Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

grantss Central plot was intriguing. Man discovers he has telekinetic powers, gets recruited by company to harness his powers in a fight against a rival organisation (run by an uber-telekineticist). Investigations, mind-games, confrontations and action ensue.Despite the decent plot, it feels rushed towards the end. Final scene comes out of the blue.Two things stopped this from being a much better movie, and potential sci fi classic. Firstly, the performances are horrendously bad. There is hardly a credible performance to be seen. Patrick McGoohan and Jennifer O'Neill are probably the best of the lot and they're just so-so. Stephen Lack is pretty dull in the lead role, and Michael Ironside goes in the opposite direction, overacting as the bad guy.Furthermore, this movie contains some of the worst bit-part acting you'll see in a mainstream movie. eg The guy who falls backward before being shot!Second negative aspect: the production. Everything seems cheap and B-grade. Worst of all is the sound. It feels as if the dialogue was dubbed into the movie, and not synced very well with the actors' lips - it's that bad.Overall: reasonably entertaining and not a total waste of time. Plus you get to see the famous exploding head scene...

jellopuke Some amazing gore effects highlight this Canadian classic! Sure it's a tad slow moving and the lead actor is awful, but the movie has a dark charm and sinister underbelly that works well. Of course everyone knows about the head exploding scene, but don't stop watching when that comes about ten minutes in because there's lots of good stuff here! Cult classic that still holds up despite the low budget.

Leofwine_draca This typically grotesque story from David Cronenberg is one of his best-made movies despite a slightly overlong running time. When it comes down to the action and horror in this production, Cronenberg is next to none in turning the stomach. Surprisingly, aside from two outstanding moments, this isn't as gory as his usual fare as Cronenberg takes a literal look at "psychological" horror instead, but the result is no less disturbing. Harsh Canadian locations, dull sets, and desperate characters make for a relentless yet satisfying movie which is basically yet another variation on the old "good vs. evil" theme yet with a slight twist - now it's played out via mind wars.There's a scene near the beginning which instantly propelled this movie into gory infamy - the incredibly ghoulish head explosion which has rarely been bettered in the movies in terms of sheer extreme splatter. On top of this, Cronenberg offers one of his wildest, most over-the-top finales which even beats De Palma's THE FURY in terms of visceral excess - the duel between Lack and Ironside is really something to be seen, an outstanding display of insane acting, pumping blood, really gruesome special effects work which make veins pop out of the skin, and much, much more. That he chills us even further with a quiet, ambiguous twist after the battle is complete is a testimony to the director's skill.When I first watched this film a few years back, I was greatly disappointed in Stephen Lack's performance, fearing it to be wooden and unsatisfying. In retrospect he's actually pretty good in the role, it's just the character which is understated and slightly boring. Cronenberg makes good use of Lack's sometimes-alien appearance and there's an air of quiet menace and desperation about the actor which makes him fit right into the role. Jennifer O'Neill also succeeds with a strong female role, even if her character doesn't have much to do with the story other than tag along for the ride. Patrick McGoohan is all stuffiness and bearded pomposity as Lack's father figure (actor or character, I know not which), but it's really the bad guys who steal the show this time around - firstly Michael Ironside as another unforgettably evil bad guy (surely one of the best, most underrated actors of recent years, this man deserves an Oscar for his work in the fantasy field), secondly Lawrence Dane who definitely has the mark of an edgy De Niro performance about him as Ironside's traitorous aide.Aside from the overly-scientific, sometimes stuffy plot, which has some mild conspiracy overtones, Cronenberg offers up some unforgettable set-pieces. My favourite is the destructive moment in which the computer is shut down whilst Lack is dialled into it and all hell breaks loose, although Dane definitely deserved a better death sequence than just disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Then there's the aforementioned incredibly painful head explosion, a confrontation between Lack and a quartet of hired assassins in a sculptor's warehouse, a fine bus crash, and of course the infamous, often cut conclusion which takes the good guy vs. bad guy battle to a new extreme. By using slow-motion and quality effects, Cronenberg creates some outstanding moments in what is actually a decent and watchable horror film which is far scarier than many other similar horror films before and since. Lots of sequels followed, none involving Cronenberg, but some are fun to watch as stand alone cheesy B-movies.

skybrick736 David Cronenberg is a uniquely stylish director that requires a certain taste to acquire before making judgments to review. There is no one film to start with Cronenberg as he is good at contrasting his horror elements but Scanners is a film of his that cannot be missed. Scanners is a fantastic concept centered around ordinary people with unordinary powers of telepathy. The two beginning scenes showcasing this horrific power are exhilarating and executed perfectly by Stephen Lack and Michael Ironside. In fact, one of these two scenes are considered one of the most iconic moments in horror cinema. Scanners is very original, creepy in nature, has an unpredictability aspect and has a solid script. The film does drag on at times towards the end but otherwise is an excellent movie.