Scanners

Starring:Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside, Robert A. Silverman, Lee Broker, Mavor Moore, Adam Ludwig, Murray Cruchley, Fred Doederlein, GÃ©za KovÃ¡cs, Sony Forbes, JÃ©rÃ´me Tiberghien, Denis Lacroix, Elizabeth Mudry, Victor DÃ©sy, Louis Del Grande, Anthony Sherwood, Ken Umland
Director: David Cronenberg
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

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

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)!

Customer Reviews:

Hearing voices.......2007-05-14

I a lot of pain, When a scanner scanes your in a lot of pain, the scanner hear the world.

You are all wrong.......2007-04-06

This movie turned out to be laughable, annoying garbage. Horrible film.

Cronenberg's claim to fame.......2007-03-15

Scanners is the story of a scanner (one who has telekinetic abilities such as blowing others' heads off) by the name of Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) whom doctor Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) enlists to help him seek out an evil scanner, Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), who wants to lead his own army of psychotic scanners to world domination.

This was the film that put David Cronenberg on the map. It's one of his best and 25 years later, it still works; it actually fits this millennium like a glove, with all the experiments going on in science these days. As with all of Cronenberg's movies, he explores multiple themes and the film has more depth than it appears to have at first glance. It's a great blend of sci-fi and horror, at times unsettling, and features awesome special effects (the exploding head at the beginning, the final confrontation between Vale and Revok) and leads to a powerful climax. On the downside, the acting is a bit stiff and uninspired by the majority of the cast (save for Ironside who oozes evil in this role as in all his other roles).

If you're a fan of Cronenberg, what are you waiting for? You should have seen this already! If you like horror and/or sci-fi films, this one's a real treat. It's got a great plot, suspense, cool action scenes and Cronenberg's unique vision. See it today before the remake comes out next year!

Michael Ironside was great............2007-02-09

I have not seen every movie Ironside did, but I must say this is a perfect performance by him. I bought this before I ever even saw it. I must say, it wasn't EXACTLY what I expected. It was still quite good though. As great as Ironside did in being a villian, I think he could have easily played the hero in this as well. His final scan with his brother in the movie was pretty intense. Also, his first scan was pretty interesting. His facial gestures were right on for what was going on as was the guy who, well, was supposed to be scanning Ironside. Good suspense for a Sci-Fi flick. The weak side of this movie was the hero, Stephen Lack. His acting was a bit shaky. I suggest this however. I also bought Videodrome, which i haven't seen yet, but looking forward to it. Crossing my fingers.....

A Great Cult Classic!.......2007-01-02

I read somewhere that there is an estimated 12 to 15 per cent of the world's population that have been born with some sort of natural psychic--or "psi"-- abilities. That's a whopping 720 million people at most. However the day to day abilities of most of these people are pretty lame compared to the small number of people in this movie who are super-psychics who have gained extraordinary telepathic and telekinetic abilities as the result of a birth defect due to a badly tested sleeping pill inadvertently given to pregnant mothers before they were born;

Daryl Revoc (played by a young Michael Ironside) tries to lead the scanners against the world, but finds opposition in a pair of scanners, one of which happens to be Revoc's brother. In some ways, Scanners is a bit of a cheesy sci-fi soap opera as Cronenberg unfortunately didn't have a big budget nor much time to write a better screenplay; due to a quirk in the way Canadian films were made, Cronenberg had only two weeks for pre-production and to come up with a script. When Scanners went into production the script wasn't even finished; some may say that it shows, but I disagree. Despite some minor flaws, Scanners is a cult classic with some truly fascinating, and shocking, special effects that makes for a mind blowing ending. This is a great sci-fi film, but the DVD is somewhat lacking in "special features." A commentary by Cronenberg and Michael Ironside would have made the DVD perfect.

Average customer rating:

Six stars!
The Wait is Over!
WTF is holding this up from a proper NTSC release?
A True Horror Classic. One of Gordon's Best. YOU MUST SEE THIS!!!
One of the best!!!

From Beyond (German Version)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Re-Animator
H.P. Lovecraft's Bride of Re-Animator
Beyond Re-Animator
Dagon
Q - The Winged Serpent

Product Features:

German Edition: English and German Audio
Interview Feature with Brain Yuzna & Stuart Gordon
Fullscreen Format
All Region Disc & Booklet (German Text)

ASIN: B000G890JS

Product Description

Doctor Pretorius and his colleague, Dr. Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs), work on a sensational experiment: by means of stimulation if the pineal gland they want to open mind for higher dimensions. When the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible creatures from the inner dimensions. When Pretorius is killed by one of them, Dr. Tillinghast is under suspect and thrown into psychiatry due to his stories. Only the ambitious psychologist Dr. McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) believes him and wants to continue the experiment.

Customer Reviews:

Six stars!.......2007-06-03

I am very happy to see that an affordable DVD of this film is finally going to be released (according to another reviewer, anyway). Actually, the price for the DVD has come down (from over $100) since the last time I looked in these pages.

The VHS version of this was actually my very first online purchase, here at Amazon in 1999 (Suncoast had told me it was out of print and to check back).

At any rate, this is one of my very favorite films. I in fact like it better than _Re-animator_, a very good film in its own right. Why _Re-animator_ got all the kudos while this film has been mostly ignored is a mystery to me!

The movie gets going right from the start, and doesn't let up until the very end. While the plot has little to do with the original Lovecraft story, it's still brilliantly done. I would say that the movie is bookended between two wonderful lines. Very early, we are treated to a full-screen shot of Jeffrey Combs' face as he says, with his inimitable impression of traumatized horror: "It ate his head like a gingerbread man." At the end, an injured Barbara Crampton, thoroughly driven mad, says (or rather shrieks): "It ate him!" In between, it's a tremendous ride.

The plot is not one of the stereotyped horror film plots, the casting is almost perfect, and the script fits the story with jigsaw precision. But for me, the main thing to remember about this film is what I would call its "purity of essence": as far as I can tell, there's really nothing that could be cut from the movie without detracting from it, while adding to it would, I think, only dilute it.

This movie is definitely in my top five list. If the rumored new DVD doesn't come out, I think I'm going cough up for the German one. If I could, I'd actually give this one six stars -- I like it that much!

The Wait is Over!.......2007-05-26

A director's cut will be released, with extras, on September 11. Yeah!

WTF is holding this up from a proper NTSC release?.......2007-04-15

The fans demand it. This is classic Jeffery Combs and hands down one of the best HP Lovecraft movies to hit the screen. It's right up there with Re-Animator if not a better film in some respects because of where it takes you. It's a classic in every sense of the word and it's due a proper DVD release. What's the hold up?

A True Horror Classic. One of Gordon's Best. YOU MUST SEE THIS!!!.......2007-04-05

This is without a doubt one of my favorite horror films. It really is a
shame that there is not a proper Region 1 NTSC release of this
Masterpiece...

'From Beyond' is pure horror delirium from start to finish. It is as
close to a perfect horror film as I have I witnessed so far in my
ceaseless quest to see every freaking horror film ever made...

The plot is dynamic and swift (It is based on one of Lovecraft's better
stories). It has delicious special effects, an excellent score, and
pitch perfect performances from Combs, Crampton, Sorel, and Foree...

'Re-Animator' has been a long time favorite of mine, a true Classic in
the genre. For years I had been literally dying to see the supposedly
amazing follow up- 'From Beyond'. However, it has long been
unavailable.

I finally broke down and purchased a Region Free DVD Player (best toy I
have EVER purchased). The first DVD I obtained to break-in my new
machine was this one. An outstanding PAL DVD of this film from Dragon
(Germany). I popped this film in excitedly and was promptly blown
away...

If you have never had the pleasure of witnessing this far-too-rare
Classic, YOU MUST. In my opinion, it holds up to Re-Animator. It is
really that good. Since acquiring this piece of celluloid perfection 3
months ago, I have watched in about 6 times. Each time I watch it I
love it more and more. It is seriously worth obtaining a Region Free
DVD Player for. Gordon and Yuzna have not even come close to this level
of film making perfection since this and 'Re-Animator'. You need to see
incredibly film now...

One of the best!!!.......2007-02-14

I first saw From Beyond when it was first released. It still is a classic today. I love anything by HPL. The acting is first rate. The special effects are fine. If you can, get this DVD in any form available. I bought it (the German version) from Kerrys-Kornucopia in Cincinnati, Ohio. It wasn't cheap, but it has an English audio option, so those who don't understand German can hear it in English.

Average customer rating:

Scanners - The Showdown
Director: Steve Barnett
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Average customer rating:

Hearing voices
You are all wrong
Cronenberg's claim to fame
Michael Ironside was great.....
A Great Cult Classic!

Scanners [Region 2]
Starring: Jennifer O'Neill , Stephen Lack , Patrick McGoohan , Lawrence Dane , and Michael Ironside
Director: David Cronenberg
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Videodrome - Criterion Collection
The Brood
Dead Ringers
eXistenZ
Naked Lunch - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B000056CU9

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Hearing voices.......2007-05-14

I a lot of pain, When a scanner scanes your in a lot of pain, the scanner hear the world.

You are all wrong.......2007-04-06

This movie turned out to be laughable, annoying garbage. Horrible film.

Cronenberg's claim to fame.......2007-03-15

Michael Ironside was great............2007-02-09

A Great Cult Classic!.......2007-01-02

Average customer rating:

Hearing voices
You are all wrong
Cronenberg's claim to fame
Michael Ironside was great.....
A Great Cult Classic!

Scanners [Region 2]
Starring: Jennifer O'Neill , Stephen Lack , Patrick McGoohan , Lawrence Dane , and Michael Ironside
Director: David Cronenberg
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD