Perhaps even more than horror, as a child science fiction was a huge part of my life and interests. Although the two genres are very closely linked, maybe it is more acceptable to parents for their kids to be in to aliens or little green men than knife wielding killers covered in blood. Unbelievable. Scanners is one of those movies that blur the line between sci-fi and horror because if its gore. It's present day (in the 1980's) and there is a seemingly growing group of powerful psychics and mind controllers called Scanners. Now a group of scientists take up the services of an informant to destroy them.Cameron is like a child in his affectation, surprisingly trusting, simple and searching for answers. Conspiracy theories and betrayal are strong themes. I found it quite reminiscent of Firestarter, with special people being hunted because they have a gift that they can't control and causes harm to others.
The actual scanning, or mind infiltrating, leads to some quite staggering scenes that may never leave me. Huge veins protrude out of the side of their faces and along their arms. They gain size so fast that blood begins the ooze and squirt out of them. And then they catch fire in a way that can only be described as a thing of beauty.
"Scanners" is a great film -- one of Cronenberg's best, which is saying something. Your "Firestarter" comparison is a good one, though I'm pretty sure "Firestarter" came along later. It's also interesting to compare it to Brian DePalma's "The Fury," a different take on a similar subject -- the way a government would handle people with unusual powers -- that also has some surprisingly beautiful, artful depictions of gore.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent classic that's always worth revisiting....
ReplyDeleteI have an animated GIF of the famous head exploding scene that I swear has the power to hypnotize me.
A bigger budget definitely would help... As long as they kept Michael Ironside. Total Canadian hotness.
ReplyDeleteI met the producer who owned the remake rights to Scanners a couple of years ago - he was in the process of finding a new writer to develop the script at the time. It's listed on imdb with a 2011 release, but it doesn't look it's up and running yet.
ReplyDeleteI think there's something quite realistic about Cronenberg's characters that you would lose in a remake. And it would probably end up like the sequels, which are hilarious.
To be frank, this movie is really quite menacing and creepy. Scanners is absolutely worth a watch!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, I can't even remember how long it's been since I saw this film. I remember as a child, there was a Canadian TV show called Seeing Things starring Louis Del Grande that I enjoyed. Then I saw his head explode in Scanners and I freaked.
ReplyDeleteI can't say its one of my favourite Cronenberg films but it's still one of his better films. It holds my interest, is suitably graphic, and original in its depiction of mind control. Good review Sarah.
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ReplyDeleteCronenberg claims that he had not completed the script before shooting started, and that because of specifics relating to the tax-shelter funding they had to start shooting before they even had anything to shoot. While they were wasting time shooting just whatever, a truck driver who was too busy watching them filming to pay attention to the road failed to notice that the traffic in front of him had stopped and drove his truck over a car, killing the two women inside.
ReplyDeleteOn a more cheerful note, I have a huge amount of love for Scanners III, in which a guilt-ridden Buddhist scanner faces off against his good-scanner-turned-megalomaniacal sister, who's trying to enslave the world by scanning everyone through their tv sets. It is rad.
I think this would have have given me nightmares as a child, but I'd like to check it out now. Really enjoyed your write up.
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