Completist Guide to the Scanner series (1981-1995) Part 2

Scanner Cop (1994)

After the disappointing Scanners III I've got to admit I wasn't holding out much hope for the rest of the series. I assumed it was going to be all downhill. However Scanner Cop is one of those few sequels that is actually a huge improvement on the previous entries. I might even go so far to say that it is a better (if admittedly trashier) film than Cronenberg's original. Certainly of all the Scanners films this one has the strongest plot and the best protagonist. I think it was a genius idea by Pierre David, the producer of the series who also wrote and directed this film, to make it a mash-up of cop thriller and sci-fi horror. Those are two film genres I absolutely love and to have them together in one film is awesome.

Scanner Cop stars Daniel Quinn as Sam Staziak, a young 20-something rookie police officer who has kept his scanning abilities secret all his life. In a brief prologue, we learn that his father was a scanner too who stopped taking the Ephemerol drug and slowly went crazy; eventually committing suicide. When a group of LA cops start getting killed in bizarre and mysterious circumstances Sam believes that the culprit may also be a scanner. He reveals his abilities to his colleagues and superiors and they begrudgingly assign him the case. However, in order to use his psychic powers he has to stop taking Empherol. Will he be able to catch the criminal mastermind in time? Or will he go insane like his father?

Like I said, what I love about this film is the way it bolts all the usual Scanner elements (exploding heads, mind reading etc) on to a detective story. Obviously this isn't the first time this has been done. There was a brief subplot in Scanners II where David Hewlett's character aids the police in capturing a serial poisoner that covered similar ground. However Scanner Cop really expands on the idea and finds fresh ground to cover. I love how the cliche of there being a time limit for the cop to catch the killer is flipped on its head. Here the time limit is that Sam has to catch the killer before he, himself, goes crazy. They also try some interesting new ideas that have been seen before. For instance, there's a really weird sequence in which Sam scans a person's mind as they are dying which transports him into some nightmarish subconscious world that reminded me a lot of Tarsem's The Cell.

The acting isn't anything to write home about but it's all pretty solid. I quite liked Daniel Quinn as Sam. He isn't your traditionally handsome leading man but he's got a certain geeky charisma and his character really grows on you. There's also some good recognisable character actors in the supporting roles like Mark Rolston (Drake from Aliens) and Richard Grove (Henry the Red from Army of Darkness). The best performance is easily comes from Richard Lynch who is absolutely fantastic as the villain Karl Glock. The combination of his scarred face (which I never realised until recently was the result of him setting himself on fire while on drugs as a young man!) and scratchy voice makes him one of the most perfect movie bad guys.

The special effects used in the film (though occasionally cheap looking) are consistently innovative. They were done by John Carl Buechler who did a lot of effects work for 80s horror and sci-fi films. He also directed Friday the 13th VIII: The New Blood. The best sequence is definitely the opening scene in which Sam's father is going crazy and thinks that tiny little heads are popping out of his face. It's really well realised practical effect. The final battle is also quite well done and the filmmakers come up with a clever twist as why Sam can't just make Glock's head explode. 

Overall, Scanner Cop is a great little b-movie. It's got an engaging plot, decent performances and crazy violence. What more could a b-movie fan possibly want?

GRADE: B+

Scanner Cop II: Volkin’s Revenge (1995)

Weirdly, this film is titled Scanners IV: The Showdown in some countries. I don't know why they did that because actually - for the first time in the series - this is a direct sequel to the previous entry. I've got to say I'm glad they went this route because there was definitely some more mileage to be had in watching Daniel Quinn solve more cases (and pull increasingly silly looking faces). The film has a slightly different feel from the previous one and I think that's because Pierre David went back to just producing and let Mark Sevi and Steve Barnett write and direct it.

The film picks up the story of Sam Staziak a few years later, having now been made a detective - he's also sporting some seriously non-police regulation long hair, but whatever. Sam is now fully in control of his psychic powers and regularly uses them to help solve cases. Life is good until evil scanner Karl Volkin (Patrick Kilpatrick) manages to break out of prison and sets out to kill Staziak for putting him away in the first place. In an interesting twist Volkin has learnt a new scanner trick whereby he can "suck" the life force out of weaker scanners, like a vampire, in order to get more powerful. Will Sam find him and take him down in time? Or will Volkin be too powerful?

Scanner Cop II is a decent sequel that I'd say is only a notch below the previous entry. It's a very fast-paced script. Instead of the villain being a mystery, like the previous film, we see Volkin from the very beginning which creates a different dynamic. My only criticism is that a lot of interesting elements from previous entries have been dropped. For instance, Sam no longer has to worry about whether or not to take Emphemerol anymore. He's now on a new prototype drug that means he can whip out his powers anytime with no drawbacks. The filmmakers also take him out of uniform and turn him into a generic 90s leather jacket-wearing maverick cop. Although it's the same actor and the same character name, Sam doesn't feel like the same guy we met in the last film.

The whole idea of Volkin sucking the life force out of scanners is cool concept though. It kind of reminded me a little of the Highlander movies where immortals get more powerful after killing other immortals. The film also has a very cool sequence early on in which Sam makes to single-handedly solves a hostage situation by scanning all the terrorists minds and making them think he isn't in the room with them. It made me think that if the Scanner Cop movies weren't so gory they would make a pretty cool TV show. The effects are still very good though maybe a little less gory than previous films. They go a bit more down the telekinesis angle in this film with Volkin, at one point, controlling a forklift truck with his mind, using it to try and kill Staziak.

Like previous entries the best performance comes from the main bad guy Patrick Kilpatrick (what a great name!) whose hulking figure and creepy looking face do most of the heavy lifting. Quinn is decent again. Like I said they changed up his character to make him hipper which was a shame. Most of the supporting cast is pretty weak. Robert Forster plays the police captain this time. This was a few years before his Jackie Brown comeback. He mostly sleepwalks through his lines. There's an hilariously bad bit where he explains Sam's new powers to a random police officer. It was a poorly written bit of exposition to start with but Forster makes it twice as bad with his delivery. I mean just look at this screenshot!

All in all, Scanner Cop II is a pleasing little b-movie. If you liked the first Scanner Cop there's no reason you shouldn't track this down.

GRADE: B

For some alternative (but no less positive) reviews check out:
Mitch at Video Vacuum's review of Scanner Cop
Ty and Brett at Comeuppance Reviews review of Scanner Cop II

Completist Guide to the Scanner series (1981-1995) Part 1

Scanners (1981)

Although David Cronenberg is thought of as a highly respected director nowadays back in the early 80s he wasn’t so well regarded. His main claim to fame was a series of very low budget and truly grotesque “body horror” movies such as Rabid and The Brood. Scanners was his attempt to create something palatable for a mainstream audience. In fact the working title for the movie was the pretty cheesy and blunt Telepath 2000. Now Scanners is movie that a lot of people remember for two things, one is the exploding head at the start of the movie and the other is the ultra gory final battle between the two protagonists. But there’s a fair bit more to it than that.

The plot sees Stephen Lack play Cameron Vale, a homeless guy who is abducted by a mysterious corporation called ConSec. ConSec specialises in rounding up scanners, a small select group of telepaths who were accidentally created when doctors gave pregnant women an experimental drug in the 1950s. Vale is recruited by ConSec's leader Dr Ruth to track down Daryl Revok, a psychotic renegade telepath who is planning to create a brand new army of scanners to take over the world. Will he stop him in time?

Scanners is quite a dated film. There's a odd lack of suspense or pace to the whole thing which stops it from being fully enjoyable. That said, the performances are generally very good. Former 'Prisoner' Patrick McGoohan makes an ideal bearded mentor figure and Michael Ironside, in one of his earliest roles, makes a truly terrifying villain. The only real weak link in the film is Stephen Lack who plays the role of Cameron Vale way too understated.

Where the film does come alive is the special effects which are truly remarkable, even today. Heads explode, veins bulge and people get set on fire. The climatic duel and head explosion were courtesy of Dick Smith, who created look of Regan in The Exorcist and Gary Zeller who worked on Altered States.

Reportedly Cronenberg had to start filming without a finished script which perhaps explains it's stilted pace. Still he builds the film to satisfying conclusion that touches on some interesting and unexpected ideas of transhumanism. Scanners is a quite innovative film in that although it contains graphic gore, it isn't really a horror film. It's a more of a thriller that touches on all sorts of ideas from corporate espionage and science gone wrong. Overall Scanners is a good film that just about deserves its place as a science-fiction classic.

GRADE: B

Scanners II: The Takeover (1991)

Next up we have Scanners II: The New Order which was released direct to video in 1991, directed by Christian Duguay, another Canadian director. Duguay is probably most famous for directing the similarly titled Screamers in 1995, a very well made, low budget Philip K Dick adaptation that starred Peter Weller. Although the original Scanners film wasn’t very successful at the cinema it did huge business on video so it made sense for the sequel to head to the burgeoning video market.

Scanners II is about an evil police commander called John Forrester who is using abducted scanners to further his own political career. Inevitably he crosses paths with our hero David Kellum, a young vet student who also happens to be a well adjusted scanner. At first Kellum agrees to help him out, solving a case of mass poisoning but later he discovers Forrester's ulterior motives for his powers and is forced to go on the run.

He ends up hiding at the parent’s house where it's reveal that he is actually adopted and his real father was Cameron Vale (a predictable cop out for a sequel). He also has a sister he never knew, Julie Vale and together the pair of siblings team up to take down Forrester and invade his secret facility for experimenting on scanners.

Scanners II is actually a lot of fun. It’s a lot more fast-paced compared to the original and it revels in its gory sequences. Hewlett makes a likeable lead and has a lot bit more personality than Lack. The stand out actor of the film though is Raoul Trujillo who plays Forrester’s psychotic side kick Drak. In a clever bit of misdirection it’s actually Drak who we meet in the opening scenes of the film, leading us to believe he’s going to be the hero. He's no replacement for Michael Ironside but he gives him a run for his money.

The storyline is quite straightforward and not maybe as well thought out as the original film. Whereas the first Scanners film was about corporate espionage the sequel is a relatively simplistic tale of corrupt politics. Scanners II was written by B J Nelson, the man responsible for Chuck Norris action film Lone Wolf McQuade. One thing I always get hung up on with sequels like this is when they set a film 20 years after the original but only shoot it a few years later. It means you have to either retroactively put the original film further in the past or imagine that the film is set in the future. A bunch of horror movie sequels do this - The Omen, Friday the 13th, The Prophecy - it's really distracting.

Overall Scanners II is a relatively satisfying sequel that really comes alive during its action sequences and benefits from decent performances.

GRADE: B-

Scanner III The Takeover (1992)

Scanner III The Takeover (or Scanner Force as it was originally titled in the UK) was also directed by Christian DuGuay and released in 1992. The two films were shot back to back. Sadly we lose the character of David Kellum and instead get an entirely new pair of characters. Alex and Helena Monet, two Scanners siblings.

The films open with Alex accidentally killing his friend during a scanning "prank" gone wrong. Upset at causing a death he leaves America and heads to a monastery in Thailand to learn inner peace (presumably because it worked so well for John Rambo in Rambo III). Meanwhile his sister Helena, a high powered TV executive, begins taking a new experimental drug called Eph-3, in order to permanently remove her painful scanning abilities.

Inevitably the drug backfires and instead turns her into, for want of a better phrase, a Super Bitch - killing innocent people (and even a few pigeons) left, right and centre. Eventually Alex learns about her destructive powers and comes home to stop Helena before she uses televisions to scan and take over the entire population.

Scanners III is a far more goofy, cartoonish movie than Scanners II ever was. The script again was written by B J Nelson, along with Julie Richard and David Preston, and essentially about an hour of the 90 minute running time is Helena pulling one evil scanning trick to another. Ranging from embarrassing her rival by making him do cheesy dancing to making her former doctor’s head explode.

Polish actress Liliana Komorowska, who plays Helena, chews so much scenery I’m surprised there’s any sets left to act on. Every other line she says is an awful, groan-inducing one liner. It’s like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Batman and Robin all over again. There’s clearly an attempt to incorporate some ironic dark humour (like Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop did) but it mostly falls flat. The only major interest point in the film that the special effects are still top notch and far more frequent than any other entry in the series. It’s a shame that the film and acting are so mind-numbing.

In the end Scanners III is a pretty poor sequel that doesn’t offer much for fans of the series. Its attempt to satirise amoral 80s yuppies seems somewhat belated, its hero Alex, once again, is utterly boring. Most disappointing, the final fight, something all the other films have done so well, is a real damp squib.

GRADE: C