Scanners

By the late 1970s, David Cronenberg had developed a reputation among horror fans for mixing sophisticated ideas with visceral imagery, but 1981's Scanners—the title refers to people who can enter the minds of others and mentally duel with them using terrifying force—brought him a wider audience, thanks in part to a special effect of an exploding human head that became a must-see. Patrick McGoohan stars as research scientist Dr. Paul Ruth, who is collaborating with a corporation to find a way to turn the “scanners” into weapons of warfare, while a stiff and listless Stephen Lack costars as Cameron Vale, a troubled telepath who is being manipulated by the drugs Ruth provides. The pair are pitted against Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), an evil scanner who is building an underground army to take over the world. Despite a confusing script, Cronenberg delivers an interesting mix of cerebral themes and B-movie spectacle, complete with shotgun-armed assassins and telepathic battles featuring characters grimacing in concentration while facial veins pop and bleed. Not one of Cronenberg's best, but a cult favorite nonetheless, Scanners is being re-released on DVD and making its Blu-ray debut (in a dual-format edition) with a superb selection of supplements, including a new documentary on the special effects, new and archival interviews with Cronenberg and the actors, and a newly remastered edition of Cronenberg's 1969 first feature, the experimental Stereo. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)