast great performances, with great music scores (mostly Howard Shore) and tackle daring themes in a way that is so unmistakably Cronenberg.

'Scanners' is an early film of Cronenberg. For me, it is not one of his very best or one of my top favourites of his, other films of his were more refined technically somewhat (a few innovative even, like 'Dead Ringers with the split screen) and tackled their themes deeper. It is ” read more

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"[img id=12055678 width=500full Created by: David Cronenberg Number of films: 3, and one spin off and sequel Years in activity: 1981 - 1995 Best in series: Scanners Decent in series: Scanners 2 and 3, and the Scanners Cop films My take on the series: The original film is awesome, the sequels are ok, as is the Scanners Cop films. But the films after Scanners, feel redundant given that Cronenberg had no involvement."

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" Director: David Cronenberg His 12th movie My 12th movie watched from the director I came into this thinking there would be a lot more heads exploding, sadly only one. Cronenberg had such a distinctive style, this is another nice reminder. The final "battle" is something is a rare gem and so very weird. Added to Lists: Top Ten Films - David Cronenberg __________ Location: Montreal, Canada"

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" First Viewing Viewing Date: October 9th Via: Blu-ray Plot: A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning", to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners. Rating: 7.7/10"

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" Directed by: David Cronenberg Produced by: Claude Heroux Written by: David Cronenberg Cinematography: Mark Irwin Edited by: Ronald Sanders Music by: Howard Shore Released by: AVCO Embassy Films"