From The Grave
YOU’VE BEEN SCANNED
There are some films from your childhood that you never forget and they haunt not only your dreams, but your waking hours. Someone may say or do something that keep this film in your thoughts. Such a film for me is SCANNERS (1981). This brilliant David Cronenberg SF/Horror introduced the mainstream to his twisted world. I first saw this film on syndicated TV when I was thirteen. Even in its butchered (heavily edited) form, the film was effective enough to make a mark on me, and it’s not because of the head exploding scene; which is the jewel of the film - but the story keeps you thinking: What if?
The story begins with derelict Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack---Dead Ringers, Perfect Strangers.) wandering the food court of a mall, stealing cigarettes and swiping food off of patron’s plates. He sits at a table where a tray of half-eaten food was left. As he casually picks from the tray, Cameron can hear two middle-aged women discuss his appearance and their prejudice of the homeless. His thoughts and one of the women’s thoughts intertwine. Her eyes roll in the back of her head, and begin to shake, falling to the floor. In the background, two men in trench coats watch. They see Cameron enduring the woman’s affliction and rush toward him. Cameron notices this and flees. They shoot him with a dart gun, but he still tries his best to get away. Finally, Cameron passes out on the escalator and the two men take him to ConSec.
ConSec is private security firm. They provide security and espionage to corporations and governments. This is where we meet Dr. Ruth, (Patrick Mcgoohan---The Prisoner, Secret Agent Man, Bravehaeart.) who checks out Cameron’s ESP abilities in an unusual manner----he brings in a parade of people and watch Cameron twitch in horrible pain as each person’s thoughts are scanned.
In the meantime, Consec decide to hold a convention with their fellow private security companies and reveal to the world their testing of Psychic phenomena. This is where we meet Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside----Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Top Gun), and see the jewel of the film. Revok volunteers for a demonstration from a Scanner (Louis Del Grande), unbeknownst to the rest of room that he too is a scanner. During the show, the two scan each other with a devastating cost. Revok shakes, skin flummoxes slightly on the temple of his forehead while the other scanner, obviously losing the battle, trembles; flesh on his face blows up like a balloon and finally bursts -brains and blood flow like a river. This is probably the most famous scene from any Cronenberg film. With good reason. Dick Smith (Exorcist, Taxi Driver) helped coordinate the FX of this film and this scene in particular influenced special effects artists for years to come.
"...the story keeps you thinking: What if?"
ConSec holds a meeting. They want to disengage all Psychic testing. Dr. Ruth has a better idea. It’s obvious Revok (who works for an underground group) and is assassinating fellow scanners to use the ability to control the world. He tells them to involve a new scanner who isn’t affiliated with either group, nor has any political leanings. Dr. Ruth plans to use Cameron Vale. Jennifer O’Neil ( A Force of One, Summer of ’42, Rich man, Poor man), also stars as Kim Obrist, a woman who has formed another Psychic alliance.
There are many plot twists, and in many ways, this is Cronenberg’s most conventional film of his early career. At that point, it was also his most successful film until the 1986 version of The Fly came along. From reading about the production, it was a difficult film to make. Because of Canadian film financing, Cronenberg only had a short window to get something on shot to qualify for any production money. Therefore he had to write the screenplay as it was being filmed, from 4am to 7am, when actors started to appear on set. Often, second unit had to go out and shoot footage of exteriors. How he was able to keep the story and the film from falling apart without planning is beyond me. He got some great performances from his actors, most notably from Michael Ironside and Patrick Mcgoohan, who has never turned in a bad show, even if the film was terrible. I think the secret weapon of this film is Stephen Lack’s understated acting. If you are in a film with Ironside who is going to be over the top, there’s no way you can out do him. And of course, Howard Shore’s (Videdrone, The Aviator, The Fly, Seven, Hugo, etc.) remarkable score pulls it all in.
Scanners had many forgettable sequels, and a reboot planned with Darren Bousmen at the helm. Luckily it hasn’t moved further than development. In 2011, a TV series was proposed, which has yet to be seen. There is a Criterion collection version of the film on DVD and Blue-ray, as well as a soundtrack released on Mondo records.
Mark Slade, HMS
Read the previous installment.